Callisto Madavo

Visiting Professor, Department of African Studies
Hometown: Originally from Zimbabwe, but in Washington for decades
Education: Ph.D. University of Notre Dame, Development Economics
Area of research: International development
Courses Taught: “Emerging Issues in African Development,” “China’s Emerging Role in Africa”

You had tremendous experience working with principals at the World Bank. How does that translate into a classroom setting and how has that informed your teaching?
One of the things that I enjoyed tremendously, during which I learned a lot myself, was working at the World Bank. It gave me a chance to see development issues across the world. I worked in South Asia, Pakistan. I went to East Asia, countries like Vietnam, South Korea, the Philippines. I worked in Africa. I worked on Latin America. As I worked in the World Bank, I rose to senior positions, giving me a broader and broader perspective on development. When it came time to retire, I got an opportunity to come teach here as a visiting professor. Carlucci was then the dean of the School of Foreign Service and he invited me to come and teach here. Now, what is fascinating, in my old job, it was pressurized and I didn’t have a lot of time to reflect and think. Of course, an opportunity to teach gave me more space for reflection and thinking. It set me up with younger people who are constantly challenging what we think and, in some cases, wanting me to do penance for my sins committed at the World Bank. [Laughter.] Questions such as “what were you doing supporting structural adjustment in Africa?” for example. It has been just tremendous for me, making even a small contribution to younger students and younger scholars about where Africa is and where Africa is going, and hopefully, I have interested them also in the future in working in Africa.

What interests you about the courses you teach?
I have been fascinated by the role that the emerging economies are beginning to play in Africa, the new partners with Africa compared to the old — America, Western Europe and Japan. The new ones are China, India, Brazil, South Africa is beginning to play that role. So I’ve taught courses that link Africa to the new development in the global economy. For example, what are the Chinese doing in Africa? What are the Indians doing? As you know, China is particularly controversial, and I try to give my students a more balanced and somewhat more nuanced perspective on China rather than “the Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming.”

Do you think your views on these issues have shifted from leaving the World Bank and moving into an academic setting?
Yes, they have. In that sense that at the Bank, you are in an environment where you meet people who think along the same lines, basically. Being trained by the same universities and then there is a history and tradition that you step into when you start working at the Bank. In academia, I can take on views that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do in the more structured environment of the World Bank. 

What is one thing that you really like about Georgetown?
The students. I think the students here are very bright, very energetic. And I suppose it is a function that Georgetown gets a lot of people that apply here and can be very selective, while at the same time trying to be as inclusive as an academic environment needs to be, with people from different walks of life, people from different experiences and different cultures. One thing I really treasure about Georgetown is the quality of students, the diversity and the energy. 

What is one thing you wish students would do differently?
I would like to see students being a bit more deliberative about assignments they get, papers they write. My sense is that they rush to the gate in the last couple of weeks. People wait on their papers and the question you might ask me is would that improve the quality of the papers. I’ve seen some students who hand in their papers well before deadlines and you can see that perhaps it makes a difference to be more deliberative and take the time, compared to rushing because the deadline is upon them. 

Interview by Evan Hollander