Africa is a Country; the academic edition

Between them Wayne Marshall and Martin Murray pointed me to these 2 panels at the recent annual meeting of the American Geographical Association that took place here in New York City:

Africa is not a country: Challenges and opportunities in teaching about Africa I (Sponsored by Graduate Student Affinity Group, Geography Education Specialty Group, Africa Specialty Group)

Room: Carnegie Suite East, Sheraton, Third Floor (Panel Session)
ORGANIZER(S): Ryan Good, University of Florida; Amelia Duffy-Tumasz, Rutgers University
CHAIR(S): Kathleen Dietrich
Panelists: Seth Appiah-Opoku, University of Alabama;
Janet Puhalla, Saginaw Valley State University;
James Saku, Frostburg State University;
Ibipo Johnston-Anumonwo, SUNY Cortland;
Veronica Ouma, Hofstra University

Africa is not a country: Challenges and opportunities in teaching about Africa II (Sponsored by Graduate Student Affinity Group, Geography Education Specialty Group, Africa Specialty Group)

Room: Carnegie Suite East, Sheraton, Third Floor (Panel Session)
ORGANIZER(S): Ryan Good, University of Florida; Kathleen Dietrich
CHAIR(S): Amelia Duffy-Tumasz, Rutgers University
Panelists: Jennifer Bjerke, Rutgers;
Sarah Smiley, Kent State University at Salem;
Hilary Hungerford, University of Kansas;
William Y. Osei, Algoma University

Anybody who attended and who has some feedback?

Further Reading

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.

Empire’s middlemen

From Portuguese Goa to colonial Kampala, Mahmood Mamdani’s latest book shows how India became an instrument of empire, and a scapegoat in its aftermath.

À qui s’adresse la CAN ?

Entre le coût du transport aérien, les régimes de visas, la culture télévisuelle et l’exclusion de classe, le problème de l’affluence à la CAN est structurel — et non le signe d’un manque de passion des supporters.

Lions in the rain

The 2025 AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco was a dramatic spectacle that tested the limits of the match and the crowd, until a defining moment held everything together.