MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 04/04/06

THE TUESDAY BULLETIN

Issue No. 12 Spring 2006
April 4, 2006

Weekly News from the AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 100 INTERNATIONAL CENTER

EAST LANSING MI 48824-1035

For back issues, see archive <http://africa.msu.edu>

BULLETIN CONTENTS

EVENTS

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONFERENCES
JOBS

EVENTS

April 5, Wednesday

"From South Africa to Mississippi and Back: Personal Narratives in Comparative and Transnational History," lecture by South African author, David Hauze. Mr. Hauze will speak 12:00 noon, Room 303 International Center. For information contact Professor Lisa Cook at (517) 432-7106; e-mail: lisacook@msu.edu.

April 5, Wednesday

"The History and Future of Affirmative Action in South Africa," public lecture by South African author, David Hauze, 7:00 p.m., James Madison College. Contact Professor Lisa Cook at (517) 432-7106; e-mail: lisacook@msu.edu for details.

April 5, Wednesday

"Hausa Table," every Wednesday brown bag luncheon with Dr. Ibro Chekaraou. Hausa-phones in the Lansing/East Lansing area meet to practice their Hausa, 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center. Contact Prof. Chekaraou, e-mail: ichek@msu.edu or call 353-0746.

April 5, Wednesday

"Meza ya Kiswahili" (Swahili table) every Wednesday in the Crossroads Food Court, 12:30 - 1:30. Contact Professor Deo Ngonyani, e-mail: ngonyani@msu.edu or call 353-4051.

April 6-8, Thursday - Saturday

"The Black Scholar and the State of Black America," MSU Conference sponsored by the African American and African Studies department. A complete conference schedule and registration information is available online at http://www.msu.edu/aaas/news.html. Please direct any questions to: Gloria Smith, (517) 432-0869; e-mail: gsmith@msu.edu; or Kristan Tetens, University Relations: (517) 355-5633; e-mail: tetenskr@msu.edu.

April 6, Thursday

"Contested Rights: The Politics of Land Accumulation in the Gibe Region, Southwestern Ethiopia, 1880s-1975," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Guluma Gemeda, Faculty in African Studies (University of Michigan-Flint), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.

April 10, Monday

"The Past, Present and Future of South Africa," History department lecture with Professor Renfrew Christie, Dean of Research (Univ. of Western Cape in South Africa), 12:00 noon, Room 340 Morrill Hall.

April 13, Thursday

"The Future of Africa," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Professor Renfrew Christie, Dean of Research (Univ. of Western Cape in South Africa), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.

April 13, Thursday

Where Land Meets Water seminar, featuring David Campbell, Associate Dean, MSU College of Social Science, Professor, MSU Dept. of Geography; and Edna E. Wangui, Ph.D. Candidate, MSU Dept. of Geography speaking on "Climate Change and Land Use: Wetlands and Riverine Areas of East Africa. 7:30 p.m., Room 303 International Center.

April 14, Friday

"Sudan: One Year after the Peace Agreement," Sudan Awareness and Support Group discussion and seminar on the Crisis in Darfur/Sudan. Guest speakers include: Representative from the Embassy of Sudan, Khalid Muse; and Ellias Nyamlell Wakoson, from Sudan People's Liberation Movement. The seminar is from 1:30 - 4:00 p.m., Room 303 International Center.

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS

Fall 2006 Course Announcement

ENG 823/991B - Postcolonialism/Postmodernism

This is a course about the culture that is being produced under conditions of globalization, viewed primarily from an African and North African, Asian, and diaspora perspective. Globalization and postmodernism appear differently when seen from a postcolonial point of view. The certainties of Jameson and Lyotard about its categories and definition are altered when read in Tangiers or Dakar. Yet the effects of globalization have left their marks on the cultures in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, casting into doubt western certainties over the culture of postmodernism. There are three aspects of its production to be considered: that of a culture shaped in Africa, yet with people looking to move abroad, to emigrate across the barriers of a fortress Europe and North America; a "postcolonial," "postmodern" culture produced in the west, and often looking back to the author's homeland; and a return to Africa, Asia, Latin America. This three part paradigm has a specific meaning for the culture of postmodernism and relations between the west and Africa, one that differs radically from the period of late colonialism and the early period of independence. The course will include a range of works of literature and of visual cultures, including film. Contact Prof. Ken Harrow, English Dept., e-mail: harrow@msu.edu; Phone: 353-7243 for more information.

EAD 813 - Education and Development

This course will be offered by Professor David Plank, Tu., 12:40-3:30p.m. Open to MA or Ph.D. students. May be taken for Teacher Education credit as TE 813. This course examines the role of education in the process of economic, social, and political development. It begins with the "public" character of schooling, and with the claim that providing educational opportunities for all is a responsibility of the State. This claim is increasingly subject to challenge, on both practical and ideological grounds, and the class explores these challenges in the first part of the course. In the second part of the course, the class will address the specific policy issues associated with expanding access and enhancing quality at different levels of the education system, including the teacher training system. In the concluding section of the course, the class will look to the future, and consider the prospects for expanding and improving educational opportunities in developing countries in the new century. This course will especially valuable for students who are planning careers in educational development, whether in national planning agencies or in international agencies, including the World Bank and the United Nations, or for students who expect to conduct research in these areas. For further details about this course, contact: Professor David Plank at 355-3691; e-mail: dnplank@msu.edu.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Congo Art and Jewelry, Lansing, MI

Congo Art and Jewelry, at Gone Wired Café on Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI, just received a shipment of Congolese clothing. For more information contact Carol Richardson at (517) 204-3862.

