"Symposium on Eastern African Historical and Cultural Studies" was hosted by East China Normal University in Shanghai on December 15, 2012 (LIU JIAN)

Historical and cultural studies on Africa help us better understand the needs of African countries, and scholars' research findings offer guidance for diplomatic work, especially in the area of African affairs, according to Sun Baohong, Deputy Director-General of the African Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sun gave a speech on current conditions in Africa and Sino-African relations at the "Symposium on Eastern African Historical and Cultural Studies" organized by East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai on December 15, 2012. Around 60 African studies scholars and experts from around the country attended the meeting.

"We hold this conference with the aim of building an academic exchange platform for African historical and cultural studies, particularly those focused on the East African region," Mu Tao, director of ECNU's Institute of African Studies told ChinAfrica.

Centered around the Eastern Africa region, topics discussed at the conference include cultural and educational studies, historical and development issues, East Africa and the world.

"Basic research in fields like historical and cultural studies is important, because many practical questions in Africa have their roots in history," said Mu, "One needs to look at history to understand Africa's current conditions and problems," he added.

He also called on Chinese and African scholars to jointly conduct more basic research, as well as build more platforms for academic exchanges and cooperation.

According to the organizer, the collection of the papers presented at the symposium will soon be published. In addition, the institute plans to publish a series of books on Eastern African historical and cultural studies, including books on China-Tanzania relations and Swahili culture.

"Symposium on Eastern African Historical and Cultural Studies" was hosted by East China Normal University in Shanghai on December 15, 2012 (COURTESY OF ECNU)

About ECNU  

East China Normal University (ECNU) has been an important institution in the field of African studies. The Institute of African Studies, originally known as the African History Research Office, was established in 1985 under the university's history department. Currently, the institute's research mainly focuses on three areas: African historical and cultural studies, particularly in the Eastern Africa region; African education; and costal and estuarine studies.

In 2010, ECNU partnered with Tanzania's University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) as part of the "20+20 Cooperation Project among China-Africa Universities."  In May 2011, the ECNU-UDSM Joint Research Center for Tanzanian Studies was founded under the Institute of African Studies. An important part of strengthening the ECNU-UDSM partnership, this center was established to integrate the academic resources of the two universities, providing an academic platform for joint research and cooperation.

Currently, ECNU has an enrollment of over 14,000 full-time undergraduate students, 14,000 graduate students and 4,000 international students. The university started recruiting African students in the 1980s. At present, 101 African students from 31 African countries are studying on campus.