MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 01/06/04
Issue No. 1 Spring 2004
January 6, 2004
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
STUDY ABROAD
JOBS
EVENTS
January 15, Thursday
~"Church and State Encounter [Ethiopia]: Responses of the Evangelical Church to the
Challenges of the Derg and its Marxist Ideology," African Studies Center Brown Bag with
Tibebe Eshete, Advanced Graduate Student (Dept. of History, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201,
International Center.
January 22, Thursday
~"Flashback: Fifty Years of Donor Aid to African Agriculture," African Studies Center
Brown Bag with Carl K. Eicher, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus (Dept. of
Agricultural Economics, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.
January 29, Thursday
~"A New Agroecology of Epidemic Malaria in Africa: Maize and Malaria in Ethiopia," African
Studies Center Brown Bag with James McCann, Visiting Professor (History, Boston
University), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.
~MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
~African Studies Center Application for Foreign
Language and Area Studies (FLAS) 2004-05
~The African Studies Center at MSU is now accepting
applications for FLAS fellowships for academic year
2004-05 and for the 2004 Summer Cooperative African
Language Institute (SCALI). The FLAS fellowship is
funded by the U.S. Department of Education Title VI
program for the study of language and non-language
courses on Africa.
Detailed information on the fellowship, and on-line
application guidelines and forms are available on the
Center's website: http://africa.msu.edu/. Applicants
who can not access the on-line forms can either use the
printable PDF files available at the bottom of the
application form webpage or contact the African Studies
Center at (517) 353-1700; or e-mail: africa@msu.edu.
The deadline for submitting applications to the Center is
February 13, 2004. In accordance with the Title VI
centers' agreement of rotating summer course offerings
under SCALI, African languages study in summer 2004
will be hosted by Ohio University. For more information
visit the following site: http://www.ohiou.edu/scali.
MSU College of Education - Job announcements
(See JOBS at the end of this bulletin for details.)
The following three positions are expected to be
available through MSU's College of Education in early
2004. Please visit the following website for further
information on each position: http://ed-
web3.educ.msu.edu/college/jobs/default.htm. Review of
applications will begin December 15, 2003. Positions
are pending funding and university approval.
Available positions include: 1) Assistant Professor:
Field Director - Egypt; 2) Assistant Professor: Deputy
Field Director - Egypt; 3) Outreach Specialists/Project
Director - based at MSU.
~Course Announcement, Spring 2004
~HST 830, Social History in Africa; 3 credits; Thur.
7:10-10:00 p.m.
Instructor: Professor James McCann, Prof. of History
and Director, African Studies Program, Boston Univ.
This seminar will examine the ways in which historians
of Africa have defined and presented the social history
of Africa. The seminar will examine the recent corpus
of social history as presented by the Heinemann Social
History series, which has won the prestigious Herskovits
Award on several occasions over the past 15 years and
been the most prolific publications program for new
research on the continent. Geographically eclectic, this
series' monographs offer a broad range of definitions of
social history, types of source materials and methods,
and historiographic points of reference.
The seminar will address the fundamental question of
whether social histories of Africa must necessarily differ
in their approach from the what was called the New
Social History and the French-based Annales school,
both of which favored applications of social science
methods and the analysis of aspects of daily life rather
than overtly political or economic themes. In addition to
its core monographs, the seminar will read a small body
of works from other world areas to offer a comparative
framework for the African cases. Students will read
common monographs on a weekly basis, prepare reports
on comparative reading for the seminar, and lead
discussions on several occasions over the course of the
semester. For their final project students will explore a
body of primary source materials for their particular
geographic interest or prepare a bibliographic essay on
the social history of a specific region of Africa. The
seminar's final product will be a paper of 20-25 pages
that addresses social history in one or the other of these
formats.
~WID Bulletin and Working Papers
~The Women and International Development Program at
Michigan State University (MSU-WID) announce the
publication of the latest issue of the WID Bulletin, a tri-
annual newsletter that compiles the most recent and
important resources for those interested in gender-
related development issues.
Also available from the MSU-WID are Working Papers
on Women and International Development, a series of
article-length manuscripts on women and development
by scholars from a broad range of disciplines and
institutions around the world. One of the latest working
papers on Africa is: "Legacies of Colonialism and Islam
for Hausa Women: An Historical Analysis, 1804 to
1960," by Kari Bergstrom, Working Paper 276,
October 2002. A complete list of the working paper
series can be found on the MSU-WID website at:
http://www.isp.msu.edu/wid/papers/.
Please feel free to view and/or print the MSU-WID
Bulletin online at http://www.isp.msu.edu/wid/bulletin.
~Publications
~Leketi Makalela announces his book, Me, Apartheid
and South Africa, a biographical anthology that reflects
on the plight of a youthful persona under the apartheid
regime of South Africa.
