Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program at SUA: Advancing African Linguistic Research and Mentorship

Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), through its Centre for African and International Languages (SUACAIL), is honored to host Prof. Deogratias Stanislaus Ngonyani from Michigan State University (USA) under the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program (CADFP) from June 3rd to August 13th, 2025. The visit is anchored in the collaborative project titled: “Collaborative Research in Language: Genetic Relationship of Nyakyusa, Ndamba, and Pogolo Languages; Grow Research Capacity and Output and Mentor Graduate Students in African Languages and Literature”
Working closely with Dr. Nichodamus Robinson Mwasakilali of the Department of Language Studies, Prof. Deogratias Ngonyani is engaged in academic and research activities at SUACAIL. These include comparative research on the Nyakyusa, Ndamba, and Pogolo languages, focusing on vocabulary, cultural practices, and place names. He is also leading mentorship workshops covering language documentation, indigenous knowledge systems, academic publishing, and graduate study opportunities abroad. Participants are trained in grant writing, digital tools like FLEx and H5P, and academic writing using LaTeX and Overleaf supporting SUACAIL’s mission of advancing African language scholarship.
On 11th June 2025, a seminar on language documentation was held at the SUACAIL, Mazimbu Campus. The session was part of a series of mentorship workshops conducted under the Fellowship Program. Pictured are academic staff from the Department of Language Studies along with invited colleagues from other units, attentively listening to Prof. Deogratias Ngonyani as he delivered a presentation on methods, tools, and the importance of documenting African languages for scholarly and cultural preservation.

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