Ife Summit Institute Programme Begins

The 6^th edition of the Summer Institute Programme by the Ife Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS) has commenced. The programme, which draws Nigerian intellectuals from the Diaspora as well as their African counterparts started in 2017.

For this year, according to the Convener, Harvard University Professor, Jacob K. Olupona, NNOM, FNAL, the sessions will take on an exciting hybrid format. The two-week programme chaired by the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife Vice Chancellor, Prof. Simeon Adebayo Bamire, will be held both Online (Zoom) and physically at the Africa Centre of Excellence (ACE) Hall.

With the theme for the 2022 edition, “The Future of the Academy: Skills for Transformative Pedagogy, Theory, and Practice,”the objective of the Summer Institute programme is to facilitate and foster innovative research among young scholars in the academy, particularly those in the humanities, social sciences, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by exposing them to relevant theoretical and methodological tools in their respective disciplines.

The gathering, according to Olupona will allow Fellows to deepen their knowledge and capacities through workshops, lectures, field trips, peer-sharing, and networking sessions.  They will also be trained on how to creatively respond to challenges posed by global needs, issues, and events. This year’s IIAS’s summer programme is being anchored by an impressive number of senior scholars from Nigeria and abroad engaging a wide range of themes and issues that are designed to deepen the understanding of research and teaching mission in the academy.

The keynote address for this year will be delivered by Professor Olufemi O. Vaughan, the Alfred Sargent Lee’ 41 and Mary Farley Ames Lee Professor of Black Studies at Amherst College, United States of America. Participants are expected this year from Nigeria, USA, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Pakistan, Angola, Algeria, Ghana, Belgium, and, Switzerland.