Laika, a stray dog from Moscow who became the first living animal to orbit the Earth in 1957 aboard the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2.

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I had a deeply engaging meeting with Emmanuel Akyeampong, Professor of History and of African and African American Studies @Harvard. Emmanuel is one of the greatest African historians who have made a huge contribution to history, methodologically and substantively, and have had an enormous impact in publishing and supporting junior scholars. He was generous with his time and advise, providing me with constructive feedback on my forthcoming book that explains why the military in Southern Africa has sustained democracies in some countries, not others, since the reintroduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s. Like the brilliant and career-nurturing @WildPasts_ back home in Stellenbosch, Emmanuel always sees the big picture, raises the crucial questions, and remains exceedingly unassuming, despite the many accomplishments. He has served as an excellent intellectual guide since my arrival in Massachusetts in January, as has done Professor Zoe Marks. Zoe, one of the most distinguished political scientists of modern Africa, is the Faculty Director of Harvard's University-wide Center for African Studies and a Lecturer in Public Policy @Kennedy_School. Her intellectual integrity is only matched by her incredible humility. Zoe inspires as much by the questions she poses as she does by the responses she provides – and that for me is one of the marks of a great academic. I arrived in a strange and unfamiliar place, but the wonderful and always efficient Rosaline Salifu, the Associate Director of @AfricaHarvard, went beyond and above to ease my anxieties. In no time, Rosaline made this place feel like home through the small and personal acts of help that gave expression to ubuntu: that intangible connection that we share as humans. Rosaline could not have been a more perfect ambassador for the Center. africa.harvard.edu/people/si…