Southern African Development Community (SADC) Ambassador Relay Lecture Series Concludes

January 23, 2025

As a compulsory subject for first-year students in the African Area Studies major, the School of International and Area Studies holds a lecture series by ambassadors from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) every Wednesday in the second period of the Fall quarter. With the support of the embassies of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Japan, this series has been held since the African Area Studies major was established in 2012 to promote exchange between Japan and the countries of Southern Africa. The ambassadors and diplomats from 12 Southern African countries gave lectures on a variety of topics, including the history, politics and economy of their respective countries.

This year's lectures began on Wednesday, October 9th, 2024, and a total of 11 lectures were given by January 15th.

Second Half of the Lecture Series
【No. 8】Wednesday, December 4: Ms. TOTOZAFY Harisoa Veronique, Chargé d'Affaires a. i., Embassy of the Republic of Madagascar
【No. 9】Wednesday, December 11: Ms. Mamasupha SOLE, Chargé d'affaire a.i., Embassy of the Kingdom of Lesotho
【No. 10】Wednesday, January 8: H.E. Major General Gotsileene MORAKE, Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Republic of Botswana
【No. 11】Wednesday, January 15: Mr. Cabral LAUREANO NETO, Counselor, Embassy of the Republic of Angola,

Online classes continued during the coronavirus pandemic, but we returned to face-to-face classes for the first time in four years last year, and we again held face-to-face classes this year. The lecturers prepared original teaching materials and put a lot of thought into the content of their lectures, and they proceeded with the classes in easy-to-understand English. The themes covered were wide-ranging, including nature and geography, political developments from independence from colonial powers to the present day, economic and industrial trends, and cooperative relations with Japan. The students asked a variety of questions based on their prior studies of individual countries, and enjoyed lively exchanges with the diplomats. Each unique class is a rare opportunity for students to come into contact with Africa. As globalization progresses, both Japan and Africa are changing significantly. While valuing an equal relationship in which we share various issues on the same level, we hope to further develop this class as a place for coexistence and learning between Africa and Japan.

Contact

Prof. Makiko Sakai, Department of African Area Studies (sakai_makiko[at]tufs.ac.jp)
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