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The Africa Institute, Sharjah participates in the 66th Annual Meeting hosted by the African Studies Association (ASA) in San Francisco, CA from November 30 – December 2, 2023 to encourage the production and dissemination of knowledge between Africa and the Arab world.
During the 66th Annual Meeting themed, ‘African Presences: Envisioning Africa in Text and Deed’, the Africa Institute hosts a specially curated roundtable that features senior faculty and fellows who offer valuable insights on language pedagogy and translation. Additionally, don’t miss visiting our booth (#413) to learn about the Institute’s mission, programs, fellowships, publications, and more.
The African Studies Association (ASA) is the flagship membership organization based in the United States that is devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa since its establishment in 1957. With almost 2,000 individual and institutional members worldwide, the ASA aims to cultivate a better understanding of the continent, taking a holistic approach to its areas of focus. This includes all facets of Africa’s political, economic, social, cultural, artistic, scientific, and environmental landscapes, to name a few.
Pedagogy of African Languages Teaching and the Question of Translation
Date: 2 December 2023
Time: 3:30 PM – 5:15 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
Venue: Salon 4, Marriott Marquis, San Francisco
This roundtable is proposed by The Africa Institute (Global Studies University, GSU), an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to the study, research, and documentation of Africa and its diaspora. The institute has launched its African languages program which will offer four languages: Arabic, Amharic, Hausa, and Kiswahili. Its Ph.D. and master’s program, scheduled to be launched in Fall 2024 allow students to enroll in a track centered on African languages and translation. In addition, the program requires Ph.D. candidates to complete a three-semester course in a chosen African language.
Launching such a program offers an opportunity for revisiting perennial questions in African languages pedagogy, as well as translation issues beyond the literal ones. This panel, comprised of expert scholars, hopes to explore questions related to Africa’s vast linguistic, literary, and cultural wealth, with all its intricate historical and cultural nuances and ties. Recognizing languages as archives of social memory, the proposed panel takes a view of language study beyond the instrumental and considers the theory and practice of translation as central to any intellectual project. As a nexus of relation between knowledge systems, cultural practices, genres, and disciplines, translation constitutes a critical condition of the study of Global Africa. Accordingly, the question of translation and pedagogy between and via African languages beyond those mediated by European languages as predominant methods will be discussed. On the practical level, the panel will also deal with the development of new textbooks for the teaching of languages currently under-resourced in instructional materials.
Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Associate Professor of African Languages and Linguistics and Associate Director, The Africa Institute, U.A.E
The Africa Institute is exhibiting at booth #413 between November 30 – December 2, 2023. Visit us to have a conversation and learn more about our work.
Click here to learn more.
The Africa Institute, Sharjah participates in the 66th Annual Meeting hosted by the African Studies Association (ASA) in San Francisco, CA from November 30 – December 2, 2023 to encourage the production and dissemination of knowledge between Africa and the Arab world.
The Africa Institute, Sharjah participates in the 66th Annual Meeting hosted by the African Studies Association (ASA) in San Francisco, CA from November 30 – December 2, 2023 to encourage the production and dissemination of knowledge between Africa and the Arab world.
During the 66th Annual Meeting themed, ‘African Presences: Envisioning Africa in Text and Deed’, the Africa Institute hosts a specially curated roundtable that features senior faculty and fellows who offer valuable insights on language pedagogy and translation. Additionally, don’t miss visiting our booth (#413) to learn about the Institute’s mission, programs, fellowships, publications, and more.
The African Studies Association (ASA) is the flagship membership organization based in the United States that is devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa since its establishment in 1957. With almost 2,000 individual and institutional members worldwide, the ASA aims to cultivate a better understanding of the continent, taking a holistic approach to its areas of focus. This includes all facets of Africa’s political, economic, social, cultural, artistic, scientific, and environmental landscapes, to name a few.
Pedagogy of African Languages Teaching and the Question of Translation
Date: 2 December 2023
Time: 3:30 PM – 5:15 PM (Pacific Standard Time)
Venue: Salon 4, Marriott Marquis, San Francisco
This roundtable is proposed by The Africa Institute (Global Studies University, GSU), an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to the study, research, and documentation of Africa and its diaspora. The institute has launched its African languages program which will offer four languages: Arabic, Amharic, Hausa, and Kiswahili. Its Ph.D. and master’s program, scheduled to be launched in Fall 2024 allow students to enroll in a track centered on African languages and translation. In addition, the program requires Ph.D. candidates to complete a three-semester course in a chosen African language.
Launching such a program offers an opportunity for revisiting perennial questions in African languages pedagogy, as well as translation issues beyond the literal ones. This panel, comprised of expert scholars, hopes to explore questions related to Africa’s vast linguistic, literary, and cultural wealth, with all its intricate historical and cultural nuances and ties. Recognizing languages as archives of social memory, the proposed panel takes a view of language study beyond the instrumental and considers the theory and practice of translation as central to any intellectual project. As a nexus of relation between knowledge systems, cultural practices, genres, and disciplines, translation constitutes a critical condition of the study of Global Africa. Accordingly, the question of translation and pedagogy between and via African languages beyond those mediated by European languages as predominant methods will be discussed. On the practical level, the panel will also deal with the development of new textbooks for the teaching of languages currently under-resourced in instructional materials.
Binyam Sisay Mendisu, Associate Professor of African Languages and Linguistics and Associate Director, The Africa Institute, U.A.E
The Africa Institute is exhibiting at booth #413 between November 30 – December 2, 2023. Visit us to have a conversation and learn more about our work.
Click here to learn more.
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