Reclaiming the narrative: Student excursion promotes critical thinking about Africa and African diaspora

Students from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), a research university with fully integrated liberal arts and science college based in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, visited the Africa Institute for an educational excursion on January 19, 2023.

The interactive exchange enabled 15 undergraduate students studying a course on “Reclaiming the Narrative” as part of their major, Media, Culture, and Communication to critically think about the work undertaken by the Africa Institute to facilitate study, documentation and research on Africa and African diaspora.

Salah Hassan, Director, The Africa Institute welcomed the visitors and opened the session with a detailed presentation about the history, recent projects, and future of the Institute.

“I’m very happy to receive this group of students, we look at the visit as an opportunity of engagement with young writers of the future. The visits involve the exchange of new ideas, and briefing them about the history of the institution and the future plan. We also spoke to them to understand what their interests are. In the end, it was an amazing fruitful dialogue with creative minds like this, the kind that will become prospective students in our upcoming programs and future scholars in African studies.” said Professor Hassan.

The excursion was led by Professor Frankie Edozien, Journalism Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and Director of the New York University Ghana campus.

The Africa Institute’s outreach efforts are oriented toward shared programming and collaborations with such programs across diverse topics in African history and the African diaspora that contribute to the Africa Institute’s mission and developing research.