CANCELLED: CAS Lecture Series: The Absent Foundation: Indigenous Knowledge in Africa’s Advancement Discourse

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Speaker/Performer: 
Chika Ezeanya Esiobu
Henry R. Luce Hall (LUCE ), 203 See map
34 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

Creativity, innovation and other determinants of accelerated national advancement spring from that kind of knowledge that is widely diffused and deep-rooted in society. Such knowledge is needed to produce individuals who are able to quickly and correctly diagnose challenges and generate ideas in response. Across Africa, indigenous knowledge is that widely dispersed knowledge that boasts meaningful, deep and unenforced attachment with the majority. Despite decades of being suppressed, or at best marginalized, many Africans continue to spontaneously identify with indigenous knowledge across sectors and disciplines. In many parts of the world, a deep connection to indigenous knowledge has been historically harnessed for the strengthening of knowledge systems and consequently, cross-sectoral national expansion. Across sub-Saharan Africa, however, indigenous knowledge is often unexplored or at most, consigned to the periphery of policy action. For Africa’s accelerated advancement to be generated, not only for the continent’s interest but for all of humanity, there is need to make indigenous knowledge foundational in all conversations and actions including health, agriculture, education, governance, technology and architecture.