| 1964 | Secondary schooling at Magistrale, Mogadiscio
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| 1966-1970 | BA Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
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| 1971-1974 | Lecturer, National University of Somalia
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| 1981 | Guest Professor, Bayreuth University, Germany
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| 1981-1983 | Ass. Professor, University of Jos, Nigeria
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| 1989 | Writer-in-residence, University of Minnesota
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| 1988-1990 | Makarere University, Uganda
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| 1991 | Brown University
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| 1996 | Rhodes Scholar, St Antony's College, Oxford
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| 1997 | Visiting Professor, English, University of Texas at Austin
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| 2000 | Doctor of Literature (honoris causa), University of Kent, Canterbury
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| 2006 | Ecole des Haute Etudes en Science Sociale, Paris
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| 2007 | Visiting Professor, Comparative Literature, Freie Universität Berlin
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| 2009 | Department of English, University of Berkeley Spring |
