‘Africa in Motion’
The rhythmic sound of drums echoed through the Northwest Lab building Thursday evening (Oct. 21) as singers, dancers, and several hundred scholars and students gathered to celebrate the growth of Harvard’s Africa programs. The event, “Africa in Motion,” featured comments by Harvard President Drew Faust, who visited Botswana and South Africa last year, and who said that even though Africa-centric programs have grown rapidly in recent years, she was looking forward to seeing what’s coming. One of the great strengths of Africa programs at Harvard, she said, is that they span the University, pulling expertise from a variety of fields, departments, and schools. The event was “about what we’ve achieved, about all the places we are going. It’s also about how together we can do so much more than we can alone,” Faust said. Other speakers included Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher Jr., University Professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois...