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In ‘African Lives and the Language of History’, Professor Green interrogated to what extent Western academic models would be different if they addressed African lives on their own terms. The event was part of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities Inaugural Lectures.

During the talk on 24 September, Professor Green examined if fully including African modes of discussion and analysis would change the academic landscape, and why it is necessary for this to take place.

The event included responses from Ana Lúcia Araujo (Howard University) and José Lingna Nafafé (University of Bristol). There was a wide range of attendees including colleagues from the University of Ibadan and the Edo Museum of West African Arts (Benin City). The lecture took place on the independence day of Guinea-Bissau, one of the countries in West Africa in which Green has worked most closely.

The main theme of the lecture was the way in which African lives and perspectives challenge traditional Western academic paradigms. Through narratives of one of his oldest friend, the journalist and tailor Mamadou Ndiaye, Green brought the conflict of individual African lives and the historical discourse that narrates them to the foreground.

In conclusion, Green called for a return to roots: the fact that Western academic life began with the oral dialogues of Athenian philosophers, influenced by African traditions through ancient Egypt, means that a return to orality can renew Western academic life post-Covid.

The Inaugural Lectures from the Faculty of Arts & Humanities celebrates our academics’ contributions to their field of research and teaching innovation.