Dear colleagues,

We have the highest honor to invite everyone to our first lecture of the semester, to be given by Professor Ioanna Sitaridou from the University
of Cambridge, UK, with the theme: The Sri-Lankan Afro-Portuguese the connections with Mozambique.
The process of colonization in the Indian Ocean had multiple effects among peoples in the region. One of these effects was forced migrations
from the mainland to the various islands of the Indian Ocean. In the specific case of Sri Lanka (also known as Ceylon Island), the ethnolinguistic effects seem even more complex. Sri Lanka suffered three waves of colonization: the Portuguese, the Dutch and finally the British colonization. However, and although Portuguese colonization was partially interrupted in the mid-seventeenth century, the presence of the Portuguese and African language and culture has remained until today. While the influence of Portuguese culture in Sri Lanka is represented by the “Burghers” and the “Kaffrinha”, the African culture is represented by the Afro Sri Lankans and their tradition of “Manja”. Currently, Professor Ioanna Sitaridou leads a research project that aims to explore, reconstruct and document the influence of African languages, with emphasis on Mozambique, in the cultural complex of the Afro Sri Lankans, through the oral tradition represented by the “Manjas”. As part of her visit to CEA-UEM, Professor Ioanna Sitaridou, offers us a lecture where she reflects on the preliminary results of a promising and important project on the role of Mozambique in the socio-cultural and demographic dynamics of the Indian Ocean.

The lecture will take place next Friday, April 17, starting at 2:00 pm (Maputo time).
Colleagues who are in Maputo, your places await you in the mythical Room 47 of the CEA.

For colleagues who are outside Maputo, we count on your presence in the virtual room through the Zoom platform, whose link follows below:

https://zoom.us/j/98717280335?pwd=PEh4fJqLzCcpMgO3A71xllGJI88LxS.1

Meeting ID: 987 1728 0335
Passcode: 335608

Eduardo Mondlane University

Centre for African Studies

Department of Historical e Political Studies &

Department Language and Communication

In partnership with

University of Essex

Presents

MCCRA Maputo Round Table Concept Note

Multilingualism, Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of Language Practice and Policy

“Multilingualism, conflict and Conflict resolution in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities of Language Practice and Policy” or MCCRA is an international research project based at the University of Essex, UK, with involvement of five African countries: Mozambique, Uganda, Camerron, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It seeks to question the extent to which the practice of multilingualism shapes violent conflicts and the search for their resolution in Africa. The project has completed a first phase of data collection through fieldwork trips (with collection of individual interviews and focal group discussions) and digital ethnography in all five countries. While we prepare for the second phase of data collection, our team in Mozambique organizes this round table as a space to share preliminary findings, and to gather comments and suggestions from different partners and stakeholders. The event will be hosted at the Centre for African Studies at the Eduardo Mondlane University, in Maputo, on a hybrid format: online through Zoom and presential at the Room 47.  The team leaders and all researchers involved in the research in the five countries are invited to share their preliminary findings at this event. In this format, we expect to host six to seven speakers, including two researchers based in Mozambique. We can also invite researchers whose current work can be related to our research topic to share and discuss their studies with our team.

Summary of the event:

Venue: Centre for African Studies, Maputo

Date: 22 April 2026

Speakers / Part 1:

Brian Philips                                              

Omomayowa, Abati                                  

Ioanna Sitaridou                                       

Hawa Muhammed & Tata Sunjo         

Speakers / Part 2:

Surer Mohammed

Tracey Costley

Stephanie Diepeeven

Chapane Mutiua

Discussant: Domingos do Rosário/Calton Cadeado

Moderator/Chair: Zeferino Ugembe/Hélio Maúngue

‘Poverty is our plight and manja is our only inheritance’

Bowett Room, Queens’ College, Cambridge

Invited Speakers:

Marlyse Baptista (UPenn)

Friederike Lüpke (University of Helsinki)

Organisers:

Ioanna Sitaridou (University of Cambridge)

Eventbrite registration here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1984546438821?aff=oddtdtcreator