Leketi Makalela grew up in a village known as
Leboengin, the Limpopo province in South Africa.
Having the status of the poorest of the poor forced upon
him by the Apartheid government, he started working in
the local farms as early as 10 years of age to eke out a
living-just one year after he began schooling. He was
nominated by the South African Institute of Race
Relations as the Best University of the North Student in
1991 and 1992 and then later won himself prestigious
fellowships like the Mandela Award and Fulbright that
took him overseas. He previously worked as a lecturer in
the English department at the University of the North,
South Africa, where he published several poems and co-
edited the Turfwrite Journal. In 2000, he was a visiting
scholar at the University of Groningen, Holland, in
addition to his academic trip in Thailand. In 2003, he
edited Inspired by a Woman by Kerby Simon.
Leketi is currently pursuing his PhD in
Linguistics/English at Michigan State University, USA.
His activities at this university include co-founding Blue
Prints Book Club and getting the seat of an Executive
Board member of the African Students Union.
Further details on Leketi's anthology/narrative,
including a "sneak" preview are at the following
website: http://www.1stBooks.com/bookreview/20915.
~OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
~Marketplace Specializing in African Groceries
~KASOA International Marketplace announces a new
African and Caribbean grocery store in Ann Arbor, MI
and Chicago, IL coming soon in January 2004. Grocery
items can be ordered online at www.kasoa.net and be
shipped directly to your door.
Some specialized items include: Yams, Tilapia, Red
snapper, Goat, Gari, Fu fu, Kenkey, breads, shea butter
spices, Agushi, palm drink, plantain, cassava leaves,
fresh crab milo, Ghana fanta and muscatella, malta,
wache, palm cream, sardines, and chewing sticks.
Ann Arbor store hours are: Mon. - Fri. 3:00 - 8:00 p.m.,
Sat. 12:00 - 8:00p.m.; 3940 Trade Center Drive, Ann
Arbor, MI 48108; Tel: (734) 975-2399; Fax: (734) 975-
2450.
Chicago store hours are: Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - 5:00 p.m.;
4424 N. Broadway (@ Montrose), Chicago, IL 60640;
Tel: (773) 275-8802; Fax: (773) 275-8801.
~2004 NEH Summer Seminar for School Teachers
~Writing Africa: Comparative African and European
Palavers and Perspectives, is the title for this five week
Institute scheduled for June 28 - July 30, 2004.
For information contact: Professor Maureen N. Eke,
Writing Africa 2004, Office for Institutional Diversity,
WA 319, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant,
MI 48859; Tel: (989) 774-3700; Fax: (989) 774-1832; e-
mail: Maureen.eke@cmich.edu. Application deadline is
March 1, 2004.
~SCALI Instructors - Summer 2004
~The Summer Cooperative African Language Institute
(SCALI) is now seeking applications for African
Language Instructors for Summer 2004.
Ohio University is proud to host the national Summer
Cooperative African Language Institute (SCALI)
program during Summer 2004. The SCALI program
offers intensive instruction in a variety of African
languages for 4 hours per day for 7 weeks (140 hours
total). This intensive institute will provide African
language instruction with exposure to the culture and
traditions associated with the chosen language. The
classes will be taught by expert instructors and
indigenous speakers of African languages. Students will
earn a total of 12 credit hours for the program; the
equivalent of a full year of language instruction. Non-
credit options are also available.
SCALI Instructors are hired from a pool of highly
qualified, professional instructors of African languages.
All of the instructors are native speakers of the
languages which they teach. Most instructors are
currently teaching or studying African languages and/or
linguistics courses at U.S. or African universities. To
apply for a teaching position, prospective SCALI
Instructors are asked to apply for a teaching position by
March 15, 2004. To apply for a position as a SCALI
Instructor, please send the following items:
-
Cover Letter
-
Curriculum Vitae
-
Evidence of Visa status or work permit*
* Please note: International students and scholars will
need to secure approval in advance for permission to
work at Ohio University.
-
Syllabus for a seven-week intensive language course,
appropriate to the level(s) of language proficiency which
you will be teaching. The syllabus must demonstrate the
objectives of the American Council for the Teaching of
Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines for
listening, speaking, reading and writing. A copy of the
ACTFL guidelines is posted at
http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNI
NG/OtherResources/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines/co
ntents.htm.
If you have not already participated in SCALI,
prospective instructors are encouraged to attend the
professional development institute held at the National
African Language Resource Center (NALRC) at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. This institute is
designed to train African language instructors in
effective pedagogies and techniques for the teaching of
African languages. This institute will be held from June
1-June 15, 2004. For more information, please visit
http://african.lss.wisc.edu/nalrc/prog-serv/prof-dev/prof-
dev.htm.
