| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
A Publication of the Berkeley-Stanford Joint Center for African Studies
Spring, 1994-95
Africa Week Begins April 25 at Stanford
Africa Week
The Stanford African Student Association (SASA) is hosting Africa Week, a celebration of activities, cultural performances, and lectures beginning April 25. The theme of this year*s Africa Week is *Education, Knowledge, and Africa.* The week will be launched by the keynote speech on Tuesday, April 25, at the Bechtel International Center's Assembly room. Other highlights include poetry reading, story-telling, dance performances, exhibits from various African countries, and other activities, culminating with Africa Night on the 29th, which will feature dining and entertainment at the Elliot Program Center. Throughout Africa Week, the Stanford Bookstore will have an exhibit of publications on Africa. For further information, consult the Calendar section of this newsletter. Contact: Stephen (415)497-2199.Email: okelo@leland.stanford.edu.
Classes Offered
Coordinators of Stanford*s Special Languages Program hope to offer a course in the Igbo language during spring quarter. The Igbo people live in southeastern Nigeria and are one of the major ethnic groups in the country. If you are interested in enrolling in the course, please contact Duru Ahanotu and leave your name and phone number. Phone: (415) 988-0601. Email: iqduru@leland. stanford.edu.
Stanford*s Continuing Studies program will be offering the course entitled A History of South Africa for the spring quarter. Taught by Peter Duignan, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, the course will introduce South Africa*s multi-ethnic society with all its tensions and divisions. Continuing Studies courses are open to students who have a high school diploma or equivalent. Contact Continuing Studies at Stanford University. Phone: (415) 723-2650.
FLAS Applications for Summer Available
Applications for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships are now available for Summer, 1995. Fellowships include tuition and a $1,500 stipend for intensive summer study equivalent to a full academic year of language study. With specific Department of Education approval, fellowships may be used in support of overseas language study. Stanford students may contact Jackie Vargo, Stanford FLAS Fellowship Coordinator, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2070. Email: vargo@leland.stanford.edu. Stanford students may also contact Marianne Villanueva, Stanford Center for African Studies. (415) 723-0295. Berkeley students may contact Michelle Bullock, Fellowships Office, Graduation Division, 318 Sproul Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-5900. Phone: (510) 643-7477. The application deadline for Stanford FLAS awards for Summer 1995 is April 14, 1995.
NOTE FROM A CO-DIRECTOR
Students of Africa are used to crises. We watch political and
ecological crises unfold, we read about them in newspapers and
scholaional security, competitiveness, and awareness of how tightly
linked the world has become.
Richard Roberts is Co-Director of the Joint Center and Associate Professor in the Stanford Department of History.
FACULTY NOTES
Emery Roe, head of UC Berkeley*s Sustainable Development program in the College of Natural Resources, has recently published *Against Power, For the Politics of Complexity,* in Transition, 62. His subsequent response to critics *Against Power* can be found in Transition, 64, *The Sharp Edge of the Sword: Reply to My Critics.*
Dr. Mervyn Maze, a member of the South African Faculty Initiatives Committee, has been promoted to professor in the Department of Anesthesia, Stanford University. Since 1981, he has been assistant professor of anesthesia and staff physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Palo Alto. Dr. Maze has been active in identifying and recruiting minority candidates to the medical school and in forging links with universities in South Africa.
The Stanford Center has hosted several distinguished Visiting Scholars during the academic year 1994-95. One is Steven Gish, who earned his Ph.D. in history last year. Steven is currently teaching African History at Notre Dame College and writing a history of Eritrea for middle schools. His dissertation was Alfred B. Xuma, 1893-1962: African, American, South African.
James M. Lance, a Ph.D. candidate in History, has finished his dissertation on Seeking the Political Kingdom: British Colonial Impositions and African Manipulations in the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast Colony. He is currently preparing his manuscript for publication.
