| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
THE TUESDAY BULLETIN
Issue No. 1, Fall 2000
September 5, 2000
Weekly News from the AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY 100 INTERNATIONAL CENTER EAST LANSING MI 48824-1035
For back issues, see archive <http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfricanStudies>
MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONFERENCES
JOBS
September 7, Thursday
"A Year in Ethiopia, Academic Year 1999-2000: Impressions of Contemporary Ethiopia in the Perspective of 40 Years Experience in the Country," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Harold Marcus, Faculty (History, MSU) 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.
September 7, Thursday
"Policy and Uncertainty: Reflections on Land, Water and Race in Contemporary Zimbabwe," talk by Bill Derman, Faculty (Dept. of Anthropology and African Studies Center), 3:00 p.m., Room 204, International Center.
MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
S.A. National Cultural Heritage Training and Technology Program, Summer 2000
The South African National Cultural Heritage Training and Technology Institute began July 9th. MATRIX, the MSU Museum, CICALS, and the African Studies Center sponsored the event that brought 25 South African archivists, curators, academics and cultural heritage specialists and additional faculty from U.S. historically black colleges and universities for the three- week training program.
The participants were trained in digital and traditional methods of collections development, management, and presentation, creation of online exhibits, website creation for institutions and projects, oral history methodology and digitization, creation and presentation of multimedia projects, community outreach and development of educational programming and materials, both electronic and traditional. Participants were:
Marius Coetzee, Univ Archivist and Records Manager, U of the Witswatersrand; Sandra de Wet, Manager of Documentation, Museum Africa (Johannesburg); Prince Mbusi Dube, Education Officer, Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Council, Metro Sport, Art, Culture & Economic Dev.; Leanne Engelberg, Assistant Curator, UNISA Art Gallery; Sean Field, Co-coordinator & Research Officer, Western Cape Oral History Project and Professor, Dept. of History, Univ of Cape Town; Graham Goddard, Senior Audio-Visual Archivist, Mayibuye Archives, Robben Island Museum; Neesha Gokool, Principal Archivist, National Archives of South Africa-KZN; Udhandan Govender (Ravi), Acting Curator, Durban Cultural and Documentation Center, Dept. of Education and Culture-KZN; Dorothea Groenewald, Archive Assistant, Univ of Pretoria Archive; Louis Grundlingh, Professor, Dept of Historical Studies, Rand Afrikaans Univ; Sarah Hogg, Director, Customer & Outreach Services, National Archives-Cape Town; Cheryl Khan, Curator, Port Shepstone Museum, KZN; Trevor Mokeyane, Deputy Director for Community Library Services, Dept. of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology-Free State; Mieta Motlhabane, Archivist, National Archives-Free State; Neo Ramoupi, Researcher, Research Unit, Robben Island Museum; Patrick Rankhumise, Lecturer, Dept of History, University of the North West; Antonio Rodrigues, Lecturer, Archival Studies, Technikon South Africa; Anna Melisia Shinners, Team Leader, Physical Care and Technical Services, National Archives-Pretoria; Ulika Ulassi (Singh), MA candidate, Heritage Studies and Tourism, Univ of Durban- Westville; Yolisa Soul, Acting University Librarian, Univ of Fort Hare Library; Paul Tichmann, Acting Curator, Natal Local History Museums; Carole Van Wyck, Artefact Archivist, Robben Island Museum; Yvonne Winters, Museologist, Killie Campbell Collections; Prof. Phyllis Zungu, Professor, School of Languages, isiZulu Dept., Univ of Durban-Westville.
U.S. Participants from CICALS were: Ronald Dorris, Prof. of African-American Studies and English, Xavier Univ; Leslie R. James, Historian, DePauw University; Hallie L. Stone, PhD candidate in Cultural Anthropology, Indiana Univ.; and Kerrie Cotton Williams, History Instructor & Archival Research Associate at Dillard Univ.
Ethiopians in Michigan and Windsor Canada
Ethiopians in Michigan and Windsor Canada, a group established to raise funding for the famine in Ethiopia has recently sent $3000 to the US Friends of World Food Program in Washington, DC.
In an effort to assist Ethiopia, the group would like to develop an endeavor that will help their country at times other than just a crisis. Individuals who are interested in participating in this project may write to: The Committee, Ethiopians in Michigan and Windsor Canada, 971 Daisy Lane, East Lansing, MI 48823.
MSU Global Focus 2000
MSU Office of International Studies and Programs and the MSU Alumni Association is sponsoring their Second Annual International Photography Competition. If you have been abroad, the Office of International Studies and Programs is searching for good quality photos that artistically depict connections between MSU's mission and the rest of the world. Prize information, official competition rules, and entry form may be found at their website:
http://isp.msu.edu/photocontest/2000; or contact: MSU Office of International Studies and Programs, Michigan State University, 207 International Center, East Lansing, MI 48824-1035. Entry deadline is Friday, October 6, 2000.
$1 Million Grant at MSU Supports Public Opinion Research in Africa
MSU's Department of Political Science and African Studies Center have been awarded a $1.05 million grant by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for a major cross-national research project to track what African citizens think about recent political and economic reforms in their countries.
