African Studies Program helps celebrate first World Cup held in Africa

Soccer fans will pack local bars and restaurants for the start of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. But the UW–Madison African Studies Program (ASP) is offering a family-friendly spin on the world’s most important sporting event by joining with Dungeon-Monroe neighborhood businesses and a Madison non-profit to host an outdoor game watch, a kids’ event and a lecture.

Join ASP and the University Wellness Foundation, a community youth-empowerment organization, at 9 a.m. Friday, June 11 to celebrate the Calabash World Cup Kick-Off with a free outdoor screening of the South Africa versus Mexico opener.

The event will be held in conjunction with Calabash Gifts, 2608 Monroe Street and Rice’s Service Station, 2620 Monroe St.

In the afternoon after the match, kids can kick around a soccer ball with UW–Madison student-athletes at Wingra Park, and have a photo taken with the official World Cup soccer ball and a replica of the FIFA World Cup Trophy at Krakora Photography Studio, 2618 Monroe St., as part of a fundraiser for the University Wellness Fund. (The group is not affiliated with UW–Madison.)

In the evening, fans can finish off the day with a lecture by political science professor Michael Schatzberg on “African Football, African Politics, and the World Cup” at Victor Allen’s Coffee & Tea, 2623 Monroe St.

View the complete schedule of events and locations here.

Events on June 11 are just the beginning of an on-going series of African Studies Program events centered on the 2010 World Cup, including a workshop for teachers and athletic coaches on Thursday, July 8.