Geographies of Orientalism and Racism in Colonial German East Africa To Be Subject of Lecture

Jennifer Kopf, who is currently completing her doctoral dissertation on the material effects of racism and anti-Islamic animus on transportation, labor, and education systems in the protectorate of German East Africa, at the University of Kentucky, will deliver the third lecture in the philosophy department's Reimagining Africa series. Her talk, titled “Geographies of Orientalism and Racism in Colonial German East Africa,” will be Tuesday, February 27, in room 202 of Skinner Hall at 4:30 pm. Series organizer Emmanuel Eze, visiting assistant professor of philosophy, describes the series as “conversations designed to present fresh voices exploring both the world pictures framing multiple discourses about Africa and the ordinary fabric and institutions of everyday life on the continent.”

Kopf will inquire into the material effects of Orientalism and racism on processes of colonialism in German East Africa. German colonial administrators perceived Islam to be a major challenge to their rule. Their writings describe it as not only a religion, but also a political force and a means of organizing society, as well as an economic competitor. Based on German records from East Africa stored in the German and Tanzanian National Archives, Kopf will describe German colonial understandings of and responses to this multidimensional threat.

The next talk in the series will be given April 27 by Nwando Achebe, assistant professor of history at UCLA and the daughter of the esteemed Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe. Her lecture is titled “Farmers, Traders, Warriors, and Kings: Female Power and Authority in Northern Igboland, 1900–1960.”