This newsletteris dedicated toNorah Borus,who loved ourcommunitywith herwhole heart.At CASI loveand Iam loved~ Norah B.1
DIRECTOR’S NOTEThese are difficult times.The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has of course been achallenge for the whole world. Like other academic programs, atStanford and beyond, CAS has been abruptly confronted with adistressing and disrupting set of new conditions and uncertainties.All of our normal academic activities, as well as the face-tofacesocial relations that normally sustain our community, havebeen suspended or put into question, creating intractableproblems for many of us, especially our many internationalstudents. But our CAS community has risen to meet the challengesposed by COVID’s disruptions. In spite of the unexpectedcomplications and disturbances of the last few months, I canreport that this past year has been a time of formidable transformation,growth, and accomplishment for the Center.We began the year with a physical move, transplanting the wholeCAS operation to our new space in Encina Commons. Such atransition is hard for any organization, and I am very grateful toCAS staff, students, and faculty for the cooperation and positiveattitude that made the move such a success. Now that we aresettled in, the new space has come to life, and it is clear that it willbe a warm and nurturing home for the vibrant community lifethat has long been the hallmark of the CAS experience.One of the most painful features of the COVID-19 attack on ourway of life has been its power to undermine relations of humanattachment and community by rendering dangerous thephysical proximity that we used to take for granted. But inthe face of this attack, our CAS community has beenresilient and quick to adapt. Under the inspiredleadership of Associate Director Laura Hubbard,CAS has managed to offer a continuing flow ofvirtual events that have kept our communityenergy alive, events that have inrecent weeks included a virtualphoto exhibit, a series in honor ofAfrican languages, and twoevents dedicated to avirtual celebration ofour CAS seniors.We are alsoenormously energizedand excited by astunning set of recentfaculty appointments, whichgives our program tremendousnew momentum and a sense ofpossibilities for the years to come. In justthe last couple of years, we have addedGabrielle Hecht and Joel Cabrita in history,while in comparative literature, our ownFatoumata Seck triumphantly returns to us in afaculty role, after receiving her Ph.D. here at Stanford in2016. Meanwhile, in the Department of English, we areproud to have added Ato Quayson — not only a stellar scholarbut an acknowledged national and international leader of theAfrican Studies field, as shown most recently in his election asPresident of the African Studies Association. And most recentlythe good news continues, as we are joined by Sarah Derbew,taking up a new assistant professor position in classics..Finally, this year marks the end of my three-year term as Directorof the Center. I am grateful to all the help I have gotten infulfilling this role — from students, from faculty, and especiallyfrom the terrific CAS staff, who have made the job a real pleasure.Going forward, I feel entirely confident in CAS’s future, as Iwill be leaving it in the best of hands: I am delighted to be able toannounce that Joel Cabrita has agreed to serve as the newDirector of the Center. I know she will do a terrific job, and Iam very happy for both her and the Center. Looking tothe future, I can only wish her, and the whole CAScommunity, every success, and more great thingsin the years to come.— Dr. James Ferguson2
Change language