The Claude Ake Visiting Chair was set up in 2003 at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University (DPCR), in collaboration with the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) and with funding from the Swedish Government. The Chair honours the memory of Professor Claude Ake, a distinguished scholar, philosopher, teacher and humanist, who died tragically in 1996; Claude Ake: A Biographical Note. The Chair is intended for scholars who, like Claude Ake, combine a profound commitment to scholarship with a strong advocacy for social justice. The Chair is open to prominent social scientists working at African universities with problems related to war, peace, conflict resolution, human rights, democracy and development on the African continent.

This Visiting Professorship covers a period of up to 6 months and is awarded once a year. The Visiting Professor is offered a conducive environment to pursue his or her own research, while there is also opportunity for lecturing, holding seminars and contributing to ongoing research activities at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, the Nordic Africa Institute and in the Nordic countries. The holder is expected to be based in Uppsala for the duration of the stay.

Nomination and Appointment

Final date to submit nominations for 2013 is November1, 2012.

The Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Africa Institute invite social science departments, research institutions and institutes, in Africa and elsewhere, to propose candidates for the Claude Ake Visiting Chair. Final date of nomination each year is 30 September (allowing the awardee to chose between spring or autumn semester during the subsequent year). The nomination of female candidates is encouraged.

Proposed candidates should be established and internationally recognized senior scholars with professorial competence in their respective fields of expertise. Nominations are to be submitted in writing and should present the proposed researcher, his/her planned research and the motives for the nomination. There is no specific form to use. Candidates cannot nominate themselves. Nominations may come from individual scholars/colleagues, but must be supported by the institution with which the nominee is affiliated. A complete curriculum vitae, including relevant data regarding academic title, current and previous positions, research and teaching activities, publications as well as contact details shall be attached to the nomination. The proposed researcher must be informed and consent to the nomination.

One representative from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research (currently Professor Thomas Ohlson) and one from the Nordic Africa Institute (currently its Director Ms. Carin Norberg) decide on the appointment of the annual holder of the Claude Ake Chair. There is also an advisory committee, consisting of Professor Peter Wallensteen (Dag Hammarskjöld Professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Professor Fantu Cheru (NAI Research Director) and a previous holder of the Claude Ake Chair (currently Dr. Cyril Obi).

Terms

The awardee is entitled to a tax-free stipend/scholarship, currently set at SEK 20,000/month. In addition, travel and housing costs for the holder of the position, and his/her accompanying spouse/significant other, are covered by the grant.

Memorial Lecture and Publications

The holder of the Claude Ake Visiting Chair gives, at the end of his/her stay in Uppsala, a public lecture, the ‘Claude Ake Memorial Lecture.’ The title, theme and content of the lecture is up to the holder. The assumption is that the topic of the lecture shall, in a general sense, relate to the work of Claude Ake, for example in terms of themes or issues covered, or in the theoretical or normative points of departure. The lecture is to be based on a paper prepared and made available to seminar participants and lecture audience in advance of the lecture. Since 2006, DPCR and NAI publish the papers that constitute the basis for the Memorial Lectures in the Claude Ake Memorial Paper Series (CAMP). The papers are edited at the DPCR and published jointly by the DPCR and the NAI in printed and electronic forms. In the future, the CAMP series may be opened up to contributions also from other scholars than the holders of the Visiting Chair.

Current Holder (2012) 

Pamela Mbabazi 

Dr. Pamela Mbabazi is an Associate Professor of Development studies at Mbarara University of Science & Technology and currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor. She has 16 years of progressive academic engagement, building up a Faculty of Development Studies. Research and lecturing in Development Planning, Rural Development, Political Economy and Conflict Studies. She holds Ph.D & M.A degree in Development Studies and M.Sc degree in Regional Planning and Management with minors in planning techniques and governance issues. She is a seasoned researcher and her current research interests include; The Political Economy of Oil in the Great Lakes Region, Land governance, Electoral Governance, Health Access and Regionalisms. She is married and has two sons. 

Some of her Publications include:

• Mbabazi Pamela & Timothy Shaw (2010): Civil Society and Accountability in the Commonwealth in Scholte Jan (eds): Building Global Democracy? Civil Society & Accountable Global Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
• Mbabazi Pamela & Shaw Timothy (2008): ‘Two Africa’s, Two Uganda’s? in The Roots of African Conflicts in Africa; Causes & Costs; Alfred Nhema & Paul Teyambe Zeleza(eds) Ohio University Press, Ohio.
• Mbabazi Pamela & Shaw Timothy (2006) Political Economies of Africa at the start of the 20^th Century in Political Economy and the Changing Global Order Richard Stubbs & Geoffrey R. D. Underhill (eds) Oxford University Press, Ontario
• Mbabazi Pamela & Ian Taylor (eds) The Potentiality of Developmental States in Africa; Uganda and Botswana Compared; (Daker, CODESRIA, 2005) 

Previous Holders

2003: Professor L. Adele Jinadu (Nigeria); a former President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS), Jinadu is Executive Director of the Centre for Advanced Social Science (CASS), in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

2004: Dr. Cyril I. Obi (Nigeria); Associate Research Professor at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and Senior Research Fellow/Programme Coordinator at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala.

2005: Professor Amadu Sesay (Sierra Leone); Head of the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

2006: Professor Kwame Boafo-Arthur (Ghana); Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon.

2007: Professor Charles Villa-Vicencio (South Africa); Professor Emeritus at the University of Cape Town and Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), Cape Town.

2008: Professor Adam Azzain Mohamed (the Sudan); Director of the Institute for the Study of Public Administration and Federal Governance at the University of Khartoum, the Sudan.

2009: Professor Yashpal Tandon (Uganda); was the Executive Director of the South Centre in Geneva until February 2009. He is currently a senior advisor to the Centre. South Centre is an intergovernmental think tank of the developing countries.

2010: Dr. Yacob Arsano (Ethiopia); Associate Professor of Political Science & International Relations at Addis Ababa University. He has also been serving as Dean of the College of Social Sciences at AAU since 2006.