![\"October](\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/africa-is-a-country.png\")
<\/a>October 16, 2015<\/p><\/div>\n
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Cowries and Rice<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n <\/p>\n
By Liz Timbs<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
![\"Cowries-and-Rice-2\"](\"http:\/\/kalamu.com\/neogriot\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/Cowries-and-Rice-2-1024x578.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStudies of China in Africa and vice versa have begun to proliferate in recent years. Journalist\u00a0Howard W. French<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0China\u2019s Second Continent<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2015)\u00a0has earned critical acclaim from both popular and academic circles, and he has had numerous stories featured in the pages of\u00a0The New York Times<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Atlantic<\/a><\/em>, to name but a few.\u00a0Jamie Monson<\/a>, the\u00a0new director of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University<\/a>, has published a study of Chinese involvement in the construction of the TAZARA railway between Tanzania and Zambia in the 1960\u2019s, entitled\u00a0Africa\u2019s Freedom Railway<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2011). There are also lots of great China-Africa digital projects available (We\u2019ll be covering some of these in future installments of #DigitalArchive) like the\u00a0China-Africa Knowledge Project<\/a>\u00a0acts as a \u201cone-stop shop for researchers and practitioners working on the China-Africa relationship,\u201d featuring conference announcements, recent book releases, and a database of researchers working on this important topic. There have also been a significant number of pieces on this topic posted to this very blog, available\u00a0here<\/a>. This brief collection of authors and resources only begins to scratch the surface of what\u2019s available online, which makes the existence of projects like\u00a0Cowries and Rice<\/a>, this week\u2019s featured project, all the more important.<\/span><\/p>\nWinslow Roberston<\/a>, a specialist in Sino-African relations who holds an M.A. in West African history from Syracuse University, created Cowries and Rice to learn more about\u00a0\u201chow African countries and China have interacted\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and communicate that knowledge to a wider audience throughout the world. The Cowries and Rice team uses podcasts and blogs to achieve these goals, bring much-needed attention to Sino-African relations from a variety of important perspectives. I first came across\u00a0Cowries and Rice<\/a>\u00a0when my friend\u00a0Hikabwa Chipande<\/a>\u00a0appeared on the podcast (his episode is linked below) to discuss the construction of football stadiums by Chinese companies in Zambia, connected to his dissertation research on the history of football in Zambia. When I first listened to his podcast, I began to explore the rest of project, being really excited about all of the information that was available that would normally be really difficult for me to access otherwise.\u00a0Translation Tuesday<\/a>\u00a0is a particularly useful feature, where each week, translations are posted for stories originally published in Chinese. For Anglophone readers, this is an incredible resource that opens up new pathways for understanding Sino-African relations.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Studies of China in Africa and vice versa have begun to proliferate in recent years. Journalist\u00a0Howard W. French<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0China\u2019s Second Continent<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2015)\u00a0has earned critical acclaim from both popular and academic circles, and he has had numerous stories featured in the pages of\u00a0The New York Times<\/a><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Atlantic<\/a><\/em>, to name but a few.\u00a0Jamie Monson<\/a>, the\u00a0new director of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University<\/a>, has published a study of Chinese involvement in the construction of the TAZARA railway between Tanzania and Zambia in the 1960\u2019s, entitled\u00a0Africa\u2019s Freedom Railway<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2011). There are also lots of great China-Africa digital projects available (We\u2019ll be covering some of these in future installments of #DigitalArchive) like the\u00a0China-Africa Knowledge Project<\/a>\u00a0acts as a \u201cone-stop shop for researchers and practitioners working on the China-Africa relationship,\u201d featuring conference announcements, recent book releases, and a database of researchers working on this important topic. There have also been a significant number of pieces on this topic posted to this very blog, available\u00a0here<\/a>. This brief collection of authors and resources only begins to scratch the surface of what\u2019s available online, which makes the existence of projects like\u00a0Cowries and Rice<\/a>, this week\u2019s featured project, all the more important.<\/span><\/p>\n Winslow Roberston<\/a>, a specialist in Sino-African relations who holds an M.A. in West African history from Syracuse University, created Cowries and Rice to learn more about\u00a0\u201chow African countries and China have interacted\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and communicate that knowledge to a wider audience throughout the world. The Cowries and Rice team uses podcasts and blogs to achieve these goals, bring much-needed attention to Sino-African relations from a variety of important perspectives. I first came across\u00a0Cowries and Rice<\/a>\u00a0when my friend\u00a0Hikabwa Chipande<\/a>\u00a0appeared on the podcast (his episode is linked below) to discuss the construction of football stadiums by Chinese companies in Zambia, connected to his dissertation research on the history of football in Zambia. When I first listened to his podcast, I began to explore the rest of project, being really excited about all of the information that was available that would normally be really difficult for me to access otherwise.\u00a0Translation Tuesday<\/a>\u00a0is a particularly useful feature, where each week, translations are posted for stories originally published in Chinese. For Anglophone readers, this is an incredible resource that opens up new pathways for understanding Sino-African relations.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n