Professor Blair Rutherford
In December 2015, Blair Rutherford finished his second term as Director of the Institute of African Studies (IAS), which he helped to establish in January 2009.
Blair provided leadership working with others in building IAS’s degree programs and organizing its extremely vibrant and numerous public activities which have helped make it the leading academic centre of African Studies in Canada.
To honour Blair’s pioneering work, IAS has launched the Blair Rutherford Student Fund. The purpose of this fund is to assist both undergraduate and graduate students in IAS to offset cost related to conferences.
Undergraduate and graduate students at IAS are learning about the rich and complicated histories, societies, cultures, economies and politics of Africa and its diasporas. They are developing their knowledge and analyses through their writings, engagement with their professors and other students, and by taking advantage of some of the various experiential learning opportunities offered by IAS and Carleton University.
With your support, this fund will allow some of the students to travel to relevant African Studies conferences which provide ideal forums for presenting research findings, reaffirming or critically problematizing particular canons of knowledge, and entering into discussions and forging networks in the pursuit of learning.
Blair Rutherford recognized that the real strength of IAS is its students and he always sought to provide support and pathways for their learning and future ambitions. This fund recognizes those efforts and offers a way to expand these opportunities for African Studies students.
If you wish to donate, please visit our link on FutureFunder.ca. Thank you!
