Description
For a long period of time, Africa has been one of the historic hubs of knowledge production of various types: language education, philology, religious education, and knowledge applications. Few to mention are the Egyptian Masoretic text and the Egyptian models of learning from antiluetic ancient near east to Greek and Roman Hellenistic periods. Same applies to Nubia (Sudan) and Ethiopia. Savants of humanities and social sciences have been in appreciation of past African epistemology and its contributions to global discourses. In west, east, and central Africa, there was production and circulation of knowledge orally and somewhat locally before modern periods. Ancient Egypt was a renowned center of learning, attracting scholars from across the ancient world. Greek philosophers like Pythagoras, Plato, and Democritus studied there. Before Alexandria's famous library, southern Egypt had significant learning centers, such as Nowe (Thebes/Luxor). Recent archaeological discoveries, like the Nag Hammadi Library found in 1945, further highlight Egypt's role in early scholarship and its enduring intellectual legacy in Africa. Recent calls by Africana studies experts urge African scholars to reformulate knowledge production and learning models to better fit African contexts. They argue that African academic discourse remains dominated by Western concepts. While this echoes post-colonial struggles, the current conversation applies differently to Africa's past, present, and future compared to mid-20th century nationalist efforts. My paper if accepted for the British International Studies Association Conference will engage this debate raising two sturdy questions. Whether or not African studies scholars
