The Story of Swahili Panel Discussion

The Department of African and African American Studies, the Center for African Studies, and the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research will host a panel discussion on The Story of Swahili. The Story of Swahili, written by Harvard University Professor John Mugane, is about where languages come from, where they are at, and where they are headed, using the success of Swahili as a convenient point of entry. As a language that arose from contact between peoples from diverse cultures, Swahili is an excellent conveyor of the history of communities in eastern and central Africa as well as their associations throughout the Indian Ocean world. It is also a vibrant, living language that continues to adapt itself to the changing demands of global trade, technology, and communication.John Mugane is the Director of the African Language program in the Department of African and African American Studies. He is a linguist specializing in African languages and is the Professor of the Practice of African Languages and Cultures at Harvard University. Mugane has been the Director of the language program since 2003 developing the teaching of African languages and cultures.