James McCann Appointed Visiting Distinguished Professor

Pardee Center Director ad interim James McCann has been appointed Visiting Distinguished Professor at Universität Hamburg‘s Hiob Ludolf Zentrum für Äthiopistik (Center for the Study of Ethiopia). In residence in Hamburg through early July, he is conducting research for his project on malaria landscape history and teaching a six-week seminar titled “African Environmental History: The Blue Nile Basin.” His seminar has attracted 25 students from various fields, including linguistics, biology, anthropology, and history (normal enrollment for such visiting guest seminars is 2-3 students). In the seminar’s final week he will deliver a public lecture titled “Deposing the Malevolent Spirit: Mindscapes of Malaria, Landscapes of History.” The audience for that public lecture will include seminar students, graduate staff, and colleagues from the Ludol Zentrum and the Universität Hamburg School for Tropical Medicine. From July 6-7 Prof. McCann will attend and chair two panels for a conference on “The Architecture of Power in the Horn of Africa” at the Center.