A response to the fantastic writing of the essay linked below
1. 'The problem with Fourah Bay College is not just about infrastructure—classrooms/lecture theatres; student hostels; functioning and usable toilet facilities; libraries and the like—the problem is about a functional academic and intellectual ambience in which the production of knowledge thrives, unencumbered by petty tyrants and inquisitive politicians. To have a university without departmental/faculty seminars and regular campus lectures is to kiss good-bye to the supreme notion of excellence on which an institution of higher learning is supposedly anchored. The production of knowledge, intellectual knowledge for the transformation of society, cannot take place in a context devoid of intellectual exchange amongst colleagues within and across disciplines.
Ibrahim Abdullah, professor of history at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
2. 'And that intellectual culture which has historically propelled such transformative projects and processes cannot occur outside the existence of journals and learned societies whose raison d'etre constitutes the nuts and bolts of the modern academy. To move forward towards the original objective of a university as a reservoir of knowledge production, we need to go back to the drawing board—to revisit the whole notion of what the university is about and what we want to get out of an institution constructed for the sole of purpose of knowledge production for societal transformation. Anything short of this will simply be a window dressing; an empty shell of a thin paper layering waiting to wear off with the first Harmattan wind in early January'.
1. 'The problem with Fourah Bay College is not just about infrastructure—classrooms/lecture theatres; student hostels; functioning and usable toilet facilities; libraries and the like—the problem is about a functional academic and intellectual ambience in which the production of knowledge thrives, unencumbered by petty tyrants and inquisitive politicians. To have a university without departmental/faculty seminars and regular campus lectures is to kiss good-bye to the supreme notion of excellence on which an institution of higher learning is supposedly anchored. The production of knowledge, intellectual knowledge for the transformation of society, cannot take place in a context devoid of intellectual exchange amongst colleagues within and across disciplines.
Ibrahim Abdullah, professor of history at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
My best encounter with regular 'departmental/faculty seminars and regular campus lectures' has been through attending public lectures at the University of Cambridge, having previously schooled,. in reverse order, at UCL, SOAS, University of Kent and the University of Benin.. This culture is one of the great educational forces in Cambridge and I wonder how much it is appreciated, even by people in the university, in the city and across the world, bcs the knowledge passed on is so rich, that people should be visiting Cambridge just for this purpose alone, but I had to make a determined effort not to see myself as an idle person who filled his time by attending public lectures when I observed that I seemed to be alone in making the effort to attend a variety of lectures across disciplines, departments,research centres and colleges, from the superb seminars in the department for the History and Philosophy of Science, to the mind blowing CRASSH-Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, seminars and conferences in various disciplines, to international conferences in history and in philosophy, among others. The level of access is such that I have to be highly selective since there is so much academic activity on offer. SOAS had something similar with a powerful research centre that brought together UCL and SOAS but the Centre ran out of funding some years ago and I don't know if they have been able to revive it.
Even if African universities might not be able to offer the level of activity that Cambridge provides,but regular seminars within departments, between faculties and across disciplines are priceless and don't need to cost much or cost anything. The central value is that of exchanging ideas in a congenial atmosphere where hierarchy is absent.
2. 'And that intellectual culture which has historically propelled such transformative projects and processes cannot occur outside the existence of journals and learned societies whose raison d'etre constitutes the nuts and bolts of the modern academy. To move forward towards the original objective of a university as a reservoir of knowledge production, we need to go back to the drawing board—to revisit the whole notion of what the university is about and what we want to get out of an institution constructed for the sole of purpose of knowledge production for societal transformation. Anything short of this will simply be a window dressing; an empty shell of a thin paper layering waiting to wear off with the first Harmattan wind in early January'.
I expect African universities would benefit from high investment in online journals, saving costs and creating a culture through which they can create knowledge not only readily accessible to their own people but facilitate the building of skills vital for managing academic projects. Building a journal of international stature can take place from any location.
3. 'The establishment of a credible graduate programme with qualified faculty and distinctive objectives, goals and time-lines is the only way out of the current mess at FBC. ... A substantial sum in seed money would be needed to kick start such a project that would involve new stock of books and subscriptions to all the major journals in all disciplines, plus a functioning internet service everywhere on campus. Mining profits and the petroleum fund are available targets for possible funding.'
Africans would do well to republish in Africa, academic books published in the West, through agreements with the publishing companies, the kind of agreement State University of New York Press has with Indian publishers that lets the Indians republish at cheaper prices and even sell across the world, books on India published by SUNY and Oxford UP publishing in India using cheaper materials than they do in England or the US.
thanks
toyin
On Sun, Jun 26, 2016 at 3:55 AM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
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