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The University of Nairobi (UoN) is set to launch the African Centre for the Study of the United States of America (ACSUS).
Billed as a definitive hub for African-generated knowledge of the US, the centre will formally be opened on November 10th, according to the Chairperson of the Department of Diplomacy and International Studies at UoN Dr. Patrick Maluki. Maluki said the launch of the centre is a step forward for Kenyans in their quest to have a deeper understanding of the US.
“Kenya, just like any other society, is curious in understanding other societies outside its borders,” Maluki said on Monday.
ACSUS is designed to build extensive, multi and interdisciplinary, incisive, and cutting-edge perspectives on the US while availing opportunities to probe topics such as the USA’s political diplomacy, internal dynamics, diaspora matters, and its place as a world superpower.
The centre, which will be guided by the current University of Nairobi People Policy, will provide information about American businesses, culture, arts among other issues. It will also play a major role in promoting Kenya-US bilateral relations.
In addition, the centre is expected to work towards promoting Kenya’s capital Nairobi, and its diplomatic appeal. Maluki said the centre will be instrumental in positioning Nairobi as the most suitable location to host the next Sister Cities International Conference in 2024 after the Johannesburg summit next year.
“Nairobi will be competing with the city of Casablanca in Morocco and Acra in Ghana. Nairobi is a resource that needs to be harnessed and this is why the university exists. So that it can bring out some of these issues so that they can inform policy,” he added.
Sister Cities International was created at President Eisenhower’s 1956 White House conference on citizen diplomacy.
Comments
@Anonymous! This is close to ' Comparative education course' studied in Kenyan Universities but now will be a broader course.Unfortunately your likes kissed school bye bye at grade 8 and portray their ignorance innocently like you have done. In US and many other versities world wide they have "think tanks" that specialize in foreign cultural behaviors like Russian, Asian, African etc and this plays crucial role in understanding what others think and act the way they do. So please engage your brains before you put your mouth into gear.Careful when portraying your ignorance publicly sir!
Wow - really, the study of the US, why? Why not open a center for something tangible and realistic that would actually help in poverty reduction, combat diseases, malnutrition, etc? Oh, the long list of Kenyan needs but we are so obsessed with the US .......if this is the forward-thinking of our institutions, God help our youth.
Unfortunately, the US, whether we like or not plays an outsized influence economically, socially and politically around the world. To wit, the $ is the primary currency used in trade, Netflix, Google, Apple, American pop culture American agri-business, American pharma in general etc are are enormously influential. The Fed through it's monetary policy affects how much Kenyans pay for imports, the American government even requires Kenyan banks to make you fill out American forms. If someone or something has such an effect on your everyday life, it does make sense to understand that entity. Lastly expanding your knowledge of others is not a bad thing.
United States should be Studied in High School. Watched kuWaste time ya University.
I agree 💯 percent with Anonymous. America has been studied extensively and intensively by American colleges and think tanks. UoN will not add any value by studying the US.
This department is equivalent to licking your bosses @$$ or licking his boots. Where is our dignity?
Nonsense!
This is some BS. Which American universities teach about Africa? About our how we were colonized? About our forefathers? Mugo wa kibiru and all seers we had? Weren't we taught about Vasco, Livingston, etc who happened to discover our mother land like we cared?
Waache Ujinga.
It's time for Kenya to concentrate on her own people, culture and needs. Kenya does not need to study foreign countries. Kenya needs to study her own history that has been buried for centuries.
We need to promote our own diverse cultures found within our borders, study and understand our own people and make sure our cultures and languages come first.
This is Kenya's time.
Let us not get distracted. If Africa will lead it will not be by war, threats or conquest. It will be by Peace, Peace, Peace.
Let Kenya create her own path, not follow another's path.
May the God of Kenya guide her path.
" Ee Mungu Nguvu yetu"!!