MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 01/22/08
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Tuesday Bulletin for January 22nd, 2008
Topics covered in this issue: Events | Announcements | Other Announcements |
Conferences
Events
Film series: Bamako (Mali)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
New film from Africa film series to be shown at the Snyder-Phillips residential college
theater, 7:30p.m.
Sponsored by the African Studies Center, Residential College in the Arts and
Humanities, Dept. of English, Film Studies, African-American Literature and Cultural
Emphasis (English Dept.).
Michigan-Africa Network of Activists (MANA) meeting on HIV AIDS in Africa
Monday, January 21, 2008
MANA meeting 12:00 noon - 2:00 p.m., Room 204 International Center.
Please direct questions to Washington Mutatu at or 355-9715 ext 258.
Neurops! ychological Effects of Pediatric HIV in Ugandan Children
Thursday, January 24, 2008
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Michael Boivin, Faculty (Neurology &
Ophthalmologyy, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.
Language Use in Africa: Why Do Speakers Often Codeswitch Between Languages?
Thursday, February 7, 2008
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Carol Myers-Scotton, Adjunct Faculty
(Linguistics, and Visiting Scholar, African Studies Center, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201
International Center.
The role of Veterinary Science in West African Public Health
Thursday, January 31, 2008
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Dr. Denis Ohna, Faculty, Vet. Medicine,
Univ. of Nigeria (Fulbright Visiting Scholar, Univ. of Pittsburgh), 12:00 noon, Room 201
International Center.
Announcements
The Nnamdi Azikiwe Award for best student paper
Th! e MSU Af rican Studies Center announces a program of two annual awards for the best
graduate and the best undergraduate student papers in African studies. The papers should
have been written within the past year, should be approximately 20 double-spaced pages in
length, and should focus on issues related to any aspect of the study of African nations
and peoples including governance, health, society, gender, science, development,
education, environment, communication, and language.
The award honors former Nigerian President Nnamdi Azikiwe, a scholar and politician, who led Nigeria as its first civilian president and who invited MSU faculty to join him and other Nigerians to build a land-grant model university in Eastern Nigeria. This became the University of Nigeria at Nsukka, had a distinguished educational history, and was the beginnings of the MSU African Studies faculty. Papers will be reviewed by a faculty committee, and the first awards will be made in spring 2008. Th! e winning papers will be peer- reviewed for publication in a new African Studies Working Papers Series, and each author will receive a $200 prize. Papers should be submitted to the African Studies office via e-mail (in MS Word or WordPerfect) or by mail (both hard copy and on diskette/ CD/DVD). Please follow the detailed criteria and submission procedures at http://africa.msu.edu/azikiweaward.php. Papers and forms must be submitted by 5PM, February 15, 2008.
PHL 351 - African Philosophy
Tuesday/Thursday, 3:00-4:20 p.m.,
Instructor: John Otieno Ouko <oukojohn@msu.edu>.
Course topics include: Definition and justification; epistemological, metaphysical, and
ethical issues in African Philosophy; the "rationality" debate; and connections among
African, African American and feminist philosophies. For more information, call the
Department of Philosophy at 355-4490.
PHL 491/PHL 890 - Marxist Philosophy and the Africana! World
Class will meet on Tuesdays, 4:10-7:00 p.m., 1 Morrill Hall, 3 credits. Professor John
H. McClendon III, Director of African American and African Studies and Professor of
Philosophy, will offer this special topics course. Graduate students needing 800 level
credits may enroll under PHL 890.
The fact that Marxist philosophy emerged from the European context has stimulated
dialogue and debate about it's applicability to the Africana world. This course addresses
how various people of African descent have philosophically responded to the question of
whether Marxism can serve as a viable philosophy of liberation. The class will follow a
lecture discussion format with particular attention given to extensive discussions based
on the readings of Kwame Nkrumah, C.L.R. James, Claudia Jones, Eugene C. Holmes, Angela
Davis, Cedric J. Robinson and Cornel West.