For more information, contact: Catherine Cutcher,
SCALI Coordinator, African Studies Program, Ohio
University, 117 Haning Hall, Athens, OH 45701; Tel:
(740) 593-0272; Fax: (740) 593-9476; e-mail:
scali@ohio.edu or visit the website:
http://www.ohiou.edu/scali.
~Seeking Volunteers
~The Kenya Network for Draft Animal Technology
(KENDAT); website: www.ATNESA.org/KENDAT,
is looking for an information dissemination, webpage
development volunteer. This person will assist an active
team of agricultural and other engineers, a veterinarian,
anthropologist and participatory agricultural
development field staff to document rural development
experiences in rural transport and marketing, donkey
welfare and conservation agriculture work with rural
communities. KENDAT is a local Kenya NGO with
exciting smallholder farmer technology dissemination
projects. KENDAT is lagging behind in her
documentation and dissemination of unique poverty
fighting and food security innovative experiences.
KENDAT will take-in short-term (3-4 months) capable
volunteers or even BA, BS or Masters students already
in their own relevant programmes. There are many
aspects of research and development for a degree
candidate to tap into even for their own project work.
KENDAT would only manage to accommodate and feed
(small daily allowance) the person to be engaged, based
in Nairobi, with regular upcountry visits of single days
to weeks, as needed. For more information please write
to the Executive Coordinator,
KENDAT@africaonline.co.ke
~CONFERENCES
~The Institute for the African Child - Ohio Univ.
~The Institute for the African Child in collaboration with
the African Students Union and the Sports
Administration Program, Ohio University is organizing
a symposium on Sports, Youth and Africa, scheduled for
February 20-21, 2004, at the Athens, Ohio campus.
For more information, visit the website at:
http://www.ohio.edu/afrchild/sportsafrica/
African Studies Conference - Grand Valley State U.
Call for Papers
African/African American Studies at Grand Valley State
University (Allendale campus) and the Department of
African Studies at University of Cape Coast (Ghana) are
organizing a conference on the theme: African Studies:
Paradigms, Pedagogy and Partnerships, October 7-9,
2004.
All academic disciplines are encouraged to submit
abstracts of 250 words describing individual
presentations and performances, and/or proposals of 500
words for panels, along with 50 word biography of each
presenter. The primary goal of the conference is to link
academic concerns to concrete material conditions,
scholarship, and teaching about Africa and the African
Diaspora. Presentations focusing on the following areas
and/or related topics are welcomed:
challenges facing current political regimes in Africa;
retaining civil society, instilling civic responsibility and
community building; confronting multiple identities,
ethnicities and nationalities; rethinking the effects of
colonialism and post-colonialism; interventions in
struggles for human (including gender) rights; African
and Diasporan histories, literatures, and the arts;
strengthening health care and social welfare systems;
rebuilding economic infrastructures and resources;
preserving and using indigenous knowledge and value
systems; honoring cultural rituals, religions and
celebrations; and charting the impact of international
terrorism and geo-political alliances on African peoples.
Conference participants will also engage in dialogues on
ways to enhance university teaching and research in
African Studies, highlighting the importance of intra-
and inter-institutional collaborations.
Send two copies of proposals via US Mail to: Dr. Veta
Tucker, Department of English and African/African
American Studies Program, Grand Valley State
University, One Campus Drive, Allendale, Michigan
49401; Tel: (616) 331-3692; Fax: (616) 331-3430.
Submissions may also be electronically transmitted to
Dr. Ronald J. Stephens, Coordinator of African/African
American Studies at: stephron@gvsu.edu Submission
deadline is March 8, 2004.
~STUDY ABROAD
~Study Abroad in South Africa - Georgia Southern U.
~This Summer 2004, Georgia Southern University will
offer study opportunities in South Africa for
anthropology students. This two-part program is geard
for those who would like to obtain field experience in
ethnography, biological anthropology, or both. For
further details, contact Rober Shanafelt at
robshan@georgiasouthern.edu or see the website
http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~robshan.
Field Studies Program in Egypt and Ethiopia 2004
The Department of Africana Studies at Tennessee State
University in collaboration with the Institute of
Ethiopian Studies of Addis Ababa University and the
American Research Center in Egypt and its Consortium
institutions in the United States will conduct a summer
field studies program beginning the summer session of
2004. The opportunity to write this program came as a
result of five years research in the field. The program is
designed to take students to Egypt and Ethiopia during
the summer session for four weeks of exploration of the
cultural and historical linkages of these two ancient
nations. The curriculum has three areas of
concentrations: First, in the sphere of global cultural
understanding, students will examine the communality
and differences of the contemporary global culture and
the quest for peace and harmony based on common
culture trait. Particular emphasis on student's project
depends on the interest of individual student. Second, in
the field of African history, students will examine the
relationship between Egypt and the rest of Africa
particularly Ethiopia and Nubia; the recent discovery of
the oldest human skulls in Ethiopia as the possible
ancestor for Homo sapiens; the ethnic background of
early Egypt; the ancient Kemetic languages; theoretical
framework and analysis of the ancient mathematical and
the solar calendar of Egypt will be the principal topics.