Vincent Maphai, the chair of Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape, in Cape Town, South Africa, is a post-doctorate fellow at the Center for International Security and Arms Control. He is currently working on the problem of ethnicity within the challenges and prospects of transition in South Africa.
Joel Samoff has recently been working with the Swedish International Development Authority on Swedish programs designed to support to education in South Africa.
Pamela Scully is currently working on a manuscript entitled *Liberating the Family? Gender, Labor, and Sexuality in the Rural Western Cape, South Africa, 1823-1853,* to be published by the Heinemann Press*s Social History of Africa series, edited by Allen Isaacman and Jean Hay.
Elaine Windrich has been affiliated with the Center since 1988. She has recently published a book on the U.S. media coverage of the Angolan War entitled The Cold War Guerrilla, Jonas Savimbi, the U.S. Media and the Angolan War. Other research projects include studying U.N. peacekeeping operations in Angola and U.S. media coverage of the electoral campaign in South Africa.
FELLOWSHIPS & FACULTY NOTES
Fellowships and Programs
The Centre for Indigenous Plant Use Research at the University of Natars the Teachers in Africa program that supports U.S. teachers, administrators, and professors to spend an academic year in Africa to help improve the educational systems of selected nations. Teachers are placed in formal and informal educational settings to assist in developing curricula, adapting the subject matter to the local environment, strengthening management capabilities, providing innovative methods in classrooms, and other activities that impact public policy at the national level. For more inforamtion, contact: Dr. C.T. Wright, Executive Director, IFESH, 5040 East Shea Blvd. Suite 260, Phoenix, AZ 85254-4610. Phone: (602) 443-1800.
The Peace and Justice Caucus of the National Education Association and Global Exchange are organizing two programs where participants travel to South and Southern Africa. Both programs involve meeting with educators, grass roots organizations, and community leaders. For more information, contact Global Exchange, 2017 Mission Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94110. Phone: (800) 497-1994 or (415) 255-7296. Fax: (415) 255-7498. Email: globalexch@igc.org.
Boston University International Programs offers an opportunity for students to study in Niamey, Niger. In cooperation with the Universit* Facult* de Pedagogie and Facult* des Lettres et Sciences Humains, Boston University offers a full semester of study which concentrates on the social and political underpinnings of Sahelian life and culture. Students take courses in French, Hausa, Niger culture and society; in addition, they are assigned to community service field placements in accordance with their academic interests and experience. Contact: Jane Dickson, Assistant Director, Boston University, International Programs, 232 Bay State Road, Boston, Massachusetts 02215. Phone: (617) 353-9888. Email: jdickson@uism.bu.edu.
The Zimbabwe International BookFair will be held July 31-August 5, 1995 in central Harare*s open-air Sculpture Garden. The theme is Human Rights and Justice; materials of a general nature will also be presented. Contact: ZIBF (UK) Ltd., 25 Endymion Rd., London N4 1EE. Phone: 44-81-348-8463. Fax: 44-81-348-4403.
Students who are interested in traveling to Africa may want to contact Operation Crossroads, an international development project that has been placing volunteers in African communities since 1958. Volunteers will spend six weeks beginning June 25 to render service and to learn about local communities and culture. Tentative host countries include Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, C*te d*Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Togo, Uganda, South Africa, and Ghana. Contact: Operation Crossroads Africa, 475 Riverside Dr. # 830, New York, NY 10115-0050. Phone: (212) 870-2106.
Summer 1995 Program in Nigeria: This six-week program, located at the University of Ibadan, provides undergraduate students an introduction to the African continent. Contact: Phil Carls, OIES Study Abroad Center, 28 International Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242. Phone: (319) 335-0353. Fax: (319) 335-2021. Email: philip-carls@uiowa.edu.
U.S. Africa Program for Teachers
The Center for African Studies at the University of Kansas is sponsord on Wednesdays at noon in the Assembly Room of the Bechtel Center. Contact the program administrator, Stanford Center for African Studies: (415) 723-0295.