Known as Afrobarometer, the project is a collaborative enterprise of MSU and two African research institutes: the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD- Ghana) and the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA). It is built on institutional linkages established by Michael Bratton, Professor of Political Science and African Studies and author of the successful grant proposal.
For further information, contact: Michael Bratton, Professor, Department of Political Science, Michigan State University, 303 S. Kedzie Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824-1032; Tel: (517) 353-3377; Fax: (517) 432-1091.
Malawi Malaria Project
The founding dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Myron S. "Mike" Magen and his wife, Ruth, visited the Malaria Project in Blantyre Malawi from April 1-4, 2000. During their visit, the staff of the Malaria Project, headed by Dr. Terrie Taylor, presented Dr. Magen with an appreciation award. The award recognizes Dr. Magen's seminal contributions at the project's inception in 1986 and his sustained support over the years. Dr. Magen's efforts have helped the Malaria Project grow from a two-person operation in 1986 to an effort employing nearly 100 people today. Reprinted from the MSU IIH Newsletter, May 20, 2000
MSU Faculty News
The IIH welcomes a new international health-oriented faculty member to MSU. Dr. Gretchen L. Birbeck will join the Department of Neurology and Epidemiology on September 1, 2000, as Assistant Professor. Dr. Birbeck completed her M.D. degree with honors from the University of Chicago Pritzker Medical School in 1994. Dr. Birbeck recently received her MPH in epidemiology from the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). She is currently a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in the Health Services Research Division of the Department of General Internal Medicine at UCLA.She is well-published with over 16 articles and book chapters; those dealing with international health: Neurologic Disease in a Rural Zambian Hospital (Tropical Doctor in press); Seizures in Rural Zambia (Epilepsy 2000); Barriers to Care for Patients with Neurologic Disease in Rural Zambia (Archives of Neurology 2000); Severe Malnutrition due to Subtle Neurologic Deficits and Epilepsy (East African Medical Journal 1999); and Traditional African Medicines Complicate the Management of Febrile Seizures (European Neurology 1999).
Isaac Kalumbu is one of six MSU faculty members to be named Lilly teaching fellow for the 2000-01 academic year. The program, established nationwide in 1974 by the Lilly Endowment, recognizes the combined teaching and research skills of junior faculty members in the early stages of their careers. During the coming year, each Lilly fellow will work with a senior faculty mentor on a project designed to enhance the fellow's teaching skills and to explore new teaching methods. Kalumbu is Assistant Professor of Music, "Expressive Culture in Zimbabwe: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Curricular Development" is his project, and Ray Silverman, Associate Professor of Art is his mentor.
Carl Eicher, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, retired in December 1999, following 39 years of service at MSU. Eicher specialized in African development, devoting himself to training African students and building African university and applied research capacity. He was recently awarded a Doctor Science Honoris causa, by the University of Zimbabwe.
Ned Walker (Entomology) and Mike Kaufman
(Kellogg Biological Station) have initiated a collaborative research project with John Vulule of the Center for Vector Biology and Control Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kisumu, Kenya. They worked at the center for three weeks in April and May on habitat production and population dynamics of Anopheles gambiae, the principal vector of malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. The research is funded under NIH parent grant, "Larval mosquito feeding and microbial interactions" and a three-year Fogarty International Research Collaboration Agreement grant, entitled "Microbial-based production of Anopheles Gambiae."
Tracy Dobson, Jim Schneider, and doctoral candidate Meg Clark (all Fisheries & Wildlife) lead a group of 20 students on the African Wildlife Ecology and Management in Kenya study abroad program in May. The group visited the National Parks of Nairobi, Tsavo East and West, Lake Nakaru, and the Maasai Mara National Reserve under the direction of their Kenyan instructor Perez Olindo, MSU alumni and former director of National Parks in Kenya.
Jim Bingen, Associate Professor of Resource Development is spending a sabbatical year through July 2001 with the Rural Institutions and Participation Service of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Bingen is responsible for carrying out a six-country study in sub-Saharan Africa on "Farmer Associations and Food Security Policies and Programs."
Professor Reitu Mabokela of the MSU Department of Educational Administration has recently published: Voices of Conflict: Desegregating South African Universities, published by RoutledgeFalmer Press ISBN 0-8153-3308-0. This publication examines how academic structures and programs at historically white universities have responded to the increasing enrollment of Black students since the enactment of the Universities Amendment Act in 1983. The book seeks to understand perceptions of student, faculty, and administrators, and to determine how these different constituents have responded to changes in the students demographics.
CONFERENCES
International Pan-African Conference
Henry Sylvester Williams and Pan-Africanism: A Retrospection and Projection is the title of this International Pan-African Conference planned for January 7-12, 2001 at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, in commemoration of the First Pan-African Conference organized by Henry Sylvester Williams of Trinidad and Tobago in London, England in July 1900.
The conference aims to bring scholars from Africa, North America, England and Western Europe, and the Caribbean to reflect on the life and career of Henry Sylvester Williams, a century of Pan-Africanism and issues facing the Black Atlantic World in the 21st century.
