Community
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is more than a phrase.
It represents an understanding of human life rooted in relationship, dignity, and community.
At Mikaelson Institute for African Studies, Ubuntu informs how we understand intellectual life. Knowledge does not exist only for the person who discovers it, it must strengthen the community.
In practice, Ubuntu is the Institute’s free, cohort-based learning program in African history: no tuition, no application fee. Our goal is to reach 10,000,000 students and researchers across the continent and its diaspora, building a shared, rigorous foundation in African history and thought.
Strengthen
Knowledge can strengthen a community and build collective power.
Preserve
It can preserve a memory that institutions have tried to erase.
Challenge
It can challenge an institution and demand systemic change.
Language
It gives language to an experience that was previously unutterable.
Understand
It helps a generation understand itself and its place in history.
Carry Forward
Scholarship is carried forward into the relationships that give it meaning.
Cohort Offerings
We are building a community of scholars, readers, and practitioners who believe African intellectual life deserves serious, generous attention.
Reading Groups
Small, recurring groups working through shared texts on history, decolonization, and society.
Public Lectures
Open lectures bringing scholars, writers, and thinkers into conversation with the public.
Seminars
Scholars presenting their work and taking questions in a recurring, open seminar series.
Research Conversations
Structured discussions among researchers and scholars working on related questions.
Fellowships
Opportunities for scholars to engage deeply with the Institute's community and intellectual life.
Student Programmes
Pathways into serious African scholarship for emerging researchers and students.
Community Archives
Working with communities to document and preserve their own knowledge and histories.
Cultural Conversations
Recognizing that art, music, literature, and lived culture are crucial forms of knowing.
Join Cohort 01.
Knowledge carried forward because we carry one another. Embark on a transformative journey into African history.