Please find here the call for applications for the Sciences Po Visiting Faculty Global Programme.
Sciences Po is calling for outstanding applications for visiting faculty from around the world. In the 2023-2024 academic year, Sciences Po will open two visiting faculty positions in the social sciences or humanities, for up to a semester-long each (6-weeks minimum).
Can you explain to us what the INFRAPATRI project is, what brings you to Ibadan and what is your role in this project?
INFRAPATRI is a program funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), from March 2021 to March 2025. It is a program that I supervise within my research unit, PRODIG, based at the Campus Condorcet in Aubervilliers, France. The objectives of this program are to compare the relationships, knowledge, and attachments of city-dwellers and municipal authorities to plants in four cities in sub-Saharan Africa: Yaoundé in Cameroon, Ibadan in Nigeria, Porto-Novo in Benin Republic, and Dakar in Senegal. One hypothesis that we want to test in these four cities pertaining to these relationships to plants is that, in addition to the heritage policies that have been implemented in African cities and that are often focused on the built environment and, moreover, on colonial buildings, there may also be memorial attachments to plants by the inhabitants of these cities.
The unfolding electoral moment in Nigeria is a period of critical importance for the country and of great interest to the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA), based at the Institute of African Studies (University of Ibadan). IFRA intends to play a role in observing and analysing the social impacts of Nigerian policies, polities, and politics in a short- and long-term perspective. In this electoral setting, IFRA is launching an observatory overseeing the 2023 elections in Nigeria. The aim is to produce socio-anthropological data and analysis on the election process. For this, IFRA is funding several young Nigerian researchers to conduct fieldwork-based research upon different topics (political violence, fraud, public space dynamics, particular groups voting intentions, ethnic based voting patterns…).
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja, Nigeria announces a small grants competition for writers, researchers, and activists working on or in Nigeria. The grant forms a part of a wider programme on the Digitisation of Nigerian Heritage funded by the French Institute for Research in Africa, (IFRA-Nigeria), and the Embassy of France in Nigeria.
The component of the project undertaken by CDD aims to digitally preserve and disseminate the inspiring documentary heritage of earlier generations of Nigeria’s radical and pro-democracy activists. These efforts are anchored on the premise that unearthing the activities and debates that preoccupied earlier generations of Nigeria’s radical thinkers and activists can help enrich contemporary activism, public discourses, and academic scholarship in and on Nigeria.
Call for one funded PhD Position on “Experiences of climate change : Protests and mobilizations in coastal urban areas (Gulf of Guinea)”
Sciences Po Paris is looking for a PhD Candidate to join the Centre for International Studies (CERI) to address the following topic: “Experiences of climate change: protests and mobilizations of inhabitants in coastal urban areas (Gulf of Guinea)”. The PhD candidate will join the Doctoral School at Sciences Po in the doctoral programme in political science. He or she will be under the supervision of Laurent Fourchard, research professor in political science at CERI and will work in association with the Sciences Po Urban School. He or she will have a second institutional affiliation at the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA) at Ibadan (Nigeria). The PhD grant is funded by the Mission pour les initiatives transverses et interdisciplinaires (MITI) of the CNRS.
Call for applications for a field research internship for 1 master student in social sciences (anthropology, sociology, cultural geography). The intern will be part of the research program INFRAPATRI “Knowledges and Attachments to Urban Plants in Sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal): Identification and Production of a Heritage from Below" (coordinated by Dr Emilie Guitard).
The interdisciplinary project INFRAPATRI aims to study the local knowledges and forms of attachment to urban plants in four sub-Saharan African cities : Yaounde in Cameroon, Ibadan in Nigeria, Porto-Novo in Benin and Dakar in Senegal.
A trained architect with a strong interest in heritage preservation, Femi Olanrewaju has recently joined IFRA's project on 'Religious Architectural Heritage in Ibadan'. He will conduct research on shrines in historical Ibadan.
- Hi ! Could you please introduce yourself to the readers ?
My name is Femi Olanrewaju, I obtained MLA in Landscape Architecture from the University of Lagos. As a student of landscape architecture and with my passion for heritage preservation, I chose to write my thesis on “Conservation of a cultural landscape: A Case Study of Osun Grove”. My goal was to examine and digitize the Osun Grove as a tool for cultural and natural heritage preservation framework and urban design. Currently, I am MSc student in the department of Architecture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife. I am also a member of International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
- What is your major aim at IFRA ?
My main objective with IFRA is to add to the existing knowledge of Ibadan religious heritage documentation by using GIS techniques to fill the current void of heritage documentation using Ibadan core area as a pilot study for other researchers.
- What is your goal after IFRA ?
I intend to further the research at PhD level with the knowledge I would have acquired with IFRA.
Dr Barbara Morovich is the new director of IFRA-Nigeria since 1st September 2022. She is a trained archaeologist (Univ. of Trieste), a doctor in social and cultural anthropology (EHESS Paris 2003,) and associate professor in Anthropology at the "Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture" of the University of Strasbourg (France). She studies socio-spatial and cultural transformations in relation to "minority" heritage emergences in disadvantaged and stigmatised contexts.
- Hi ! Could you please introduce yourself to the readers ?
I’m a social anthropologist (PhD) of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences sociales (Paris) and have a previous diploma in archaeology from the University of Trieste (Italy), my city of birth. I have worked for 10 years in African countries, in Kenya and Chad, before becoming Associate Professor with Habilitation (HDR) at the University of Strasbourg. There I teach and conduct research in social sciences within the department of Architecture.
- Can you talk to us about one project that you've conducted in the past that you've particularly enjoyed ?
Since 2016, I’m conducting a pluridisciplinary research (anthropology and geography) about « uncertain heritage » at the Drill Hall in Johannesburg in South Africa. It’s a heritage space within the inner city in link with the anti-apartheid struggle. Since its renovation in 2004, the Drill Hall didn’t find a proper destination and is progressively abandoned by the institutions. During this suspended time, it is occupied by associations of artists, projects of urban gardening or social utility, migrants, some churches etc.This fieldwork allowed me to understand how minoritarian groups struggle for space, economy and self-accomplishment and how they build narratives taking into account the very rich history of this space. Also, these groups are keeping the Drill Hall in a quite acceptable state, even if they are not recognized by the governement and the State.
- What exactly will you be doing at IFRA ?
As the director, I will coordinate and lead the different projects of the institute. I also hope to be able to find new partners universities, in West Africa and Europe. I intend as well to continue to operate within the Institute of African Studies, with common workshops, seminars and other pedagogical initiatives.
- What are your most excited about coming to Nigeria ?
It’s to have the possibility to look at this moment of the history (post-pandemic, ecological crisis, emergence of a feminist movement…) from this particular point of view - how will Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa and a growing global society, deal with these major issues ?
- Last and important question: what is your pepe threshold ?
I have a great appetite for anything new: I just have to try not to get indigestion and take my time to fully understand the habits, culture and places. Laiyara, I would say in Yoruba !
Adekunmi Adeleke is an IFRA-fellow and a Ph.D student at the University of Ibadan Nigeria, and Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INALCO), Paris. He discusses his experience in Paris.
Social Media
Mailing List