African Critical Inquiry Program


Supported by the Ivan Karp and Corinne Kratz Fund

The African Critical Inquiry Program (ACIP) seeks to advance inquiry and debate about the roles of public cultural domains and institutions in shaping identities and society in South Africa after colonialism and apartheid. The program has two components:

  • The first, an annual ACIP Workshop in South Africa, provides interdisciplinary, cross-institutional contexts to address issues central to such debate and to develop comparative, critical frameworks that can yield fresh insights, innovative and informed practice, and lively interchange for those working in and on institutions of public culture in Africa.
  • The second component, the Ivan Karp Doctoral Research Awards, fosters work by the next generation of scholar-practitioners.

In these ways, ACIP strengthens public scholarship and institutions of public culture in South Africa and enhances our understanding of these vital sites of cultural production and social action. Details about the workshops and research awards will be posted as they become available. 

The Ivan Karp and Corinne Kratz Fund

ACIP is supported by contributions to the Ivan Karp and Corinne Kratz Fund. The Fund was created to honor the late National Endowment for the Humanities Professor Ivan Karp whose work was monumental in the fields of anthropology, museum studies, African studies, social theory, and public scholarship.  The Fund helps continue his collaborative work with universities, museums and other cultural institutions in South Africa through activities such as lectures, programs and student research support.

Donate to support this work

The Ivan Karp Archive

You can learn more about Dr. Ivan Karp and his work by visiting the Ivan Karp Archive. This online archive of his publications is intended to make his work widely available. The links provide lists of Karp’s books and downloads of his articles, as well as lists of the works published in the two book series for which he served as editor. The archive also includes several videos of Karp’s presentations and In Memoriam tributes to him.

Visit the Ivan Karp Archive