Africa Research Interest Group (AFRIG)

AFRIG promotes research and scholarly activity that draws on African knowledge systems and themes.

The group consists of, but will not be limited to, academic and research staff of African origin from across all ARU schools and faculties. Colleagues with an interest in African research will be welcomed as the group grows.

We also recognise that ethnic minority staff tend to be isolated, hence the need for a network that provides social capital and collaborative opportunities in research. The group will act as a collaborative network of academic and research staff of African origin.

Contact us

For more information, contact Irine Mano at [email protected] and Tarisai Chikomba at [email protected].

Conferences

Our 2024 conference took place on 18 July at ARU in Chelmsford. The theme was Curriculum Integration, Diversification and the Role of the African Academic and a conference report is available.

Our inaugural conference took place in Chelmsford on 23 June 2023, on the theme of Preserving African Culture and Heritage.

Current activity

We're celebrating World Book Day 2025 by showcasing some of our favourite books by Group members.

We are currently working on 'Policy and Practice Dilemma in African Higher Education Institutions', an article submission to The Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning.

In September 2024, AFRIG was represented at the BERA Conference in Manchester. Having submitted an abstract, we were invited to present our paper, African Higher Education: The Dilemma between Policy and Practice. Representing AFRIG, Samson Tsegay, Irine Mano, Chinenye Ubah and Tarisai Chikomba presented their findings which were well received. In addition to presentation, we were also able to network and meet with other people who were interested in potential future collaborations.