ZEF Public Lecture: Can we deconstruct the Ivory Tower? - Balancing journalistic and scientific writing styles for a broader audience

October 10, 2024 | 13:30 h - 14:30 h

We'd like to invite you to our upcoming Public Lecture!

Topic: Can we deconstruct the Ivory Tower? - Balancing journalistic and scientific writing styles for a broader audience

Speakers: Anna Balkenhol and Janine Traber (informationsstelle südliches afrika e.V. - ISSA)

How to join

The lecture will be held in hybrid mode (zoom and in-person at ZEF). 
You can join us in-person at ZEF, ground floor, Conference Room, Genscherallee 3, 53113 Bonn,
or online via Zoom: https://uni-bonn.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/u5UqdeuvqjkjE9TOfd1Wpuvavu-Xei2q0u0J

Abstract

The seminar will provide insights in to issa's strategies for disseminating information work of academic quality to broader public audiences. The non-profit association looks back on over 50 years of experience in being an information centre and discussion space on Southern Africa. Having been founded as part of the Anti-Apartheid solidarity movement in Germany, the association is nowadays covering a wide range of subjects, ranging from politics to socio-economical, environmental, and cultural issues. Being officially recognised as a scientific publication by “VG Wort”, the association’s journal afrika süd, which is published in German, is navigating the difficult path between staying true to the precise language of academic information that is necessary to comprise the respective complexity of historic entanglements, globalised networks, and environmental change, and the modes through which to “translate” it to reach and interest a broader kind of recipient. Trying to stay true to ou r ideals of providing a platform for African authors to make their perspectives heard can be a challenging task as well. Synergising different ontological schools and writing styles that do not necessarily match the German mainstream often demands a lot of mediation. However, we are convinced that a well-informed public and an independent press, both in Germany and on the African continent, is necessary for a change towards a more democratic world in which human rights are globally valued. In our presentation at ZEF, instead of giving a fixed lecture, we wish to share the challenges and opportunities of knowledge production across different cultural and societal backgrounds and engage. In an open discussion, we hope to exchange about further possibilities of public science communication as well as decolonial publishing methods.

Biographies

Anna Balkenhol, general manager of issa e.V., has a Master's degree in Regional Studies of Latin America from the University of Salamanca. She has been working for the ‘informationsstelle südliches afrika e.V.’ since 2015, contributes to the VHS lecture series ‘Afrikanische Aspekte’ and is an editorial member of the journal afrika süd. She specializes in South-North issues and post-colonial perspectives, with a regional focus on the SADC region, particularly Zimbabwe.

Since 2022, Janine Traber is the editorial assistant for issa’s journal afrika süd and since recently she is producing the podcast Der weiße Blick for the association. She is currently pursuing her PhD in African Studies at the University of Cologne in which she is researching migration from Senegal to Europe and the influence of European mobility on it.