News

As part of its programme on Digital Humanities and thanks to the funding of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IFRA-Nigeria has launched a new research project on the religious architectural heritage of Ibadan. Drawing from the fields of Digital Humanities, Architecture and the Socio-anthropology of religion, the objective is to map out, research and analyse the rich history and diverse aesthetics of all religious buildings in the capital of Oyo State. This project will run until April 2024. 

A workshop gathering academics and professionals with a specific interest in the topic took place on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 October 2022. The objective was to sum-up the existing research and literature on the topic and map out key future topics of research and engagement. The workshop was well-attended, with more than 35 people physically present at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan and up to a dozen online. 

As part of both its programmes on Digital Humanities and on Nigerian religious dynamics, IFRA-Nigeria is launching a new research project on the religious architectural heritage of Ibadan. Drawing from the fields of Digital Humanities, Architecture and the Socio-anthropology of religion, the objective is to map out, research and analyse the rich history and diverse aesthetics of all religious buildings in the capital of Oyo State. 

A workshop gathering academics and professionals with a specific interest in the project will take place on Wednesday 19 and Thursday 20 October 2022 at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. The objective is to sum-up the existing research and literature on the topic and map out key future topics of research and engagement. Click to know more about the programme and RSVP.

As part of both its programmes on Digital Humanities and on Nigerian religious dynamics, IFRA-Nigeria is launching a new research project on the religious architectural heritage of Ibadan. Drawing from the fields of Digital Humanities, Architecture and the Socio-anthropology of religion, the objective is to map out, research and analyse the rich history and diverse aesthetics of all religious buildings in the capital of Oyo State. The project also has a strong training component, in order to develop the use of digital tools for the analysis and protection of religious architectural heritage. Finally, it aims at promoting the results of the project to a wider audience with the objective of sensitising the public on the need for preservation of this heritage. 

In 2022, the biennial ASAUK Conference will be broadcast live at IFRA-Nigeria. The conference titled titled: “Diaspora Remittance Flows: Restitution, Culture and Capital” will be broadcast live from IFRA-Nigeria on Wednesday 31st August. On Thursday, 1st September the conference will be broadcast from Nairobi and the final part of the online conference will be broadcast from Liverpool on Friday 2nd September, jointly chaired by the ASAUK and RAS presidents.

This conference took place in-person and online at IFRA-Nigeria on Thursday 31st August from 10:30am to 3:30pm. With generous funding from the British Academy we were able to allow free online attendance for the Nigerian audience and to host an in-person roundtable discussion at IFRA-Nigeria at the University of Ibadan.

IFRA-Nigeria organizes  a talk with Chloë Mayoux, PhD Canditate from the Department of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science, on the theme: “Negotiating Nuclear Narratives in Late Colonial Nigeria”. The event took place on Tuesday 16th August at 3pm (WAT, Lagos) on Zoom.

Her paper was discussed by Leye Komolafe, PhD Candidate from the Department of Philosophy, University of Ibadan.

L'IFRA-Nigeria est partie prenante d'un appel à candidatures pour bourses de recherche proposé par le Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Etrangères et le réseau des UMIFRE. L'appel vise à soutenir la jeune recherche en islamologie en proposant des bourses de terrain d’une durée de trois mois à destination de masterants et de six mois à destination de doctorant/es et jeunes docteur/es poursuivant des recherches dans ce domaine. Les boursiers et boursières pourront être accueilli/es par l'IFRA-Nigeria ainsi que par les autres centres membres du réseau des UMIFRE et d’autres instituts de recherche partenaires du programme.

On May 31st 2022, IFRA-Nigeria offered a workshop on "How to apply for post-doc and academic positions in Europe" for its Fellows. During this workshop, Dr Vincent Hiribarren shared his best practices to apply for scholarships, post-doc and academic positions in Europe.

"With my drawings, I have no interest in reproducing an exact ‘reality’ but in transmitting a lived experience, so it is less about exactitude and precision than narration and emotions. I see this tool as useful/necessary in my research practice: it completes my daily note taking, it is reflexive, since I include myself in the drawings."

Salomé Isibhenmen Okoekpen, a PhD student from the Global Studies Institute in the University of Geneva (Switzerland), currently hosted as a guest researcher at IFRA-Nigeria, shares in this interview about her research in anthropology on Muslim women’s engagement in religious associations and/or organisations in rural towns of  South-West Nigeria which includes drawings as a method.  

IFRA-Nigeria organised a Roundtable on the History Curriculum Reform on Tuesday 14 June, 2022, from 9am to 5pm. The conference took place at Drapers Hall, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan and online. See the videos of the event below.

IFRA-Nigeria and the Center for Housing and Sustainable Development CHSD-UniLag organized a One-day Roundtable by & for Early-Career Researchers on "Urban Lives and Environmental Changes". The Roundtable took place on May 10th in the University of Lagos from 9am to 4pm.

This Roundtable was co-organized by early-career researchers from the Center of Housing and Sustainable Development (CHSD), University of Lagos and IFRA-Nigeria (Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan), and is part of a collaborative conference series organized by the Institut Français du Nigéria, the French Embassy in Nigeria and IFRA-Nigeria.

A special issue of the  internationally renowned journal Politique Africaine adresses the theme "The Moral Landscapes of Drugs in Africa". Link to special issue (2021/3): https://www.cairn.info/revue-politique-africaine-2021-3.htm

Based on the papers of this issue, IFRA-Nigeria organised an online seminar on Wednesday 27 April from 4pm to 6pm (WAT, Lagos & UTC+1, London).

Research on drugs in Africa has struggled to rid itself of assumptions inherited from the colonial period and the global war on drugs launched in the 1980s. Existing research on drugs (cannabis, cocaine and opiates) is often commissioned by states and is part of a primarily political and security agenda. In the context of growing public debate on the legalisation of drugs, such as cannabis, in several African countries, as well as the continued predominance of prohibitionist discourses, this special issue is timely. Contributions to the special issue aim to challenge existing research on drugs and break with an approach that remains mostly focussed on security.

Throughout spring 2022, Institut Français du Nigéria, the French Embassy in Nigeria and IFRA-Nigeria will be organising a collaborative conference series on environmental changes. To celebrate Earth Day, they organised  a conference entitled: "Challenges & Practicalities for a Transition to Sustainable Societies: Insights from France and Nigeria."
The roundtable was held at Alliance Française Lagos / Mike Adenuga Center (Ikoyi, Lagos) on April 21st from 6pm to 8pm.

At the beginning of 2022, Prof Adekola Kolawole, Department of Archaelogy, University of Ibadan, was hosted for one-month research stay at Craham, Center for Archaeological and Historical Research in Ancient and Medieval Times, University of Caen (UniCaen).

Based on two current fieldworks conducted in Osun Grove, Osogbo and Victoria Island, Lagos, this exhibition presented some of the materials produced during these research projects in order to capture and render the sensitive dimension of spaces. This visual and sound installation presented maps, photographs, and sound recordings. Te opening in the presence of the artist and researchers was held on April 5th, at 3pm in the Hall of the Institute of African Studies, UI.