MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 04/11/06

THE TUESDAY BULLETIN

Issue No. 13 Spring 2006
April 11, 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
JOBS

EVENTS

April 12, 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 12, 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 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. For information, e-mail Zacharia at zadako2002@yahoo.com or call (517) 505-0148.

April 20, Thursday

"When Deities Marry: Indigenous 'Slave' Systems Expanding and Metamorphosing in the Igbo Hinterland," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Nwando Achebe, Faculty in the Department of History (MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.

April 20, Thursday

Where Land Meets Water seminar, featuring Dr. Antoinette WinklerPrins, MSU Dept. of Geography; and Dr. Judy Carney, UCLA Dept. of Geography, speaking on "African and Amerindian Wetland Cultivation Legacies in the Eastern Amazon, Brazil," 7:30 p.m., Room 303 International Center.

April 28-30, Friday - Sunday

Workshop: "'Recapricorning' the Atlantic: Luso-Brazilian and Luso-African Perspectives on the Atlantic World." Michigan State University in collaboration with the University of Michigan. Please direct inquiries to: atlantic@msu.edu.

Ongoing thru June

"Siyazama: Traditional Arts, Education, and AIDS in South Africa" and "Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory" two exhibitions currently featured a the MSU Museum. The exhibits will run through June. Visit http://www.msu.edu/msumps or call Professor Marsha MacDowell at (517) 355-6511 for more information.

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS

Summer FLAS Fellowships Still Available for the Study of African Languages

The African Studies Center is still accepting applications for the U.S. Department of Education's Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship to study an African language through the Summer Cooperative African Languages Institute (SCALI) at Indiana University-Bloomington. The fellowship pays for tuition, stipend, and occasionally for transportation. The SCALI program begins on June 18th and ends August 4th. For more details, please visit http://africa.msu.edu/scali.php.

The online application and related guideline for FLAS fellowships can also be accessed through the above URL. Fellowship funds will be awarded to qualified applicants on a first come first serve basis. Please direct any questions to Dr. Yacob Fisseha, (517) 353-1700.

Fall 2006 Course Announcements

MC324b - Africa in International Affairs

This course will be offered by Professor Rita Kiki Edozie, Tu/Thur., 12:40-2:00p.m. The course will focus on US-Africa relations as well as normative international relations theory by examining the theories of realism, liberalism and the new globalisms against Africa's contemporary 'place' in international relations. In presenting case studies on the African Union and NEPAD, the course content will also cover 'Africa' as a dynamic region consisting of fifty-three diverse and sovereign independent nations with distinctive foreign policies that present challenges to a single continental policy.

As well, following the 'Africa' public affairs desks of international organizations, the course will address the Continent's political diversity by examining sub- regional and country case studies as diverse as the small-state post-conflict transitions of Liberia and Sierra Leone, transformations from conflict to peace in the Great Lakes Region (the DRC and Rwanda), change and hegemony in Africa's large states: Nigeria and South Africa, foreign policy transformation in Francophone Africa (Cote D'Ivoire), and the politics of ethno- religion, Islam and anti-terrorism in the Sudan.

For further details about this course contact Professor Rita Kiki Edozie, Political Science (JMC), e-mail: rkedozie@msu.edu; Phone: 432-5291.

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.

MSU International Predissertation Travel Awards

MSU announces the first competition for up to ten awards of $5,000 each for foreign travel of MSU Ph.D. candidates in the predissertation stage in the Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arts and Letters, Education, and Social Science for travel in 2006. The application deadline is April 24, 2006. See full announcement and application form at:
http://africa.msu.edu/awardannouncement.pdf

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Orphans in Rwanda Benefit - April 22, 2006-Haslett

