Showcasing Recent Recipients of Global Initiative Grants
In 2024 we promoted capacity building for paleoanthropology in East Africa. Hominin fossil remains from East Africa have played a critical role in the history of the study of human origins. But individuals and institutions from the region have long been sidelined in paleoanthropology, despite the critical role that local experts, stakeholders, and scholars have played. In our funding decisions we prioritized African-led collaborative projects centered in institutions and communities within East Africa that are designed to promote the growth and flourishing of paleoanthropology in this key global region.
Ackermann, Rebecca (Cape Town, U. of) “Building capacity in Africa through the formation of the Pan-African Consortium for Human Evolution (PANACHE) Training Network”
The Pan-African Consortium for Human Evolution (PANACHE) network’s principal aim is to strengthen African-based collaborations by breaking down barriers between institutions and countries and sharing resources. The overarching goal is to shift imbalances of knowledge production about human origins/evolution away from researchers in the Global North to recenter conversations around African perspectives and research interests. This initial project promotes cross-training among African institutions and involves the National Museum of Kenya and various universities and museums in South Africa. Funds will support training visits by East African students to South African institutions and field sites and South African students to the Kenyan National Museum and Kenyan field sites to expose them to cutting edge methods, ethics and decolonial approaches to science.
Katto, Philbert (Dar es Salaam, U. of) “Integrating paleoanthropological research and community engagement in Tanzania using applied visual anthropology”
Despite the importance of paleoanthropological sites in Tanzania for informing human evolution, this project aims to address the general lack of interest in human origins among its citizens. This deeply collaborative project aims to bring important research undertaken by Tanzanian scientists to the awareness of policy makers, the public, and local communities. Partners will conduct site visits, communicate research findings and engage local communities through participation in research activities. At the same time the team will produce a range of visual resources (photovoice, videos, photography) aimed at transforming the nature of community engagement and participation in research projects. The goal of this educational campaign is to produce materials that can be shared with a wide audience through Tanzanian public television; a festival on human origins at the University of Dar es Salaam and curricular materials for primary/secondary schools.
Manthi, Fredrick (National Museums of Kenya) “Upgrading the Casting Laboratory at the National Museums of Kenya as means to promoting scientific research and public education on prehistory and human evolution.”
This project will upgrade equipment used by the National Museums of Kenya’s casting laboratory and purchase a 3D printer for producing casts for use in classrooms throughout Kenya whose teachers have attended prior workshops organized by the Prehistory Club. A vital component of the project involves training. A master caster who has retired from the NMK program will train NMK employees to upgrade their skills and enhance the quality and authenticity of the casts they produce. Training will also include six museum professionals from Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda as a first step to increasing capacity and establishing casting programs in other countries in East Africa.
Mwitondi, Musa (Dar es Salaam, U. of) “Humans have never been chimpanzees or gorillas: a campaign to correct public misconceptions about human evolution in Tanzania”
This initiative involves a collaboration between a paleoanthropologist, heritage experts, primary education experts, and a graphic artist from the University of Dar es Salaam and the National Museum of Tanzania. In Tanzania, children have been taught that humans evolved from chimps and gorillas, which has led to resistance and a missed opportunity to promote public knowledge and commitment to the nation’s rich paleoanthropological sites. This project aims at correcting misconceptions about human evolution among children. Plans include providing workshop training for primary and secondary school history teachers, distributing booklets written in simplified language, brochures with visual representations of human evolution, and new curricular materials for classroom teaching designed to promote a more accurate understanding of human evolution.
Bugarin, Flordeliz (Howard U.) “Anthropology, AI, and the African World; Developing a Program on Anthropology, African and African Diaspora Studies, and Intelligent Technologies at Howard University, an HBCU”
Following the elimination of the anthropology department at Howard in 2012, this project will lay the groundwork for establishing a program of study in anthropology within the department of interdisciplinary studies at Howard University. By incorporating cutting edge technology with the discipline’s growing commitment to promote engagement and social justice, the goal is to design a new version of anthropological pedagogy that will attract students of African descent and prepare them for a successful career in a rapidly changing world. The grant pays the expense of various kinds of skills building in AI, VR, and LiDAR for the applicant, who will draft the curriculum and then work with colleagues at Howard to develop a full proposal to submit to the administration.