Professor Laura Beny was appointed associate director of U-M’s African Studies Center (ASC) for the 2018–2019 academic year. The ASC, founded in 2008, provides strategic guidance and coordination for Africa-related education, research, and training activities on campus, and promotes opportunities for collaboration with African partners.
“This is an exceptional opportunity for me to be involved in a first-class African Studies Center, which has deep and long-term relationships with African institutions of higher education on all parts of the continent,” says Beny, who previously served for two years on the ASC’s executive committee. “I am especially excited to have joined the center as associate director this year—the first year that a master’s degree in African studies is being created, which allows me to be a part of the program design. I also am honored to represent the Law School at the International Institute/ASC, and I hope to increase the presence of Africa programs and opportunities at Michigan Law.”
Beny joined the Law School in 2003. She has taught Corporate Finance, Enterprise Organization, International Finance, The Public Corporation, Law and Development, and Law and Finance. Last fall, she taught Africa in the Global Legal System, a course she developed that is the first of its kind among U.S. law schools. The course integrates her research and teaching interests, which span Africa, law, economics, finance/capital markets, international development, and political economy. The course is aimed at students who want to embark upon legal, policy, business, and/or nonprofit careers that engage with the African continent from legal and strategic perspectives.
Beny’s research has been published in numerous law reviews, and her opinion pieces on Africa, particularly Sudan and South Sudan, have appeared in various international media, including Newsweek International, Africa.com, and Al Jazeera. She is the co-editor of Sudan’s Killing Fields: Political Violence and Fragmentation (Red Sea Press, 2014). In 2007–2008, Beny served as a legal consultant to the Government of Southern Sudan prior to its independence from Sudan in 2011.
