#  A Decade of Impact: Celebrating 10 Years of the Harvard Center for African Studies. 

 





**Marking a Milestone and Celebration, While Charting the Future of Harvard and Africa**.



 

June 03, 2025

 

 

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 ![10 Years](/sites/g/files/omnuum9081/files/2025-07/screenshot_2025-06-02_at_6.26.53_pm_0.png)

 

*Cambridge, USA* - As the academic year came to a close with last week’s Commencement celebration, we also marked a major milestone: the 10th anniversary of the Harvard Center for African Studies. The 2024–2025 academic year commemorates ten years of CAS as a University-wide Center, formally launched in 2014 with a mission to support the highest quality research, teaching, and intellectual engagement on Africa at Harvard and through partnerships across the continent.

In early May, the Center brought together faculty, students, staff, and friends from across the University to reflect on the past ten years—and to think boldly about the future. The evening began with a dinner and a welcome from Dr. Zoe Marks, Oppenheimer Faculty Director of CAS, who introduced and honored the Center’s founding faculty and key institutional champions. Remarks followed from Dean of Social Sciences Larry Bobo; Founding Faculty Director Caroline Elkins, Professor of History and of African and African American Studies (FAS) and Professor at Harvard Business School; and Professor Jacob Olupona, Chair of African and African American Studies, and Professor of African Religious Traditions (HDS/FAS).

- [Watch CAS 10 Year Celebration Highlight Video](https://vimeo.com/1086134266?share=copy)

The dinner featured a collaborative discussion inviting guests to reflect on major strategic questions shaping the future of Harvard’s relationship with Africa. Guests explored themes such as the greatest challenges and opportunities African countries and subregions may face in the next 100 years; the role of knowledge creation and exchange in responding to them; how CAS should prioritize its work with students, researchers, and practitioners; the values and investments required to build a thriving pan-Harvard African Studies community; and the key African leaders and scholars who should be central to our work in the years ahead.

A keynote panel discussion moderated by Mark Elliott, Vice Provost for International Affairs, featured past and present Faculty Directors of CAS: Professors Emmanuel Akyeampong, Caroline Elkins, Wafaie Fawzi, and Zoe Marks. The panel reflected on the unique moment CAS was created and how the Center has evolved over the past decade. They shared insights on how African Studies at Harvard has taken root across disciplines and Schools, the role of the Africa in the global landscape, and what a university-wide commitment to Africa might look like in the years to come.

 ![CAS 10 Years Panel](/sites/g/files/omnuum9081/files/2025-07/tempImageCTHmwe.jpeg)

 

- [Watch CAS Past and Present Faculty Director Panel Discussion](https://vimeo.com/1085839439?share=copy)

To conclude the gathering, the Africa Office Director—Nthatisi Quella—shared a message of celebration and reflection from Johannesburg, South Africa. She uplifted the Center’s work over the years and emphasized the importance of building long-term, reciprocal relationships with institutions and leaders across the continent—relationships that remain foundational to the Center’s mission.



 

For additional visual highlights, follow the Center for African Studies on our social media platforms. Stay engaged with us as we enter our second decade—deepening our commitment to scholarship, expanding our partnerships across the continent, and strengthening the bridge between Harvard and Africa for generations to come.



 

 

 



 

 

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