African Universities in the Twenty-first Century. Volume I: Liberalisation and Internationalisation

Edited by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza Adebayo Olukoshi

Dakar, CODESRIA, 2004; 350 p., 2-86978-125-3

As the twenty-first century unfolds, African universities and indeed universities everywhere, are undergoing unprecedented change and confronting multiple challenges brought about by the vast and complex processes of globalisation and technological change. Powerful internal and external forces – political, pecuniary and paradigmatic – are reconfiguring all aspects of university life constituted around the triple mission of teaching, research and service.

The need for redefining the role and defending the importance of universities has never been greater. How are African universities trying to balance the demands of autonomy and accountability, expansion and excellence, equity and efficiency, diversification and differentiation, internationalisation and indigenisation in the face of liberalization and privatisation, and as they address the new challenges of knowledge production and dissemination, of Africanising global scholarship and globalising African scholarship? What innovative approaches can they adopt to facilitate the sustainable development of African economies, societies, and polities?

The two volumes in series address these issues. They articulate new values and missions for African universities, and define effective strategies to meet the challenges. Written by some of Africa’s leading educators, Volume I examines the implications of the neoliberal reforms and the new information technologies on African higher education, while Volume II interrogates the changing social dynamics of knowledge production, university organization, and public service and engagement.

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza is a historian, literary critic, novelist and short-story writer, a professor of African studies and history at Pennsylvania State University, and formerly director of the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois. He is the author of scores of essays and more than a dozen books, including most recently, the and . He is the winner of the 1994 Noma Award and the 1998 Special Commendation of the Noma Award. He has published extensively on contemporary politics in Africa. Rethinking Africa’s Globalization Routledge Encyclopaedia of Twentieth Century African History Science and Technology in Africa

Adebayo Olukoshi graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Leeds University, England, and is Professor of International Relations. He was Director of Research at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, and Programme Officer at the Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala. He is currently Executive Secretary of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Dakar.