Following the deliberations over the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the role of the ´Africa Group´ has brought the continent into the spotlight of the global stage of indigenous rights discussions. The last year has seen a conceptual debate that challenges, but also offers new approaches to the understanding of what ´being indigenous´ might mean.

The primary aim of this course will be to take stock of this recent development and, in light of this conceptual debate, to provide a forum for some in-depth exploration of the current state of Africa''s indigenous peoples - their languages, cultures, and environmental knowledge.

The PhD course invites PhD students from the University of Tromsø and other institutions in Norway who take an interest in the topic and/or the African region.

Workshop sessions will be arranged in connection with the course, inviting interested academics from other departments and disciplines to take part in deliberations and provide comparative perspectives.

The course will be divided in three parts:

1) A discussion of the issue of indigeneity, and how it relates to Africa. This part will look at the recent debate in the UN following the deferment in 2006. The critique from some African states brought rejoinders from the African Union, an African Group of Experts and from Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordination Committee (IPACC), and ended up with only Canada Australia, New Zealand, Canada and US voting against. What are the implications of the Declaration for African states, and what are the implications of this interlude on the international process? Has the process strengthened indigenous solidarity? How can one understand the agenda of the CANZUS group?

2) An exploration of the link between linguistic, cultural and biological diversity. This part will explore the diversity and current decline in indigenous languages, cultures and livelihood, and look at the implications, both for indigenous peoples and for humanity in general. The relationship between global trends, national politics, and local factors will be illustrated though case studies from Africa, with particular attention to the areas of (mother tongue) education and land rights. The presentations will highlight points of relevance for a comparative discussion:

-The role of apparently benevolent institutions-in particular the formal education system-in the loss of linguistic and cultural diversity, and the decline of indigenous knowledge systems.

-The ways that indigenous peoples are resisting these trends, both through positive efforts at language maintenance projects, and also through their choices not to participate in dominant institutions.

3) In light of the above, the course will discuss how the problem of recognition goes to the core of the indigenous predicament. What underlies the lack of recognition and respect for (and sometimes downright violence towards) indigenous and tribal peoples? At the global level? In Africa? What will have to change in order to alter the current course of rapid decline in linguistic and cultural diversity? Is this possible? What is / should be the role of academics in this process?

Each PhD student will be required to submit a paper of at least 10 pages (Times New Roman 12 p., 1, 5 line distances).

The students will be able to choose topics they wish to write about. Students will be encouraged to submit papers that are either part of their PhD dissertations or on closely related topics, in order to promote progress in dissertation writing.

Students will be encouraged but not required to submit first drafts of their papers before the course. Those papers that are submitted before the course will be discussed in plenary or group sessions, providing the students with extra feedback.

Final versions of the papers will be reviewed by internal and external examiners after the course. The terms of assessment for examination: pass/fail. Examinations may not be implemented in semesters in which the course is not held (autumn semester).