Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) is an interdisciplinary centre at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

that was established in 1964, and has members from a variety of faculties who share an interest in African Studies. The English, Geography, History and Politics and International Studies (POLIS) schools at the University of Leeds are all closely linked to LUCAS. The current director is Shane Doyle. LUCAS runs a seminar series and holds an annual lecture, and invites speakers on a variety of topics around the general theme of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In 2009, LUCAS ran a conference on ''Democratization in Africa: Retrospective and Future Prospects'', which attracted academics from around the world. It is part of Yorkshire African Studies Network (YASN) and from 2017 joined

AEGIS (research network) AEGIS is a research network of European centres on African studies in the fields of social science and humanities. AEGIS' main goal is to improve understanding about contemporary African societies. History and organisation AEGIS was founded in 199 ...

. The centre has close links to the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE), the deputy chair of which is Professor Ray Bush and the position of chair was previously held by the late Professor Lionel Cliffe. Furthermore, ROAPE hosted a series of panels at LUCAS' 2009 ''Democratization in Africa Conference''. LUCAS also publishes an annual Leeds African Studies Bulletin, which has been in print since 1964. Its ISSN is 0024-0249. Besides recording activities and other news relating to African studies at Leeds, it contains scholarly articles and book reviews. It has published pieces by many distinguished African writers and Africanist scholars over the years, including

Wole Soyinka Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...

, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o,

Jack Mapanje Jack Mapanje (born 25 March 1944)James Currey James Currey is a former academic publisher specialising in African Studies which since 2008 has been an imprint of Boydell & Brewer. It is named after its founder who established the company in 1984. It publishes on a full spectrum of topics� ...

Morris Szeftel Morris Szeftel is an academic who worked at the University of Leeds and supported the Leeds University Centre for African Studies. He is also a contributing author to the Review of African Political Economy and is an editor of the Journal of Sout ...

Michael Barratt Brown Michael Barratt Brown (15 March 1918 – 7 May 2015) was a British economist, political activist and adult educator. He was a key figure in the creation of the British New Left in the period after the Soviet invasion of Hungary; he helped to found ...

, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Martin Banham, the late

Lionel Cliffe Lionel R Cliffe (1936 – 24 October 2013) was an English political economist and activist whose work focused on the struggle for land rights and freedom in Africa from the 1960s. He was Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds. Early ...

Ray Bush Raymond Carey Bush is a Professor of African Studies at the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Leeds. He is a member of the Leeds University Centre for African Studies (LUCAS) advisory board and deputy ch ...

Femi Osofisan Babafemi Adeyemi Osofisan (born June 16, 1946), known as Femi Osofisan or F.O., is a Nigerian writer noted for his critique of societal problems and his use of African traditional performances and surrealism in some of his plays. A frequent theme ...

, James Gibbs, and Jane Plastow.

External links

LUCAS websiteLeeds ''African Studies Bulletin''
{{Authority control University of Leeds