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Fondation Oumou Dilly

Thought piece #1 – Lerato Posholi: Decolonization and African scholarship: Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s cautionary tale

Thought piece #1 - Lerato Posholi: Decolonization and African scholarship: Olúfémi Táíwò’s cautionary tale November 2023 The term decolonization and calls for decolonizing practices have been popular in African scholarship and elsewhere. Philosopher Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s book "Against Decolonization: Taking African Agency Seriously" presents a scathing critique of the continued use of decolonization especially in scholarship on Africa. The core argument of the book is that using decolonization as an analytical lens in scholarship on Africa is harmful and undermines African ...
Adwoa Bobie

Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie – a career update

Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie - a career update My path crossed with Foundation Oumou Dilly at the maiden edition of the CODESERIA Summer School in 2015. The programme was organized in Dakar, Senegal, in collaboration with the Centre for African Studies of the University of Basel. After the Summer School, there was an opportunity to apply for a full PhD scholarship among participants of which I won. The Foundation sponsored my four-year PhD programme at the Centre for African Studies (Sociology ...
Antoinette Lamana

Antoinette Danebaï Lamana – a Spring in Basel: a sojourn between the Academy and Culture, renewing oneself!

Antoinette Danebaï Lamana - a Spring in Basel: a sojourn between the Academy and Culture, renewing oneself! I started my stay in Basel for a semester in February 2023: a spring semester on wheels... a time when, literally and figuratively, the harshness of winter gives way to renewal. First, a working environment reminiscent of chalets, a view over the River Rhine at the Center for African Studies, and many researchers. Warm support from the entire Centre team in general and, ...
Albert Tibaijuka

Albert Tibaijuka – it feels like a homecoming

Albert Tibaijuka - it feels like a homecoming Receiving a postdoc fellowship from the Oumou Dilly Foundation to join the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel, feels like a homecoming. I was in Basel between 2012 and 2016 for my PhD studies. My stay in the city at the time was a great honour and a tremendous experience, which broadened my horizons in a very remarkable manner. Back in Tanzania, the nostalgia followed me all along like ...
Mamadou Soma

Mamadou Soma – un jeune comédien à l’Accademia Teatro Dimitri à Versico

Mamadou Soma - un jeune comédien à l'Accademia Teatro Dimitri à Versico Je suis arrivé en Suisse en novembre 2020 pour suivre un Master en théâtre physique à l'Accademia Teatro Dimitri à Verscio. Il faut noter que ce n'était pas ma première fois de venir en Europe. Mais cette année était particulière à cause de la pandémie qui avait fait que tout était fermé. Malgré le fait que tout était clos, l'école a gardé ses portes ouvertes. Ce fut une ...
Fousseyni Touré

Fousseyni Touré – De Bamako à Bâle : une expérience inoubliable

Fousseyni Touré – De Bamako à Bâle : une expérience inoubliable Je suis arrivé à Bâle un dimanche 9 septembre 2019. Les objectifs du séjour étaient la recherche et la participation aux activités scientifiques de Centre d’Etudes Africaines de l’Université de Bâle (CEAB). Du tain qui me ramenait de Zurich, mes premières impressions ont d’abord porté sur la beauté du paysage. Mon séjour à Bâle est le fruit d’une rencontre scientifique qui a eue lieu à Dakar lors de l’école ...
Lerato Posholi

Lerato Posholi – Basel: a beautiful calm city for intellectual life

Lerato Posholi – Basel: a beautiful calm city for intellectual life I came to Basel with the goal to spend a few months doing some focused reading for and writing of my PhD, as well as to open up opportunities to engage with international scholars from a wide variety of disciplines and to form new friendships. I am now six months into my one-year research visit, and I can happily say that the University of Basel has been the best ...
Calvin Minfegue

Calvin Minfegue – Opening up to the diversity of a city…

Calvin Minfegue – Opening up to the diversity of a city… Being awarded a fellowship from the Oumou Dilly Foundation for joining the Centre for African Studies at the University of Basel was a fantastic opportunity in my academic career but also to be immerged in Basel as a city. Basel appears to me as a structured living space marked by the nourishing udder of the Rhine, which seems to give it a particular imprint. Basel is also a striking ...
photo: Tina Goin Lou Virginie Tra

Tina Goin Lou Virginie Tra – Une belle histoire d’amour entre une étudiante et la ville de Bâle

Tina Goin Lou Virginie Tra – Une belle histoire d’amour entre une étudiante et la ville de Bâle Lauréate de la bourse du canton de Bâle pour des recherches doctorales, je suis arrivée à Bâle en Mars 2015. La Suisse a été ma première expérience dans un pays Européen et deuxième expérience hors de la Côte d’Ivoire après le Kenya, en Afrique de l’Est. Cette expérience a néanmoins été facilitée par des chercheurs venus de la Suisse avec qui j’ai ...
photo: Charles Nomwendé Tiendrebéogo

Charles Nomwendé Tiendrebéogo – Je suis arrivé en Suisse

Charles Nomwendé Tiendrebéogo – Je suis arrivé en Suisse Je suis arrivé en Suisse en Septembre 2015 pour un master à l’Accademia Teatro Dimitri. La Suisse avec ses cantons aux paysages magiques, son eau plus que potable, la diversité de ses langues et leur coexistence intelligente, m’ont beaucoup impressionné. Mais par-dessus tout, c’est sa culture théâtrale, la liberté et la créativité de ses artistes qui ont surtout retenu mon attention. De Lausanne à Zurich en passant par Verscio, j’ai pu ...
photo: Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie

Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie – I came with no expectations

Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie – I came with no expectations I arrived in Basel in September 2016 and it was my first time in Europe. I came with no expectations, I was ready for any experience that awaits me, and I have had thrills of experiences. My first impression of Basel was the calmness of the city and how that shapes everything that goes on. The calmness produces warmth and security which can almost be felt tangibly. You immediately feel welcomed ...
photo: Aïdas Sanogo

Aïdas Sanogo – Blessed and Lucky

Aïdas Sanogo – Blessed and Lucky I was blessed and lucky to get a twelve-month scholarship from the Oumou Dilly Foundation to fund my fourth PhD year at the University of Basel. This funding allowed me to stay in Basel to pursue my doctoral studies. The city of Basel, located right between Germany, France and Switzerland, is a beautiful town, which has a lot to offer. There are about 40 museums for culture lovers, the opportunity to swim in a ...
Amal A. Abdrabo

Amal A. Abdrabo – Joining the Center for African Studies

Amal A. Abdrabo - Joining the Center for African Studies Joining the Center for African Studies at Basel University in Switzerland as a visiting scholar on a six-month Oumou Dilly postdoc fellowship (2017-2018) was a great opportunity to expand my academic and personal perspectives ...

Victoria Osei-Bonsu – My Basel Experience

Victoria Osei-Bonsu – My Basel Experience I first arrived in Basel on the 4th of October, 2013. It was another kind of experience for me! Even though I had already been to France, to the US and was a regular visitor to the UK, I still could not help but have a cultural shock upon arrival in Basel. For one thing the language was different. Apart from English, I speak passably good French, and some Spanish. But here I was ...
Fondation Oumou Dilly

Valentin Bognan Koné – Mon expérience à Bâle

Valentin Bognan Koné – Mon expérience à Bâle Mon expérience à Bâle, dans le cadre de la préparation de ma thèse, financée par la Fondation Oumou Dilly, mérite d’être appelée le tremplin de mon ouverture sur le monde. Cette opportunité m’a permis de quitter mon cocoon ivoirien et de vivre une aventure enrichissante en connaissances scientifiques, mais surtout linguistique et culturelle ...
Zoumana Sidibe

Zoumana Sidibe – A Photographer in Ghana

Zoumana Sidibe – A Photographer in Ghana My Name is Zoumana Sidibe, I am a photographer currently in Ghana. I am here for a 6 months training in English sponsored by the Fondation Oumou Dilly; I am studying at the Centre of Languages and professional studies (CELPS). The first month I was in a class of 20 students from different countries. This integration has an important moment for me to learn and share experiences. For some years, Ghana has become ...
Mamane Sani

Mamane Sani – La première fois je quitte mon pays

Mamane Sani – La première fois je quitte mon pays La première fois je quitte mon pays était pour aller en France. Un grand saut pour quelqu’un, anthropologue de surcroit qui marche pour la première fois au-delà des frontières de son pays. C’était le premier d’une succession de séjours alternés entre ce beau pays et mes terres d’origine ...
Nestor Zante

Nestor Zante – Ma présence à l’université de Bâle

Nestor Zante - Ma présence à l’université de Bâle Ma présence à l’université de Bâle, se résume à quatre semestres de collaboration, de rencontres, d’amitiés, de partage, d’acquisition d’expériences ainsi que de fortunes diverses et de belles aventures dans la recherche ...