MSU International Predissertation Travel Award
Applications are being! solicited for the 2008 Predissertation International Travel
Awards of up to $5,000. These awards are designed to provide funds for MSU Ph.D.
candidates - regardless of citizenship status - in the predissertation stage in the
Colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), Arts and Letters (CAL), Education
(ED), and Social Science (SSC) for travel outside of the United States during one or more
of these semesters: Summer 2008, Fall 2008, and Spring 2009.
The instructions and application form can be found at www.isp.msu.edu/students/funding/prediss/. The application deadline is February 1, 2008. If additional information is required, please contact Jenny T. Bond, Ph.D., Professor Emerita, Acting Dean, International Studies and Programs, Michigan State University; Tel: (517) 355-2351; Fax: (517) 353-7254; e-mail: jbond@msu.edu.
African Studies Center Application for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) for 20!
08-09 AY
The African Studies Center at MSU is now accep! ting on- line applications for FLAS fellowships for academic year 2008-09 and for the 2008 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 African languages and non-language courses on Africa. Up to date information and on-line application forms are available at: http://africa.msu.edu/flas.php.
Candidates must have completed application procedures by February 15, 2008. Related application materials are to be mailed to the Assistant Director of the African Studies Center, 100 International Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1035; Phone: (517) 353-1700; Fax: (517) 432-1209; e-mail: fisseha@msu.edu. For the Summer Cooperative African Language Institute (SCALI) 2008, which will be hosted by the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, please visit: http://africa.msu.edu/scali.php; or http://scali.afrst.uiuc.edu/ for details.
!
MSU-Compton Africa Peace Fellowships
The MSU-Compton Africa Peace Fellowships provide $15,000 for dissertation research in Africa by exceptional MSU Ph.D. candidates who are citizens of a Sub-Saharan African country and who intend to return to their country or region of origin after completing their studies and whose topic concerns conflict resolution, peace, and security issues in Africa. Funds require a minimum of six months of research in Africa. Recipients must have completed all Ph.D. requirements except the dissertation before accessing the funds. The application deadline is February 15, 2008 for funds that must be expended during calendar year 2008. Go to: http://africa.msu.edu/compton/MSU_Application.pdf for details.
2008 Spring Course Announcements
HST 830 African Historiography
Class will meet Tuesdays, 7:10-10 p.m., The instructor is Dr. Peter Limb limb@msu.edu.
Thi! s graduate seminar course is about trends and debates in Afric! an histo ry
writing and in the study of history writing about Africa. It explores the origins and
features of African historiography, its place in broader paradigms, the lives and views of
historians, and problems facing history writing in African universities today. A series of
case studies (sources; forerunners; rural/urban societies; gender; resistance/
accommodation; environment; religion; colonial rule; prisons/psychiatry; African
intellectuals; biography) examine important historiographical issues from the past and
present with a view to understanding the current state-of-the-art of African
historiography, how it has changed over time and place, and likely future trends.
Other Announcements
Intensive KiSwahili in Tanzania, Summer 2008
The Association of African Studies Programs (AASP) and the African Language Teachers
Association (ALTA) in cooperation with Michigan State University announce the
Fulbright-Hays Grou! p Projects Abroad for Intensive Advanced Kiswahili in Tanzania. The
Intensive Advanced Kiswahili Group Project Abroad (GPA) for the summer of 2008 will be
held in Tanzania, pending receipt of grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
The program is tentatively scheduled for June 20th -August 9th, 2008. The program is
organized by Michigan State University (MSU). MSU in collaboration with the University of
Florida and the University of Dar es Salaam, will conduct the program at the MSTraining
Centre for Development Co-operation near Arusha Tanzania. With U.S. Department of
Education support, candidates who are accepted will be awarded fellowships that will pay
all air tickets to Tanzania and ground transport there as well as all expenses for
instruction, housing, meals, and extracurricular activities in Tanzania. An additional fee
of $1,000 is required of each student participant.
