National stakeholders focus on Heritage studies in Ugandan Universities

Over 100 participants joined (physically and online) the national symposium on “Heritage studies in Ugandan Universities – What progress? What relevance?” on 12 November 2020 organized by the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU). The symposium follows a UNESCO study carried out by CCFU in 2019 mapping universities in the Eastern Africa region offering degree programmes in intangible cultural heritage studies in the framework of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Participants in the symposium included cultural heritage specialists, university representatives, representatives from UNESCO, concerned ministries and government agencies, youth representatives, and resource persons from the cultural and education sectors in  Uganda.

The symposium was opened by Associate Professor Fabian Nabugoomu, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration at the University of Kyambogo, and included updates on the development of Bachelor of Heritage Studies Programmes at Kabale University, Islamic University in Uganda, Uganda Martyrs University, and Kyambogo University—four universities who have collaborated since 2017 on the UNESCO initiative “Promoting intangible cultural heritage education in higher institutions of learning in Uganda,” coordinated by CCFU.