Living with AIDS- Jack & Jill of America, Lansing

The Greater Lansing Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. extend an invitation to the surrounding communities to attend "Living with AIDS," an evening with Rae Lewis-Thornton, Thursday, April 13, 2006, 6:00 p.m., St. Stephen's Community Church, 1420 W. Oakland Avenue, Lansing, MI.

Hear Emmy award winning speaker and activist's awe- inspiring story. There will be free, confidential on-site HIV testing provided by the Michigan Department of Community Health Division of Health, Wellness and Disease Control. Please contact Felecia Wasson, Jack and Jill Program Director at: felicialynntw@comcast.net or call (517) 882-7193.

Lecture - U. of Michigan, Ann Arbor - April 7, 2006

Ato Quayson, Professor English and Director of the newly established Center for Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto will give a talk at 12:00 noon, on 'Oxford Street', Accra: Urban Evolution and the Itineraries of Globalization in an African City.

The main objective of this talk is to re-tell the social history of the city of Accra via its most globalized street, "Oxford Street", as it is popularly known by people in the city. The street so nicknamed by locals is part of a longer road called Cantonments Road, which stretches along various upscale neighborhoods from the north of the city towards the airport and runs down to Christiansborg Castle, the current seat of government. Studies of African cities have proliferated in recent years in line with the growing scholarly interest in urban development, internal migration, and globalization that have become increasingly prominent in urban studies. Of particular interest, however, is a tendency to see the African city as a somewhat irrational and almost magical place where the desire for modern cosmopolitan self- fashioning is qualified and indeed disrupted by the disjunctures and contradictions between economic capacity, familial and associational networks, and the apparently discordant architectural assemblages that mark many African cities. Though taking account of this strand of research, the speaker will inflect his discussion of 'Oxford Street' firmly against it.

For more information, contact Sunil Agnani at: agnani@umich.edu; or Sean Jacobs:
shjacobs@umich.edu.

Free Instruction for African Immigrants & Families 1050 Fuller Ave., NE, Grand Rapids, MI

The African Community Center and American Red Cross extend an invitation to African immigrants and their families to receive valuable training and professional instruction in home safety; nutrition; American family laws and culture, child care, and Red Cross First Aid and CPR. The training is Friday, April 21, 2006 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Saturday, April 22, 2006 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Ten hours of instruction are free for African immigrants and their families. Trainees will be eligible for the Red Cross certificates in "Your Baby's Health," "First Aid," and "Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)" for adults, children and infants. Call the African Community Center at (616) 248-3552 for more details.

CONFERENCES

International Conference - Western Michigan Univ.

The WMU Center for African Development Policy Research (CADPR) announces an International Symposium on "Challenges and Opportunities Development and Peaceful Conflict Resolution in the Horn of Africa" to be held August 3-5, 2006 at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. The Symposium is intended for academics, policy makers, investors, and donors and others interested in contemporary issues in the Horn of Africa.

The Conference Conveners invite proposals on development issues and topics related to the following sub-themes: 1.Conflict, peaceful conflict resolution and Development; 2.Historical and cultural Origins of Conflict and lessons for Peaceful conflict resolution; 3. The impact of conflict on economic development and progress; 4. Managing Ethnic and Religious conflict; 5. Terror, Conflict and Conflict Resolution; 6. The Impact of globalization on regional and state conflicts; 7. The relationship between governance and human conflict; 8. Natural and humanitarian disasters and Conflict; 9. Managing Conflict in national Elections; 10. The Role of US in Peaceful Conflict Resolution and Development; 11. The impact of Globalization, conflict and terrorism and; other topics related to the Conference Theme.

Each contributor is invited to complete and submit the participation form (see website) and one typed double- spaced copy of the proposal. Abstracts that do not include a completed Participation Form will be regarded as incomplete and will not be accepted. Visit http://www.wmich.edu/hcenter/cadpr/call.for.papers.2 006.html for registration, specific venue, and other information.

Please send all abstracts or proposals by April 15, 2006

to: International Conference on Conflict Resolution and
Development in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa, Center
for African Development Policy Research (CADPR),
Haenicke Institute for Global Education (HINGE),

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA; Fax: (616) 387-0630; e-mail:
sisay.asefa@wmich.edu. All abstracts may be sent by electronic mail to SISAY.ASEFA@WMICH.EDU.

JOBS

Medical Doctor- HIV/AIDS treatment - Mozambique

Doctors with Africa CUAMM is the first NGO in the healthcare area officially recognized in Italy. Founded in 1950 with the aim of training doctors to work in developing countries, actually CUAMM is working in Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, implementing healthcare projects in partnership with local governments and institutions. The project title is: "Overall strengthening of the public health system in Moma District, including care for HIV/AIDS". Reporting to the Project Coordinator, the successful candidate will be responsible of the HIV/AIDS component of the programme and he/she will be involved in the general care of the patients in Moma Hospital.

University Degree in medicine and surgery with further specialisation in Infectious Diseases or Internal Medicine or demonstrated working experience in the field of HIV/AIDS required and previous field experience in developing countries, particularly in HIV- AIDS. A discrete (or higher) knowledge of English is essential. Portuguese speaking applicants will be highly advantaged. Applications should be addressed to: Alessandra Gatta, Doctors with Africa CUAMM: a.gatta@cuamm.org. Please indicate in the message subject the Job Title and the source, which is DevNetJobsValue. The application deadline is April 20, 2006.

Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.