For a complete listing of the proposed panels and more detailed information contact: Dr. Fitzroy Baptiste, History / African and Asian Studies, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago; Tel: 1-868-645-5601; Fax: 1-868-645-5597; email: fhesh@tstt.net.tt. Or Dr. Claudius Fergus, History Dept., The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago; Tel:1-868-668-0568; email: ckfergus@tstt.net.tt; web site:
http://www.crosswinds.net/uwiconference/index.html.
Call for Papers
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
April 25th-28th, 2001
"Technology and Development in Africa"is the theme of the 27th Annual Symposium sponsored by the Center for African Studies and College of Engineering. The conference will be held at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Special emphasis will be placed on the development and progress of information technology and biotechnology. These rapidly advancing technologies have had and will continue to have significant impacts on economic, social, and political life all over the world. This symposium will look at the promise and significance of these technologies as well as their relationships to development in Africa, and participants will explore the ways in which African societies engage these processes.
The Symposium will foster understanding and collaboration by supporting interdisciplinary exchange and dialogue between academicians, practitioners, and policy makers. Participants from Africa and other parts of the world are encouraged. For a complete listing of the proposed panels and more detailed information contact: Center for African Studies, 210 International Studies Bldg, 910 S. Fifth Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820 U.S.A.; Tel: 217-333-6335, Fax:217-244-2429; E-mail: african@uiuc.edu; Web site:
www.afrst.uiuc.edu. The deadline for submitting abstracts is November 3, 2000.
Contemporary Development Issues in Ethiopia - August 2-4, 2001
The Ethiopian American Foundation (EAF) announces an international conference on Contemporary Development Issues in Ethiopia which will convene at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The primary objectives of the conference are to:1) Raise awareness about critical development issues in Ethiopia among the Diaspora and the public at large; 2) Provide a forum for informed dialogue on key development and policy issues, and 3) Build consensus on policy issues that are critical for future progress and development. The conference is intended for researchers, policy makers, investors, the donor community, and others interested in development issues in Ethiopia.
Call for Papers
The program Committee invites proposals on current development issues relevant to the following sub- themes. Other proposals related to the topic will be considered.
Human Development: Education and Health Issues Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Governance and Institutional Development Property Rights and Private Sector Development Science and Technology for Development
The State of Ethiopia: Recent Socio-economic & Political Situation
Please send abstracts or proposals by December 30, 2000 to: Conference Planning Committee Chair, Contemporary Development Issues in Ethiopia Conference, Department of Economics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008; Fax: (616) 387-3999, email: asefa@wmich.edu. For further details and registration, visit the web site address at: http://www6.ewebcity.com/asefas/conference.html
JOBS
Director of Research, Evaluation, and Policy Analysis
The African Development Foundation (ADF), an independent federal agency and public corporation, which provides economic development assistance to grassroots community organizations, enterprises, and researchers in fifteen African countries, is recruiting a Director of Research, Evaluation, andPolicy Analysis (DREPA). The new President of ADF is looking for a top notch professional committed to the Foundation's goals to join his management team. The appointee is responsible for work in three interlinked areas: administering an applied research program that provides grants to African academicians and development practitioners; evaluating the impact of ADF's projects and countryprograms; and analyzing the effect of macro-economic and donor economic assistance policies on ADF's target populations -- grass-roots communities and the poor.
Advanced degree in the social sciences (preferably PhD) relevant to grass roots development in Africa highly desirable. Substantial African field research experience, gained as part of graduate degree process and/or from working in rural Africa essential. French language fluencynecessary. Portuguese capability a plus. Applicants should be capable of managing all aspects of research-grant administration and should demonstrate published research and/or public policy analysis in such areas as agriculture, micro-and small-enterprise development, and community- based natural resource management etc. For more information, please visit the ADF website at www.adf.gov and
www.YourLeadershipSearch.com or contact:Bob Mac Alister,Leadership Search, 3333 University Blvd. W, Suite 1112, Kensington, MD 20895; Tel: (301)-933- 0962; Fax: (301)-933-2413; e-mail:rjm@vita.org. Phone calls welcomed. The closing date is September 5, 2000.
African Art Historian - Sarah Lawrence College
Full-time tenure track position beginning August 2001 at a small liberal arts college 20 miles from New York City. The college is seeking qualified candidates to teach the arts and architecture of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Candidates should also have 1) a second interest either in twentieth-century arts of the African Diaspora, particularly in the Americas, or in artistic traditions considered "outside" the canon of Western European and North American art, 2) methodological flexibility, 3) teaching experience, and 4) publications. This appointment is part of an expansion of the department of Visual Culture that will include a comprehensive curriculum, formalized interactions with colleagues and students in other disciplines, and a new facility in the next five years. Interested candidates may send a cover letter, CV, three letters of recommendation, and a publication to: Naudia Forbes, Faculty Secretary, Sarah Lawrence College, 1 Meadway, Bronxville, NY 10708. The application deadline is November 1, 2000.
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Message-Id: <4.3.1.2.20000831170237.00a9d5c0@pilot.msu.edu> Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 17:03:11 -0400
From: MSU African Studies Center <beckum@msu.edu> Subject: Tuesday Bulletin No. 1