4/12 Bob Drewes, Chair, Department of Herpetology, California Academy of the Sciences, San Francisco - The Hunt for Red Octoader: A Frog*s Eye View of the African Scene
4/19 Vincent Maphai, Visiting Scholar, Center for International Security & Arms Control, Center for African Studies - Affirmative Action in South Africa: Opposed &Supported by All Sides
4/26 Africa Week Keynote Speaker
5/3 Ousmane Oudreaogo, Former Vice-Governor of the Central Bank from Burkina Faso,Visiting Scholar from the Food Research Institute - The West African Monetary Union Experience
5/10 Jennie Bravinder, International Electoral Observer with the United Nations, Mozambique - Elections in Mozambique: An Observer*s Perspective on the U.N. Operation and the Democratic Process
5/17 Elisabeth Mudimbe-Boyi, Associate Professor in the Departments of Comparative Literature and French and Italian - Francophone Literature and Interdisciplinarity
5/24 Rescue Now International, Palo Alto relief organiztaion for Rwanda - Relief Efforts in Rwanda
5/31 Shirley Brice Heath, Professor, English and Linguistics Departments and recently Visiting Professor in the Applied English Language Studies Department at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa - Youth in the Townships: Waiting for Nothing
STUDENT FEATURE: ERITREA
Nicole Saulsberry, a graduate student in Stanford*s History
Department and recipient of a Summer FLAS award, traveled to
Eritrea. Below is an excerpt of an article she wrote, the entirety
of which can be found in The Eritrean (Feb., 1995).
During the summer, I resided in Asmara, Eritrea*s capital. Asmara is located in the highlands which is home to many Tigrinya speakers. Asmara in many ways resembles American cities. Clothing stores, bars (cafes), beauty salons, souvenir shops, commercial banks, restaurants, and hotels help provide a vivacious atmosphere. Italian influence is exhibited through the pastel colored buildings, wide, diagonal stress, and city gardens. Italian is widely spoken, particularly by the elderly who have lived through the Italian occupation.
Despite Italian cultural influence, Eritrean culture remains dominant. Eritreans are known for their cordiality, and my experiences confirmed this. People invite others (friends, relatives, and people who they have just met) to their homes for shari (tea), boon (coffee), or just a home cooked meal. The Eritrean diet also consists of heavily seasoned meat and vegetables served over spongy fermented bread called injera. This sour dough bread is made from teff, a grain which is cultivated in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The main employment in Asmara are schools, banks, hotels, busine key areas: transport, agriculture, and industry. Since many roads were destroyed during the war, reconstruction is crucial in facilitating the transport of goods, information, and people. The revitalization of agriculture is important because eight percent of the population has adopted a lifestyle that depends on farming. The policy focuses on the increase in farming productivity, obtaining water resources, and providing seeds, fertilizers, and some type of farming technology.
I feel that my journey to Africa was a time for spiritual and intellectual development. I am thrilled that Eritrea became the first African country that I visited on my Journey. For after thirty years of struggle and bloodshed, Eritrea stands tall and proud. It is time for the international community to step aside and welcome a free and emergent Eritrea.
CONFERENCES
The Joint Center for African Studies holds its Annual Spring Conference on Saturday, April 29, 1995, on the Stanford campus. The conference theme is *Whither Africa: Second Liberation or Sustained Subordination? Economic, Political, Cultural, and Social Perspectives.* The conference will emphasize seven motifs: Democracy and Liberalization, Law and Colonialism, African Humanities, South Africa in Transition, Natural Resource Management, Disease and Medical Care, and Comparative Anglophone/Francophone Discourse on Africa. Contact: Center for African Studies, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5013. Phone: (415) 723-0295. Email: asc@uclink.berkeley.edu.
