MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 02/10/04

THE TUESDAY BULLETIN

Issue No. 5 Spring 2004 February 10, 2004

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

EAST LANSING MI 488241035

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

BULLETIN CONTENTS

EVENTS

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
INTERNSHIPS
CONFERENCES
JOBS

EVENTS

February 12, Thursday

"Liberia after Charles Taylor: Some Personal Reflections," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Tim Geysbeek, Visiting Professor of History (Grand Valley State University) and Pastor Sam Reeves, 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

February 19, Thursday

"The Impact of EthiopianAmericans on Ethiopia," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Solomon Addis, Advanced Graduate Student (History, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS

From MSU Africana Librarians Dr. Peter Limb

KWETU (Swahili for 'our home'), a fulltext eresource of African content, strongest on East Africa (especially Kenya) with many 'grey' documents (including some dissertations), is now networked for MSU Library users (see the eresources page at http://er.lib.msu.edu or or http://www.kwetu.net/home.asp . This resource is restricted to MSU IP ranges. Offcampus access is possible by using the MSU Proxy Server <http://www.lib.msu.edu/proxy>.

The publisher's description is below: BACKGROUND:
KWETU (Swahili for our home), is a resource service of African content. The concentration is content on development issues. It is full view, allowing users to actually view and read the material online. A highly efficient search engine and database run the service ensuring content searches are always relevant. The library has also built a network all over Africa to ensure effective and efficient collection of content.

CONTENT:

1. Audiovisual: Documentaries, audio clips and photographs. Usual
2. Print: published, unpublished. These are in the form of Thesis, Research reports, Manuals, Project reports, Workshop proceedings and Government reports.

The Library content includes but is not limited to: AIDS, Alcoholism, Animals and Nature, Arts, Black Heritage, Celebrations, Children, Church, Colonialism, Communication and Mass Media, Counseling, Culture and Traditions, Development Issues, Drug Abuse, Ecumenism, Education and Literacy, Entertainment, Ethnicity, Environment and Ecology, Exploration, Family Life, Food and Hunger, History, Geography, Health and Nutrition, Liturgy, Management, Music, People, Philosophy, Political Issues, Religion, Science and Technology, Sexuality, Social Issues, Sports, Theology, Tourism, Women's Issues and Youth.

PROVIDERS:

The providers are: research organizations, non governmental organizations, institutions of learning and governments.

To Libraries, Researchers and Students:

1. An easily accessible and comprehensive source of developmental information on Africa.
2. Savings because costs for acquisition and storage of materials are greatly reduced.

2. Easy to use search engine
3. Updated information.
4. Quick access to information from the convenience of ones desk.

For further information on this resource, contact Dr. Peter Limb, Africana Library, 100 Library Dept. Area Studies, East Lansing, MI 48824; Tel: (517) 4326123 ext. 239; fax: (517) 4323532.

WID Video Title
Speaking Out: Women, AIDS, and Hope in Mali Part of the New Direction Series on women's empowerment in developing countries, this video documents the impact of AIDS on women in Mali through focusing on an HIV/AIDS support project run by three women who speak publicly about their HIV status despite the risks of social ostracism. They hope to convince the Malian government for a more pro active HIV/AIDS policy. By Joanne Burke, 2002, 56 minutes.

For more information, visit the WID Media Resource Guide, "Women in the Third World," which is available on the WID website: http://www.isp.msu.edu/WID/ The Media Resource Guide includes videos and films that pertain to issues of gender and international development available on the MSU campus. The guide was designed to assist faculty members in selecting audiovisuals that will help students grasp the complexities of development and the different effects this process has on women and men around the world.

INTERNSHIPS

Foundation for Sustainable Development

The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) offers international internship opportunities in Latin America and Africa. The international internship programs in Africa are located in Tanzania and Uganda. Undergraduate, graduate, and international students are welcome to participate in any of the programs.

Individual internships are available during any time of the year other than during the summer programs and can be for eight weeks and longer (most have been between 8 and 16 weeks in length). The individual internship programs include individual family homestay, individual orientation and debriefing, and an individual internship with a community development organization.

