New publications

Schürmann, Felix, Die Verwilderung einer Insel in Zeiten des Aussterbens. Rubondo (Tansania), 1880–1980, Göttingen 2026.

An island of supposedly untouched nature in the midst of an ecological disaster zone: Whilst Lake Victoria is widely regarded as a cautionary tale of the destruction of biodiversity caused by the introduction of invasive species, the island of Rubondo is reputed to be one of the last remaining pockets of intact flora and fauna in Africa. Yet the species composition on the Tanzanian island has also been altered by the introduction of formerly non-native species. Rhinos and giraffes, chimpanzees and colobus monkeys, elephants and antelopes – during the period of upheaval following decolonisation, conservationists brought around one hundred large mammals to Rubondo from 1963 onwards, with the aim of transforming the island into a modern-day ‘Noah’s Ark’ for the endangered fauna of East Africa. To make way for this planned reintroduction of wild animals, the people living there – the Nyarubondo – were forced to leave the island. For the first time, Felix Schürmann tells the story of Africa’s oldest and largest nature reserve island and situates these events within the current debates on mass species extinction and the possibility of decolonising nature. He shows how, even during German rule, humans intervened in Rubondo’s biodiversity and, under colonial conditions, altered the living conditions of many species.

“Die Verwilderung einer Insel in Zeiten des Aussterbens” was published by Wallstein-Verlag in August 2026.

Werner, Anja, Deaf German Missionary Berta Foster (1939–2018) and Deaf Education in West Africa. A Woman in the Background, London 2026.

In 1960, 21-year-old Berta Zuther left her life in West Berlin behind to join African American missionary Andrew Foster in Ghana, thus embarking on a journey that would span three continents and result in the establishment of schools for the deaf across Africa. Berta and Andrew were both deaf themselves. They got married in Nigeria in 1961 and devoted their lives to building educational opportunities for deaf Africans - founding 32 schools, churches, and community centers in 13 African countries between 1957 and 2009.

This volume places Berta Foster at the center of interest, a woman who has remained largely invisible in existing accounts of her husband’s pioneering educational mission. While Andrew Foster has been celebrated as an icon in Black and Deaf American history, Berta's crucial contributions as administrator and driving force not just behind their German support network have been overlooked. Drawing on private family archives, including hundreds of personal letters, and interviews with family members as well as former students and colleagues from deaf communities in Ghana and Nigeria, this book explores how deafness, gender, and race intersected in the lives of a Christian couple working across cultural boundaries during the Cold War era.

“Deaf German Missionary Berta Foster (1939–2018) and Deaf Education in West Africa” was published by Routledge in July 2026.