Claude Ake Visiting Chair

The Claude Ake Visiting Chair was set up in 2003 at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research in collaboration with the Nordic Africa Institute and with funding from the Swedish Government and Uppsala University. The Chair honours the memory of Professor Claude Ake, a distinguished scholar, philosopher, teacher and humanist, who died tragically in 1996. 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 social scientists working at African universities with problems related to war, peace, conflict resolution, human rights, democracy and development on the African continent.

The visiting chair holder 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 and the Nordic Africa Institute.

Read more about Professor Claude Ake in the text "Claude Ake: A Biographical Note" (pdf). Pdf, 90 kB.

Memorial Lecture and Publications

The holders of the Claude Ake Visiting Chair give, at the end of their stay in Uppsala, a public lecture called the ‘Claude Ake Memorial Lecture.’ The title, theme and content of the lecture should be based on the research project being pursued by the chair holder while in Uppsala. 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. The paper is subsequently published jointly by the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Africa Institute.

View a list of papers in the Claude Ake Memorial Paper Series and access the papers in full-text.

We will post information here once we have an open application round.

We will post information about the current holder when it's being decided.

  • 2022: Professor Kwesi Aning; Professor and Director, Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research (FAAR), Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre since 2008, Ghana.
  • 2019: Dr. Eghosa E. Osaghae, Professor of Comparative Politics at University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
  • 2018: Professor Heidi Hudson (South Africa); Professor of International Relations and Director of the Centre for Africa Studies at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
  • 2017: Professor Rachid Tlemçani (Algeria); Professor, Political Science and International Relations Department, University of Algiers, Algeria.
  • 2016: Professor Tim Murithi (South Africa); Extraordinary Professor of African Studies, at the Centre for African Studies, University of Free State, South Africa and Head of the Justice and Reconciliation in Africa Programme at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, in Cape Town.
  • 2015: Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela (South Africa); Senior research professor for trauma, forgiveness and reconciliation at the University of the Free State, and former professor of psychology at the University of Cape Town.
  • 2014: Professor Maxi Schoeman (South Africa); Head of Department of Political Sciences and Professor of International Relations at University of Pretoria, South Africa.
  • 2013: Professor Victor Adetula (Nigeria); Professor of International Relations & Development Studies at the University of Jos, Nigeria and Head of Division of Africa & Regional Integration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos
  • 2012: Dr. Pamela Mbabazi (Uganda); Associate Professor of Development studies at Mbarara University of Science & Technology and currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 2006: Professor Kwame Boafo-Arthur (Ghana); Head of the Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, Legon.
  • 2005: Professor Amadu Sesay (Sierra Leone); Head of the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, 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.
  • 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.

The holders of the Claude Ake Visiting Chair give, at the end of their stay in Uppsala, a public lecture called the ‘Claude Ake Memorial Lecture.’ The lecture papers are subsequently published jointly by the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Africa Institute. Full-text versions are available in the online catalogue DiVA, through the links below.

Contact and more information

For additional information or enquiries about the Claude Ake Visiting Chair, please visit the Nordic Africa Institute's website or contact Marie Karlsson at marie.karlsson@nai.uu.se.

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