Summer internship programs are 810 weeks in length and consist of an individual internship with a local community development organization, an individual family homestay, group orientation and debriefing sessions, a midterm trip, and in some cases group travel at the end of the program. The Tanzania and Uganda programs include a week of intensive language instruction. The summer programs range from late May to early July.

The summer program fees vary by country and length of stay, but start at $1,975. Fees include all incountry travel, administration, room and board, organized group travel, a small incountry grant for a development project, and language instruction. The individual program fees start at $1,600. The summer program also hosts a grant competition for all interns, in which participants in all countries compete for grants up to $1,000 to fund a development project.

FDS is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization and the program fee is tax deductible. The FDS will work with students seeking college credit (undergraduate or graduate) for their internship.

For more information or to download an application, visit the website at www.fsdinternational.org.

CONFERENCES

Conference in Abuja, Nigeria July 28 31, 2004

The 16th Annual Conference of the International Association of Nigerian Studies and Development (IANSD) will take place in Abuja, Nigeria at the Pioneer Hotel.

The planning committee invites you to participate as presenter/discussant/ or to chair sessions. The deadline for submission of proposals is April 15, 2004. Send proposal by mail or fax to any of the following: Co conference Chair: Nkolika E. Obianyo, Department of Political Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Anambra State, Nigeria; Tel: 23446215869 or 08036678051; email: nkolikae@yahoo.com or nkolikae@hotmail.com; or

CoProgram Chair: Osita Afoaku, School of Public & Environmental Studies/African Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405; Tel: (812) 855 4944; email: osafoaku@indiana.edu; or

CoProgram Chair: Jerry Kolo, Department of Urban Planning, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Laud, FL; Tel: (954) 7625655; Fax: (954) 7625670; email: kolo@fau.edu.

For more information on IANSD and Abuja 2004, please visit http://www.nigerianstudies.org.

JOBS

Assistant Professor of Akan/Twi Univ. of Florida

The Department of African and Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Florida invites applications for a tenuretrack Assistant Professor position in Akan/Twi, beginning August, 2004. The preferred areas of specialization include cultural studies, film, folklore, literature, media, drama and performance or other theoretical orientations that articulate verbal and visual culture.

Qualifications include Ph.D. by time of appointment, native or nearnative proficiency in Akan/Twi, and ability to participate actively in the development of a B.A. degree program in African Languages and Literatures. The successful applicant will be expected to teach Akan/Twi language at all levels and courses in his/her areas of specialization. The salary is competitive and will be determined on the basis of the selected candidate's qualifications.

The Department of African and Asian Languages and Literatures administers an unusually large variety of academic programs, and works closely with other campus wide interdisciplinary centers. Six African languages are taught regularly in the department, including three by tenuretrack faculty. The department and the Center for African Studies (a Title VI National Resource Center) have close connections in the areas of African languages, literatures and the humanities in general. The University libraries have an excellent Africana collection. There is a large contingent of Africanist faculty distributed among the various colleges and departments. The selected individual will have ample opportunity to participate in the many facilities and resources available at UF.

Interested applicants must submit a letter of application, a CV, three letters of recommendation, teaching evaluations, copies of two most recent publications which reflect their specialization, and a chapter of the analytical portion of their dissertations if the Ph.D. degree is relatively recent. The deadline for application is February 28, 2004. Address applications and enquiries to: Chair, Akan/Twi Search, University of Florida, 470 Grinter Hall, P.O. Box 115565, Gainesville, FL 326115655. For information on faculty positions in African Studies at UF, please see: http://www.africa.ufl.edu/

Visiting Asst. Professor (Arabic) Vassar College The Program in Africana Studies at Vassar College seeks a fulltime visiting assistant professor beginning August 2004 for a twoyear appointment in Arabic language and literature. Vassar College is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer. The successful candidate will teach introductory and intermediate Arabic language courses as well as a course in African, North African, or Islamic literature in translation. Ph.D. expected at time of appointment.

Please send a letter of application, curriculum vita, graduate school transcript, teaching evaluations (if available), and three letters of reference to Timothy Longman, Arabic Language and Literature Search, Program in Africana Studies, Vassar College Box 739, Poughkeepsie, NY 12604 by March 1, 2004. Vassar College is a highly selective undergraduate liberal arts college located 70 miles north of New York City in the Hudson River Valley.

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