To be eligible, applicants must be 1) U.S. citizens or perma! nent residents of the
United States; 2) A graduate student or ! junior o r senior currently enrolled in an
institution of higher education, who is studying in the areas of social sciences,
humanities, foreign languages, and/or African Studies.
Applications are available on the MSU African Studies Center website http://africa.msu.edu/kiswahili.php. Applications can be submitted electronically.
Please submit the following:
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The original plus six copies of the completed two-page application; 2) Original,
official academic transcripts from your current college/university. (If your Kiswahili
study was done elsewhere, transcripts from that institution should be requested as well).
Only original transcripts will be accepted; 3) A letter from your most recent instructor
giving a detailed evaluation of your speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in
Kiswahili. This evaluation should be mailed by the evaluator directly to Dr. Deo Ngonyani
by the deadline of the application; 4) Two letters of recommendation from other current or
fo! rmer instructors. These should also be sent by the recommender directly to Dr.
Ngonyani by the deadline.
Dr. Ngonyani will be available to assist you during the preparation of your application. Please contact him for advice or for more information at: Dr. Deo Ngonyani, 614 Wells Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824; Tel: (517) 353-4051; e-mail: ngonyani@msu.edu. The application deadline is February 15, 2008. Please visit http://africa.msu.edu/kiswahili.php for details and the application form.
Intensive Zulu in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, Summer 2008, June 11- August 10, 2008
The University of Pennsylvania African Studies Center announces Fulbright-Hays
Intensive Intermediate-Advanced Zulu Group Project Abroad in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.
The 10th Fulbright-Hays Intensive Intermediate-Advanced Zulu Group Project Abroad (Zulu
GPA) for the summer 2008 will be held in South Africa, KwaZulu! -Natal, pending receipt of
grant funding from the U.S. Departm! ent of E ducation.The eight week Fulbright-Hays
Intensive Intermediate-Advanced Zulu GPA in South Africa is directed by the University of
Pennsylvania, in affiliation with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. The
Zulu GPA is a national, federally-funded program designed to provide students of Zulu from
across the United States with an opportunity to advance their competency in the Zulu
language and culture in South Africa among native speakers of Zulu. It is directed by the
University of Pennsylvania, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education
Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Program and the University of Pennsylvania.
Applicants must be: 1) U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United
States; 2) currently enrolled in graduate studies concentrating on Africa, or
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undergraduates currently in their sophomore, junior or senior year and focusing on
Africa.
The following will be the criteria for the selection of participants: 1! ) Overall
previous academic performance;
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Superior performance in at least two semesters of a university-level series of
Zulu/Ndebele/Xhosa/Swati courses, or the equivalent; 3) Letters of recommendation that
portray a strong candidate; 4) Applicant's statement of purpose, including professional
and academic goals;
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Intermediate-low level of competency in Zulu/Ndebele/Xhosa/Swati on an ACTFL scale; and,
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Academic/career commitment to African Studies.
The deadline is February 15, 2008. For more information and application materials go to: http://www.africa.upenn.edu/afl/zulugpa.htm or Email: Dr. Audrey N Mbeje (Project Director) mbeje@sas.upenn.edu.
Conferences
16th Annual Graduate Research Conf. - Boston University, March 14-15, 2008
"Transcending Boundaries, Bridging the Continent" is the title for the sixteenth annual
Graduate Research Con! ference in African Studies at Boston University.
The G! raduate Research Conference in African Studies is an interdisciplinary forum
intended for graduate students at all levels of study. The conference provides an informal
setting in which students can exchange ideas, share research, and expand collegial
networks. In past years, participants have presented course research, dissertation
proposals, thesis chapters, methodological models, and other works in progress. While
there are no strict thematic guidelines, special consideration will be given to papers
with multidisciplinary application and/or cross-regional appeal.
The abstracts are due February 1, 2008. E-mail application forms to ascgrcon@bu.edu; or mail to: Graduate Student Conference, African Studies Center, 270 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215. Visit. http://www.freewebs.com/ascgradconf for more information.
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.