2nd Annual Coffeehouse & Cultural Celebration to benefit orphans in Rwanda will be held, Saturday, April 22, 3-5 p.m., at Haslett Community Church, 1427 Haslett Road, Haslett, MI (1/2 mile east of Marsh Road). Featuring: Brand New Me Workshop/African Masquerade Dance Troupe, African drumming, St. Stephen's Church choirs, Haslett Community Church choirs, and a buffet of homemade desserts with gourmet Rwandan coffee served. There is no admission charge, but donations are appreciated and will go for food, clothing, housing, and education for Association Mwana Ukundwa's approximately 2,000 children orphaned by the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

This event is the main fundraiser for a continuing sponsorship started by Haslett Community Church in 2001. This event is ACCESSIBLE. Please direct any questions to Ms. Turney at Haslett Community Church,

Phone: (517) 339-0371.

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.

Rally to Stop Genocide, Washington, DC, April 30th

On April 30, 2006, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) and Save Darfur Coalition are sponsoring a Rally to Stop Genocide. The rally will be held at the National Mall in Washington D.C. (between 3rd and 4th Streets in front of the U.S. Capitol, from 1:30-4:00 p.m. Join UUSC and a wide spectrum of human rights advocates, faith leaders, political figures, entertainers, and activists working to end the genocide.

If attending the rally, please RSVP at:
savedarfur@uusc.org or contact Claire DeWitte at 800- 388-3920, ext. 378. For more information visit http://www.uusc.org/darfur/rally.html. Have your voice heard at the Congressional Lobby Days on April 28 and May 1! To register and learn more, visit http://savedarfur.org/rally/lobbydays.

Can't make it to Washington D.C.? Unite with Dear Sudan Our Pledge for Day of Conscience for Darfur in San Francisco, Calif. on April 30, 2006, 10:00-11:25 a.m., at the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, at Crissy Field. There will be a silent vigil for the victims of genocide in Darfur. For more information, contact: savedarfur@uusc.org, Claire DeWitte at 800-388-3920, ext. 378, or http://www.dearsudan.org/april30.htm.

JOBS

Analyst in African Affairs -Washington, D.C.

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) seeks a policy analyst to provide objective, nonpartisan analysis and consultation to the U.S. Congress on the full range of political, economic, security, and social issues of Sub- Saharan Africa as well as U.S. policy as it relates to Africa. Duties include preparing reports for Congress; providing consultation and assistance to congressional committees, Members, and staff; and participating in team research projects and seminars. This position requires demonstrated knowledge of the Sub-Saharan African region, the ability to perform public policy analysis, the ability to design and utilize analytical methods and techniques, and the ability to collaborate with individuals at a variety of levels and across a range of disciplines. The position also requires excellent written and oral communication skills, and the ability to exercise objectivity, judgement and discretion.

To apply online (preferred), visit
http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo or call (202) 707-5627 to request an applicant job kit. Please refer to vacancy #060089 in all correspondence. Applications must be received by May 1, 2006. CRS is the public policy research arm of the U.S. Congress and is fully committed to workforce diversity.

Training and Curricula Specialist, Food for the Hungry/U.S., Washington, DC

The Training and Curricula Specialist (TCS) is located within Food for the Hungry's Government and Gifts-in- Kind Department in Washington, DC. The person who fills the position will be expected to provide technical support (especially related to Behavior Change Communication and training) and some administrative backstopping to Food for the Hungry's (FH) (1) USAID- funded HIV/AIDS prevention ABY program in Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Haiti, and (2) ABY expansion program in Haiti. The Training and Curricula Specialist will report to the Director of Health Programs and will coordinate extensively with other health unit staff. Candidates should have a Master of Public Health or MSPH degree; excellent training, writing and editing skills; technical background in AIDS interventions, especially with youth; minimum of two years experience in backstopping USAID-funded health programs and at least two years overseas experience working with an MCH/AIDS project in a developing country.

Fluency in English, written and spoken are required. Speaking/writing ability in French or Haitian Creole preferred. Ability to travel in the US and internationally. E-mail inquiries to: jobs@fh.org. Application deadline is April 20, 2006.

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