Rift Valley Institute's Great Lakes Course

Together with the Rift Valley Institute, I am organizing this year's Great Lakes course, to be held in Bujumbura between July 7-13, 2012. The course is an intensive immersion in the region's rich politics and history, built around presentations by and debates among leading scholars.

This year's course will inevitably focus on the aftermath of elections in the DRC, as well as future challenges in Rwanda, and the risk of an escalation of violence in Burundi. As always, we will also spend several days exploring the deep history of the region and the roots of the conflict.

The instructors this year include:

• Filip Reyntjens (University of Antwerp)
• Séverin Mugangu (Governor's Office South Kivu/Université Officielle de Bukavu)
• Anneke van Woudenberg (Human Rights Watch)
• Jean-Paul Kimonyo (President's Office, Rwanda)
• Steve Hege (United Nations Group of Experts)
• Mvemba Dizolele (Johns Hopkins University)
• Jean Omasombo (Université de Kinshasa/Royal Museum for Central Africa)
• Greg Mthembu-Salter (Economist Intelligence Unit)
• Willy Nindorera (International Crisis Group)
• Koen Vlassenroot (University of Ghent)
• Arsène Kirhero (OCHA)

The course costs $4,000, including food and lodging for a week and several local excursions. The deadline for applications is April 30, 2012. For more information, see www.riftvalley.net or this form.