Third, students will study the ancient African extended
family.
Admission to the summer field studies program is very
competitive and students will be selected by the Faculty
Committee on Field Studies Program. Students from
Tennessee State University and the ARCE consortium
institutions in the U.S. will actively be recruited,
however, applications from other institutions will be
considered. There will be a two week mandatory
orientation and a two week workshop after the
completion of the field studies program.
See website for requirements and application form:
http://www.tnstate.edu/africanastudies/summerfieldstu
dies/ or contact: Summer Field Studies Program, Project
Directors: Wosene Yefru, College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Africana Studies, Tennessee State
University, 3500 John Merrit Blvd. Nashville,
Tennessee 3720; Tel: (615) 963-7462; Fax: (615) 963-
7472; e--mail: wyefru@tnstate.edu, or Candy Tate,
Emory University Briarcliff Campus, American
Research Center in Egypt, 1256 Braircliff, NE, Building
A, Suite 423W, Atlanta, GA; Tel: (404) 712-9854; Fax:
(404) 712-9849; E-mail candy@emory.edu.
~JOBS
~Lecturer of Swahili - Univ. of Florida
~The Department of African and Asian Languages and
Literatures at the University of Florida seeks applicants
for a full time Lecturer of Swahili beginning August,
2004. This annually renewable position is part of the
planned expansion of African Studies at the University
of Florida.
Minimum requirements are native or near-native fluency
in Swahili and English, and MA in linguistics, language
pedagogy or second language acquisition. Preference for
candidates with experience teaching Swahili at the US
college level, and commitment to continued
development of computer-assisted language learning.
Candidate should be able to teach all levels of modern
Swahili, with 3/3 course load. Salary is competitive.
Send application statement, CV, sample syllabi, and
three letters of recommendation to: Dr. Masangu D.
Matondo, Chair, Swahili Search Committee, Department
of African & Asian Languages & Literatures, PO Box
115565, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-
5565.
Short-listed candidates will be asked to supply a sample
videotape of classroom teaching. Deadline for
application is January 30th, 2004. University of Florida
is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.
MSU College of Education - Three positions
~The following three positions are expected to be
available through MSU's College of Education in early
2004. Please visit the College web site for further
information on each position: http://ed-
web3.educ.msu.edu/college/jobs/default.htm. (The
outreach specialist position is listed under "other
positions.") Review of applications will begin
December 15 and continue until a candidate is selected
for the position. These positions are pending funding
and university approval. Continuation of the position for
the 5 year period will depend on the satisfactory
performance of the candidate selected and the
continuation of funding from the contracting agency.
1. Assistant Professor: Field Director
~Assistant Professor level (non-tenure track) in the
College of Education at Michigan State University. The
Field Director will supervise a project in Egypt which is
aimed at strengthening teacher education programs at 8-
10 Egyptian universities. The position requires full-time
residence in Cairo, Egypt for a five-year contract
estimated to begin January 2004.
Applicants should have a doctoral degree in education,
with a solid knowledge of higher education in general as
well as issues related to teacher education in the U.S.
Fluency in Arabic is highly desirable. The position also
requires knowledge of teacher education and higher
education systems in the Middle East, as well as a
familiarity with the cultures of the region. Knowledge of
the specific capabilities of the MSU College of
Education and its programs is desired. Previous
experience with education in the Middle East is an advantage
2. Assistant Professor: Deputy Field Director
~Assistant Professor level (non-tenure track) in the
College of Education at Michigan State University. The
Deputy Field Director will provide leadership for a
project in Egypt which is aimed at strengthening teacher
education programs at 8-10 Egyptian universities. The
position requires full-time residence in Cairo, Egypt for
a five-year contract beginning January 2004.
Applicants should have a doctoral degree in education,
with a solid knowledge of issues related to teacher
education in the U.S. The position also requires
knowledge of teacher education and higher education
systems in the Middle East. Previous experience with
development projects in the Middle East is an
advantage. Some knowledge of Arabic is desirable.
3. Outreach Specialist/Project Director
~Applications are invited for this position, which will be
a non-tenured faculty position in the College of
Education at Michigan State University. The level of
appointment will depend on the qualifications and
experience of the successful applicant.
The Project Director will be responsible for the
planning, management and outreach of a large five-year
program to strengthen faculties of education at a number
of Egyptian universities. The position will be based at
Michigan State University, but will require periodic
travel to Egypt.
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar