University will host psychology scholars from Africa for upcoming programming

LAWRENCE — The Kansas African Studies Center and Department of African & African-American Studies will host two prominent African scholars for events at the University of Kansas as the fall 2023 semester concludes.

Ismahan Soukeyna Diop, associate professor of psychology at the University of Dakar, Senegal, is the 2023 winner of the American Psychological Association PsychSolutions Competition — a $10,000 award for innovative, science-based initiatives to address suffering caused by mental health challenges around the world — for her work on the development of the website Tales and African Mythology Psychotherapy (TAMPSY). Her recent books include  “Adornment, Masquerade, and African Femininity” (2023) and “African Mythology, Femininity and Maternity” (2020).

Kopano Ratele is professor of psychology and head of the African Centre for Critical and Creative Thought at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He teaches and conducts research on African psychology and decolonial/critical social psychology. His work was recently featured in an article for a special issue of American Psychologist celebrating “foundational contributions of Black scholars in psychology.” His recent books include “Why Men Hurt Women & Other Reflections on Love, Violence and Masculinity” (2022) and “The World Looks Like This from Here: Thoughts on African Psychology” (2019). 

The visitors will share their work in the following hybrid events:

• Diop will present “Can Psychotherapy be Based on Indigenous Knowledge?” at 3:30 Nov. 28 in the Kansas Union’s Jayhawk Room.
• At a symposium titled Decolonial African Feminist Psychologies: Implications for Constructions of Gender, Sexuality and Love, Diop will present “Muñ, Ravage, Womanhood and Femininity: A Decolonial Feminist Lecture of Patience.” Ratele will present “If the Ancestors Were Queer.” The symposium will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Kansas Union’s Jayhawk Room.
• Ratele also will present “Orientations: How to Situate Africa at the Centre of World Psychology” at 4 p.m. Dec. 7 in The Forum at Marvin Hall.

The programming is possible through support from the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging and the departments of Psychology; Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies; and French, Francophone & Italian Studies.