The Fourth Annual U.S. African Sister Cities Conference will be held in Dakar, Senegal, June 19-26, 1995. The D.C.-Dakar Capital Cities Friendship Council, Inc. is coordinating the conference. Sister Cities International is a national, nonprofit volunteer membership organization of U.S. communities linked globally to promote lasting friendship through a variety of programs. The theme of the conference this year is Business Opportunities in Africa: Focus on Health and the Environment. For more information contact: Shirley Rivens Smith, D.C.-Dakar Council, 817 Longfellow Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20011. Phone: (202) 829-1118. Fax: (202) 829-1406.
Sudan: Confluence of Arab and African Worlds: The Centers for African and Middle Eastern Studies at UC at Berkeley are jointly developing this conference that will be held on April 22, 1995 on the Berkeley campus. The conference will address the History-Social Science Framework*s elements on Islam, Christianity, and local religions and current events, with an emphasis on daily life and decision-making. Contact World Affairs Council Teacher Services. Phone: (415) 982-3263. Center for African Studies at Berkeley: (510) 642-8338. Middle Eastern Studies at Berkeley: (510) 642-8208. The National Foreign Language Resource Center at Ohio State University will be hosting a symposium whose theme is Study Abroad: Research on Learning and Culture in Context on November 10-11, 1995. This symposium will be devoted to quantitative, qualitative, and evaluative research on aspects of study abroad programs in n school and education system organizational issues broadly conceived. This search will be issue oriented and open to those whose research backgrounds lie in the social sciences and/or education. Applicants should have completed Ph.D. Application materials should be sent no later than March 31, 1995 to: Professor Francisco O. Ramirez, c/o Ms. Nancy Schonher, Search Committee in International Comparative Education, Stanford University School of Education, Stanford, CA 94305-3096. Phone: (415) 723-9994.
The Ford Foundation is currently recruiting a program officer in their Nairobi office. The position will entail working with the representative in Nairobi and other Foundation staff in developing, monitoring, and evaluating program activities in reproductive health and gender relations. The program is active in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. A Ph.D. in a health-related social science field and interest in relating community-based experimentation and research to policy; fluency in Kiswahili or Portuguese. Contact Charles Bailey, Representative, Eastern and Southern Africa, The Ford Foundation, 320 East 43rd Street, New York, NY 10017. Deadline: June 1, 1995.
Volunteer Project: Abdul Okitukunda, a Hoover library specialist, coordinates the Dingila Health Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to provide medications and medical supplies to Dingila Community Health Center in Dingila, Zaire, a region in much need of supplies. For information on how you can help, please contact Abdul Okitukunda, Dingila Health Foundation, PO Box 9487, Stanford, CA 94309. Phone: (408) 450-2238.
_____ Joint Center for African Studies University of California 356 Stephens Hall #2314 Berkeley, CA 94720-2314 (510) 642-8338 asc@uclink.berkeley.edu Stanford University Littlefield Center Rm. 14 Stanford, CA 94305-5013 (415) 723-0295 Robert Price, Co-Director Political Science, UC Berkeley Richard Roberts, Co-Director History, Stanford Martha Saavedra, Center Coordinator, UC Berkeley Marianne Villanueva, Co-Editor Jane Bomberger, Co-Editor Brett Bowman, Graphic Artist The African Language Resource Center News was written by Will Leben, Co-Director, ALRCWhere noted, regional African graphics are from African Designs From Traditional Sources by Geoffrey Williams (New York: Dover Publications, 1971).
African Studies National Resource Center Joint Center for African Studies University of California: Berkeley 356 Stephens Hall #2314 Berkeley, CA 94720-2314 (510) 642-8338 XI40 asc@uclink.berkeley.edu Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-5013 (415) 723-0295 Address correction requested ______________AFRICAN LANGUAGERESOURCE CENTER NEWS
A special section of the African Studies Newsletter
Conference on African Linguistics
Members of the Berkeley-Stanford Joint Center for African Studies presented nine of the talks at the 26th Conference on African Linguistics, organized by UCLA on March 24-26, 1995. Joseph H. Greenberg gave the keynote address.
