JSAS at Africa-Asia: A New Axis of Knowledge conference - 2025

By Vick L. SSALI, Aichi Gakuin University

Left to right, Yamamoto, Ssali and Munemura

Three JSAS Board members attended the Africa-Asia, A New Axis of Knowledge Conference 3 (AAC3). It was held from 11th to 14th June 2025 at Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Dakar, Senegal. Dubbed Africa-Asia, A New Axis of Knowledge 3, a Conference-Festival, this year’s event was organized by:

(1)  Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), also known as Cheikh Anta Diop University, is a major public university located in Dakar, Senegal. It was originally established as the University of Dakar in 1957 and later renamed in 1987 to honor Cheikh Anta Diop, a renowned Senegalese physicist, historian, and anthropologist.

(2) Collective Africa-Southeast Asia Platform (CASAP)

This multidisciplinary, regionally diverse network is supported by seven universities from Africa and Southeast Asia. It sets out to jointly consider the multifaceted aspects of interactions between the two regions. By combining efforts, this group aims to shift knowledge production away from the traditional ‘North-South’ axis and forge a truly inclusive exchange.

(3)  The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), a global research organization and knowledge exchange platform, based in Leiden, The Netherlands. The Institute initiates and promotes interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral programs that engage partners in - and with - Asia, in the world. The Institute seeks to promote a contextualized understanding of Asian realities and to pioneer new approaches to the studies of Asia and the ‘Asian factor’ in a changing global environment.

The three Board members who represented JSAS were Atsuko Munemura of Chiba Keizai University, Meyu Yamamoto of Ritsumeikan University, and Vick L. Ssali of Aichi Gakuin University. Under subtheme 4 (The Role of Local Communities: Society Against States and Corporations), we presented a poster titled “Bridging Continents through Collaborative Research on COVID-19 Resilience in Africa. This poster, which introduced JSAS, the just concluded Hitachi project’s process and outcomes, as well as our brand-new publication, underscored the role of grassroots responses in resilience-building. It also demonstrated the importance of interdisciplinary, collaborative research in overcoming geographical and cultural divides to address global challenges.

Outside the conference we took a boat to Gorée Island, a small island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal. Gorée Island is a powerful historical site that served as a major transit point for enslaved Africans sent to the Americas, symbolizing the brutal legacy of the transatlantic slave trade.

Monument on the island: symbol of a slave boat

While at Goree’, I personally reflected on three things:

1.     Slavery Was Real. Visiting Gorée Island makes one thing undeniable: slavery was a horrifying reality. The dungeons, chains, and narrow passageways are silent witnesses to centuries of human suffering.

2.     Faith and Hypocrisy: What struck me most was the presence of a church built by Christian slave traders. They prayed with their families—just steps away from where other human beings were shackled. It is a chilling reminder of how religion can be misused to justify cruelty.

3.     Africa’s Current Struggle: Slavery and colonialism were tragic, but they are no longer our main problem. Today, Africa suffers more from the failures of its own leaders—corruption, misrule, and lack of accountability are the real chains holding us back now.

Attending the Africa-Asia: A New Axis of Knowledge conference in Dakar was rewarding, especially seeing strong interest in our team's collaborative research on COVID-19 in Africa. The event highlighted the value of global partnerships in advancing Africa-Asia scholarship.