African Universities from Medieval to Post-Modern

This book stands as a pivotal work that successfully repositions African scholarship within its ancient and medieval foundations, tracing an intellectual lineage from the Pharaonic period and the Islamic Golden Age to the present. By confronting the historical amnesia that often frames African higher education as a mere post-colonial product, this book offers a powerful emancipatory reappropriation of the continent’s rich heritage. It serves as an essential roadmap for a decolonised renaissance, using robust frameworks like Valentin-Yves Mudimbe’s colonial library to challenge Eurocentric narratives and reclaim Africa’s unique intellectual identity.

-- Prof Andre Keet, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Engagement and Transformation

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the future and prosperity of the African university, and impact of education on our society. The editors are bold in challenging the lies always told about the history of African scholarship and the supremacy of European knowledge, impressive in their connection between African medieval learning institutions and evolution of society, and instructive in their insights to documenting African epistemologies to deepen inquiry and illuminate African realities, and ultimately (re)connect our universities to serve the needs and aspirations of society, now and into the future.

-- Dr John Mugo, Executive Director, Mizizi Elimu Afrika

The African Universities from Medieval to Post-Modern: Evolution, Complexities and Future Prospects offer a timely and intellectually rigorous examination of higher education across the continent. By weaving historical foundations with contemporary debates, the book illuminates how African universities have been shaped by, and continue to shape, societal transformations. Its engagement with decolonization, Africanization, and indigenous knowledge systems provides a compelling framework for reimagining the university’s role in a postcolonial and globalized world. This volume is an essential contribution for scholars, policymakers, and educators seeking to understand and advance the future of higher education in Africa with depth, clarity, and contextual sensitivity.

-- Prof. Faith Maina, Texas Tech University, USA

Reimagining Relationships and Sex Education is essential reading for anyone facilitating spaces for sexuality education with young people. Setty and Hunt carefully develop the facilitator's relational role, introducing ‘safe uncertainty’ as a framework that creates space for ambiguity while maintaining emotional safety. Their accessible, thoughtful approach honours adolescence as a dynamic process rather than a fixed destination and debunks the idea of adults ‘having all the answers’. The book is an invaluable resource for educators, researchers, and parents/guardians seeking to hold complexity with young people.

-- Dr Elizabeth Ascroft, The Open Univer