The extension of the project has three major aims: a) The completion of the already
existing PhD projects and a smooth trajectory of the PhD candidates into their professional
career. b) The advancement of more general, comparative and theoretical
perspectives on the negotiation of culture, and c) The consolidation of the network
between the three African universities and the two universities in Europe. The aims
will be achieved by three means: a) Funding of the not yet completed PhD projects
until the final exams and two post-doc projects at the Universities of Freiburg/Buea
and the Witwatersrand for the most promising junior scholars. b) Intensive scholarly
exchange through participation at international conferences and by organizing a
concluding conference at Basel and Freiburg with a joint publication. c) A Summer
School in Johannesburg bringing the members of the network and other scholars in
the field together, focusing on how to write competitive research proposals and how
to build research groups in international networks. By intensifying the exchange
within the “Passages of Culture” network and by linking it with other academic institutions
in Africa and elsewhere, we also aim at improving teaching at the member
universities in Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland and Germany.