The other papers presented were: Sam Mchombo, *Reciprocals in Bantu: Quantification in Morphology?*; Larry M. Hyman, *Nasal consonant harmony at a distance: the case of Kiyaka*; Armindo Ngunga, *Imbrication in Ciyao*; Jeri Moxley, *Semantic Structure of Bantu Noun Clauses*; Joyce Mathangwane, *Allomorphy and the Morphology-Syntax Distinction in Ikalanga*; Will Leben, *Tone in Hausa Borrowings*; Adams Bodomo, *Serial Verb Constructions as Complex Predicates in Dagaare and Akan*; Scott Schwenter, *Discontinuous remoteness in Dagaare*; and John Mugane, *Gikuyu NP morpho-syntax.*
Two members also made presentations at special panels that were part of the conference. At the meeting of the African Language Teachers Association, Will Leben participated in a panel on New Technology and the Teaching of African Languages. Larry Hyman*s Comparative Bantu On-Line Dictionary was featured in the Workshop on Computer Tools in Language Classification.
Upcoming Talks by Local Africanists
Joan Bresnan, analyzing linguistic data from Chichewa and Kiswahili, is presenting an invited talk, entitled *Economy of Expression* at the M.I.T. Workshop on Optimality in Syntactic Theory on May 19-21.
Rudi Gaudio will be presenting a paper entitled *Male Lesbians and Other Queer Notions in Hausa* at the Symposium About Language and Society at Austin (SALSA) on April 7.
Stanford Monographs in African Languages
The first two volumes in this new series, which are an outgrowth of work for the Berkeley-Stanford African Vocabularies Project, are ready to appear. Volume 1, by John Mugane: A Paradigmatic Grammar of Gikuyu. Volume 2:, by Adams Bodomo, The Structure of Dagaare. Publication and ordering information to be announced soon. Watch for a separate document to be sent to you soon.
Chris Culy, Visiting Scholar
A belated but warm greeting to Chris Culy, on sabbatical from the Department of Linguistics at the University of Iowa. For the months of January through July, he has returned to Stanford*s Linguistics Department, where he received his Ph.D. in Linguistics in 1990. One of his projects is a typology of pronoun systems, drawing on data from Bambara and Dogon, among other languages. He is also looking at the patterns of vowel cooccurrence in the verb conjugations in Donn So, a Dogon language. A third project involves mathematical properties of human languages. The proofs involve data from Bambara, Donno So, Fula, Gikuyu, and Yoruba.
Upcomming Mini-Conference
The Center for Speech Communication Systems at UC Berkeley is hosting a mini-conference entitled "Phonetics and Phonology of African Languages." The conference will be April 3 from 12 noon to 5 pm at 46 Dwinelle (tentative location). Please contact ohala@cogsci.berkeley .edu for a list of featured papers and to RSVP if attending.
__________ Student, college students, and the general public: Study an African Language this summer! Amharic I Bamanankan I Chichewa I Hausa II seTswana I Swahili I & II Tigrinya I Xhosa I Zulu IIThe Joint Berkeley-Stanford Center for African Studies presents the Cooperative Summer African Language Institute: Berkeley 1995 Intensive classes held from June 19 to August 11 on the U.C. Berkeley campus
Registration and fees: $865 per eight semester-unit course Dormitories and off-campus housing availableFor information please contact:
Martha Saavedra Joint Berkeley/Stanford Center for African Studies 356 Stephens Hall #2314 University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-2314 (510) 642-8338 asc@uclink.berkeley.edu Message-Id: [199504040437.AAA01582@orion.sas.upenn.edu] Date: Mon, 3 Apr 95 21:37:09 PDT From: "Center For African S" [Center.For.African.S@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU] Subject: African Studies Newsletter, Spring 1995
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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