Long lost archives uncovered in Congo
June 22

Professor Tony Chafer has just returned from a British Library 'Endangered Archives'-funded trip to assess French colonial archives left behind in Congo Brazzaville at independence in 1960.

Unlike the archives of French West Africa and much of the rest of France's African empire, the archives of the French Congo have never been scrutinised by academics.

The trip revealed documents of all types – ranging from expense receipts to significant policy documents – piled eight feet high in two rooms where conditions threaten their survival.

If they can be saved and catalogued, these important documents have great potential to throw new light on the relationship between France and the Congo from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Women’s Activism in Portsmouth Group
May 30

A selection of brief film clips from the BBC archives on women’s lives in Britain in the 1960s and 1970s followed by discussion on women in Portsmouth from 1960. All welcome.

Wednesday 31 May from 6 – 7.30 pm in Park Building Room 2.16

The meeting will also discuss progress with the Heritage Lottery Fund bid, ‘The Hidden Heritage of a Naval Town, Women’s Activism in Portsmouth From the 1960’. All welcome.

Second major success for Africa group
May 23:

The University’s experts on West African security are marking another success.

Dr Elisa Lopez Lucia has been awarded an incoming three-year Leverhulme early career fellowship to work with colleagues in the Centre for European and International Studies Research on a three-year project entitled 'The politics of knowledge: security politics and the 'remaking' of West Africa.

It is the second time in three years that the prestigious and highly competitive fellowship has been awarded to the University of Portsmouth. In 2014, Dr Ed Naylor was awarded a three-year Leverhulme fellowship.

Dr Lopez Lucia will be working with Professor Tony Chafer, leader of the Francophone Africa research cluster, and Dr Ed Stoddard, leader of the strategic project, 'Assessing the Shifting Character of Contemporary Intervention in West Africa'. All three are members of the West Africa Peace and Security Network, which is co-led by the University of Portsmouth.

Read more News in Brief here.