Claude Ake Visiting Chair

The Claude Ake Visiting Chair was set up in 2003 at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University (DPCR), in collaboration with the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) and with funding from the Swedish Government and Uppsala University. The Chair honours the memory of Professor Claude Ake, a distinguished scholar, philosopher, teacher and humanist, who died tragically in 1996. The Chair is intended for scholars who, like Claude Ake, combine a profound commitment to scholarship with a strong advocacy for social justice. The Chair is open to prominent social scientists working at African universities with problems related to war, peace, conflict resolution, human rights, democracy and development on the African continent.

This Visiting Professorship covers a period of up to 6 months and is awarded once a year. The Visiting Professor is offered a conducive environment to pursue his or her own research, while there is also opportunity for lecturing, holding seminars and contributing to ongoing research activities at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, the Nordic Africa Institute and elsewhere. The holder is expected to be based in Uppsala for the duration of the stay.

Nomination and Appointment
The Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Africa Institute currently invite social science departments, research institutions and institutes, in Africa and elsewhere, to propose candidates for the Claude Ake Visiting Chair 2013. In particular, the nomination of female candidates is encouraged.

Nominations should be submitted not later than 1 November 2012.

Proposed candidates should be established and internationally recognized senior scholars with professorial competence in their respective fields of expertise. Nominations are to be submitted in writing and should present the proposed researcher; his/her planned research and the motives for the nomination. There is no specific form to use. Candidates cannot nominate themselves. Nominations may come from individual scholars/colleagues, but must be supported by the institution with which the nominee is affiliated. A complete curriculum vitae, including relevant data regarding academic title, current and previous positions, research and teaching activities, publications as well as addresses, phone and fax-numbers, e-mail, etc., shall be attached to the nomination. The proposed researcher must be informed and consent to the nomination.

One representative from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research (currently Assistant Professor Ewa Mimmi Söderberg Kovac) and one from the Nordic Africa Institute (currently its Director Ms. Carin Norberg) decide on the appointment of the annual holder of the Claude Ake Chair. There is also an advisory committee, consisting of Professor Peter Wallensteen (Dag Hammarskjöld Professor of Peace and Conflict Research), Helena Grusell (DPCR), Tania Berger (NAI) and the previous holder of the Claude Ake Chair, Dr. Yacob Arsano (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia).

Terms
The awardee is entitled to a tax-free stipend/scholarship, currently set at SEK 30 000/month. In addition, travel and housing costs for the holder of the position, and his/her accompanying spouse/significant other, are covered by the grant.

Memorial Lecture and Publications
The holders of the Claude Ake Visiting Chair give, at the end of their stay in Uppsala, a public lecture, the ‘Claude Ake Memorial Lecture.’ The title, theme and content of the lecture is up to the holder. The assumption is that the topic of the lecture shall, in a general sense, relate to the work of Claude Ake, for example in terms of themes or issues covered, or in the theoretical or normative points of departure. The lecture is to be based on a paper prepared and made available to seminar participants and lecture audience in advance of the lecture. Since 2006, DPCR and NAI publish the papers that constitute the basis for the Memorial Lectures in the Claude Ake Memorial Paper Series (CAMP). The papers are edited at the DPCR and published jointly by the DPCR and the NAI in printed and electronic forms. In the future, the CAMP series may be opened up to contributions also from other scholars than the holders of the Visiting Chair.

Information and Contact Addresses
Nominations should be mailed to the following address:

Department of Peace and Conflict Research
Uppsala University
Att.: Claude Ake Visiting Chair
Box 514
SE-751 20 Uppsala, SWEDEN

For additional information or enquiries about the Claude Ake Visiting Chair, please contact Ms. Helena Grusell at:

Telephone: +46 18 471 76 52
Fax: +46 18 69 51 02
E-mail: Helena.Grusell@pcr.uu.se

Dr. Pamela Mbabazi is an Associate Professor of Development studies at Mbarara University of Science & Technology and currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Uganda. She has 16 years of progressive academic engagement, building up a Faculty of Development Studies. Research and lecturing in Development Planning, Rural Development, Political Economy and Conflict Studies. She holds Ph.D & M.A degree in Development Studies and M.Sc degree in Regional Planning and Management with minors in planning techniques and governance issues. She is a seasoned researcher and her current research interests include; The Political Economy of Oil in the Great Lakes Region, Land governance, Electoral Governance, Health Access and Regionalisms. She is married and has two sons. 

Some of her Publications include:

• Mbabazi Pamela & Timothy Shaw (2010): Civil Society and Accountability in the Commonwealth in Scholte Jan (eds): Building Global Democracy? Civil Society & Accountable Global Democracy (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
• Mbabazi Pamela & Shaw Timothy (2008): ‘Two Africa’s, Two Uganda’s? in The Roots of African Conflicts in Africa; Causes & Costs; Alfred Nhema & Paul Teyambe Zeleza(eds) Ohio University Press, Ohio.
• Mbabazi Pamela & Shaw Timothy (2006) Political Economies of Africa at the start of the 20^th Century in Political Economy and the Changing Global Order Richard Stubbs & Geoffrey R. D. Underhill (eds) Oxford University Press, Ontario
• Mbabazi Pamela & Ian Taylor (eds) The Potentiality of Developmental States in Africa; Uganda and Botswana Compared; (Daker, CODESRIA, 2005)