Samuel Ojo Oloruntoba, a Carleton professor of African studies, said Carleton University is looking to change the narrative around Africa.
He said despite claims that Africa is just a place shrouded in poverty, the Carleton Institute of African Studies is advancing their mission to unite African Indigenous and Canadian knowledge systems after signing an agreement in September with the University of Zululand in South Africa.
Since 2023, Carleton has connected with professors and researchers at various universities throughout Africa, creating the African Indigenous Knowledge Research Network.
The network, which consists of 455 members in 22 universities spanning 40 countries, conducts research, writes books and films documentaries in hopes of “broadening the scope of students and faculty at universities,” said Oloruntoba, who is also the group’s principal investigator.
Oloruntoba said he feels this partnership will help the Carleton community create a more inclusive space.
“It is our goal to learn and teach not just at Carleton, but globally.”
Carleton’s most recent partnership with the University of Zululand began as a conversation between Oloruntoba, and Inocent Moyo, a University of Zululand professor of human geography.
The professors discussed how to integrate a “decolonial mindset” into their daily practices.
“The coloniality of mind leads to losing your entire essence, and we want to bring this consciousness back to the people,” Oloruntoba said.
In the long term, Moyo and Oloruntoba said they plan to form joint degree programs for master’s and PhD students between the two schools that would involve frequent video conferencing and possible student exchanges.
For now, the partnership relies on monthly webinars, workshops, joint research projects and an annual conference open to all the research network members.
Moyo said the partnership’s main goal is to understand the role of Indigenous knowledge systems in developing business opportunities for young people living in Africa.
For this partnership to succeed, he said researchers must determine the similarities and differences of Canadian and African knowledge systems so that it will be easier to see where gaps in learning arise.
“Indigenous knowledge systems are born out of people living in harmony with nature and are developed over time, so there is a geographical specificity to them,” Moyo said.
He said Omoluabi refers to the “collective ethos of character and behaviour through honour and dignity,” and Ubuntu refers to how one’s “humanity is expressed through everyone else’s humanity.”
He said he uses these concepts in the classroom to dismantle university dynamics that oppress students.
“As a professor, I try to involve all of the members of my community by giving my students a voice and time to contribute,” he said. “I recognize their humanity.”
Historically, Moyo said that the colonial world has redefined the study of knowledge to exclude the experience of the colonized.
“In our understanding of entrepreneurship and sustainable development, there is this Eurocentric monologue that says there is only one body of knowledge,” he said. “Realizing that was both a challenge and a responsibility encouraged us to take this project on.”
Working with the universities, Oloruntoba developed a course at Carleton called Comparative Indigenous Knowledge and Entrepreneurship, which contrasts aspects of Indigenous entrepreneurship from conventional entrepreneurship through its focus on land and the role of women.
At the University of Zululand, Moyo leads one of the partnership’s youth leagues composed of female researchers pursuing their master’s degrees. Their projects focus on the intersection of Indigenous knowledge systems with global issues — including climate change, domestication of livestock and education policy.
Sika Kudjawu, a PhD student at Carleton and research assistant on the African Indigenous Knowledge Research Network project, has offered insight on women’s struggles in Africa through the partnership.
Kudjawu developed a research article shifting the conversation about women’s empowerment from mere checkboxes to a holistic outlook, specifically within the context of Akwete weaving.
“I seek to learn about intellectual histories around organizing and the ways Indigenous Peoples have approached gender justice and how they have approached these conversations.”
To Moyo, this partnership is only the beginning.
“We are going to demonstrate to the world at large what a collaborative initiative between institutions in Canada and Africa can do,” he said. “The future is bright.”
Featured image by Jaidyn Gonsalves/the Charlatan
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