African Studies Program celebrates 50 years

Kenyan photojournalist Jacob Otieno said it’s bringing people together.

Otieno, along with other scholars of African studies, will spend his weekend at IU as a guest of the African Studies Program to celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary.

“I’m humbled and feel greatly honored to be on this beautiful campus,” Otieno said. “I have never been to this part of the (United States), but I feel more like a scholar this time. I am learning from students, and they are learning from me.”

The program will reflect upon its own history, as well as Africa’s past, as it celebrates its anniversary today through Saturday.

“The most important thing is that we know what our mission is and we are fulfilling it: educating Americans about the continent of Africa,” African Studies Program Director Samuel Obeng said. “It’s like a coming of age, if you like.”

Obeng said the 50-year celebration this weekend marks a time of reflection on the program’s past accomplishments and future progress.

“You ask yourself, ‘What have I done?’ It’s a period of reflection. What is my mission, have I been able to fulfill it, what am I going to do in the next year, 10 or 20 years?’” Obeng said. “The past, as we know, informs the future.”

To commemorate its anniversary, the African Studies Program has summoned the work of African photographers and invited distinguished IU alumni to sit on panels and incite public discussion on topics of African history and culture, as well as the struggles the continent faces.

Otieno’s contribution to the celebration will be on display at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, where his photos tell the story of the Kenyan revolution that brought freedom of expression to the country. Otieno said coverage of the revolution raised awareness among the Kenyan people, pushing the government to revise Section 2A of their constitution to allow freedom of expression.

“You’ve got to fight for it if you want change,” Otieno said. “Everyday we reported it, it was turning, it was turning into a revolution.”

Obeng used the saying “a traveler educates his kith and kin” to describe the purpose of this weekend’s events, not just for African Studies students and faculty, but for the entire IU campus.

“If people go to these lectures and these panels, they will educate themselves and their friends, and I encourage them to ask questions and become involved in the discussion,” he said. “Any program that does not grow or offer room for growth is as good as dead.”

Depth and breadth are two goals for the program in the next 25 years as Obeng said he hopes to expand the core of the program and bring African studies to occupations and subjects it hasn’t reached yet, like communication, business and human rights, he said.

“Our program is meant to promote culture through all aspects, including musical, scientific, political and other activities that are related to Africa, for the benefit of the community, of the students and of the country,” Obeng said. “We want to contribute toward the enrichment of all people.”