MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 03/23/04

Issue No. 10 Spring 2004 March 23, 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
SCHOLARSHIPS

EVENTS

March 25, Thursday

"Decentralizing Power in Mozambique," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Joana Alarcao, Visiting Scholar, Afrobarometer project in Political Science (Political Studies Institute at the Portuguese Catholic University), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

April 1, Thursday

"Victims, National Pride, and Saboteurs: Youth and Political Participation in Post Apartheid South Africa," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Okey Iheduru (James Madison College, Political Science), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

April 2, Friday

"Urban Systems and Global Institutions in an Era of Environmental Change," Urban and Metropolitan Studies Forum Series with Rodney R. White, Professor of Geography and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (Univ. of Toronto), 12:00 noon, Moot Court Room, Room 428, Law Building.

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dr. Ruth Hamilton Memorial Service

Michigan State University's College of Social Science will host a memorial service in honor of Ruth Simms Hamilton on April 26, 2004, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. The service will be held in the Pasant Theatre at the Wharton Center.

Dr. Hamilton was an honored member of the Michigan State University community, and invited colleagues and friends of Dr. Hamilton will share their memories about her life and work during the service. A reception will follow the service.

In addition, the college is planning an academic symposium on the subject of the African diaspora, which represented Dr. Hamilton's primary research interest and major body of work. The African Diaspora: Past, Present and Future-A Symposium in Honor of Ruth Simms Hamilton is scheduled for October 29-31, 2004, and will be held on campus.

Ruth Simms Hamilton, long-time MSU professor of sociology, died Monday, November 10, 2003. Upon joining the university community in 1968, Hamilton embarked on a remarkable career marked by high- quality academic research, visionary thinking, and inspired teaching. She had served as director of the African Diaspora Research Project since 1987. The project examines the dispersion and settlement of African peoples beyond the African continent, and the project originated in the need for a broader understanding of African descent communities. A multi- volume series on the project is being published by the MSU Press.

African Culture Week - April 12-17, 2004

Gala '04 6:00 p.m., MSU Auditorium, Sat., April 17, 2004. Production celebrating African culture and heritage; with African song, dance, skits and much more.

Featuring BET Comic View's Michael K. Blackson as special guest MC.

Dinner: 8:45 p.m. - 10:00 p.m., Wesley Foundation

For Ticket info contact:
Kelechi: (517) 353-7314
Afolabi: (517) 355-4258
Chris: (517) 214-9107
Anthonia: (517) 355-9132

Fossil Discoveries from Tanzania

MSU Museum Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, Mike Gottfried and Patrick O'Connor (Ohio University) have just concluded another successful summer field season exploring for Cretaceous-age fossils in the Mbeya region of southwestern Tanzania, building on discoveries from the first expedition in summer 2002.

This year's discoveries include larger and better- preserved sections of dinosaur eggshell; skeletal remains of both theropod and sauropod dinosaurs; additional specimens of crocodiles, turtles, and fishes; and perhaps most significantly, more mammalian fossils that will add to the very poor record of fossil mammals from this part of Africa. The trip included significant participation by Tanzanian collaborators Saidi Kapilima (Univ. of Dar es Salaam), his student Sifa Ngasala, and Tanzanian Antiquities Unit representative Remegius Chami. Other key team members were Nancy Stevens (Ohio Univ.) and Eric Roberts (Univ. of Utah).

Primary funding for this year's expedition was generously provided by the National Geographic Society.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

WARA Summer Institute for College and University Faculty - Summer 2004, June 14-June 26

(Deadline extended to March 30, 2004) This is an intensive two-week summer institute on African literary forms and their contexts, with a focus on Senegal. Participants will examine a number of specific texts, meet prominent writers, and explore the interest in local language literacy and publications. Importantly, participants will also consider literary production in its relationship to other contemporary art forms such as rap and contemporary visual arts. The institute will be based at the West African Research Center in Dakar, Senegal, and is intended for faculty who wish to develop and expand teaching or research related to African literature. Institute director and the staff of WARC will help participants pursue individual interests in making research contacts or developing teaching materials. The institute will be conducted primarily in English. In order to provide as broad a perspective as possible on contemporary literature and its contexts, participants will be offered a series of lectures, seminars and discussion sessions at WARC, with academics, writers and artists from the region. Participants will also have the opportunity to travel to the historical city of St. Louis and to "ordinary" non-urban centers outside of Dakar.

Participation in the seminar will be limited to 12. For more information or an application form please contact WARA at wara@bu.edu. A $500 deposit is required to reserve a space upon notification of acceptance to the institute. The deadline has been extended to March 30, 2004.

Visions in Action

Volunteer in Africa or Mexico with Visions in Action, an organization providing hands on educational experiences where participants make a real difference in the developing world. Volunteers not only learn a different language and culture, but also have a chance to work with local communities and professionals in the development field.

Visions in Action is an international nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC. Founded in 1989, Visions in Action provides six and 12 month volunteer programs in Africa (South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda) and Mexico. Positions are available with nonprofit development organizations, research institutes, health clinics, community groups, and the media. The program features a 3 to 4 week summer program available in Tanzania which involves working with children in an orphanage. Visit online for more information at: www.visionsinaction.org.

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art

Explore the world of children's masquerade and discover how African children learn through playful inventiveness and creativity. The preview of Playful Performers, an exhibition about children for children will take place on Wednesday, April 7, 2004, beginning at 9:30 a.m., followed by the tour at 9:45a.m. Please RSVP at (202) 633-4649.

CONFERENCES

South Africa at Ten - April 15 - 17, 2004

Assessing the Transformation Process Goucher College invites the public to join scholars, journalists, and political activists to commemorate and assess 10 years of democracy in South Africa. Hear journalists who have covered South Africa. Examine civil society's role in the country's political, economic, and cultural transformation. Talk with scholars about a decade of change on Africa's southern tip. Co- sponsored by Goucher College and the Center for Public Participation, located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Musical performance by Vusi Mahlasela on April 17th at 8:00 p.m.. For information and conference registration visit www.goucher.edu/southafricaatten.

Security, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation: When the Wars End - April 23-24, 2004 (Free Symposium)

Countries emerging from conflict will almost always need to depend upon the international community to varying degrees for resources (financial, technical, and human), in order to conduct effective reconciliation, institution building and reconstruction. Typically the role is played through the United Nations pursuant to a Security Council resolution. International intervention may contribute to the legitimacy of the peace process. On the other hand, the legitimacy of the peace process may be undermined where the international community is perceived as attempting to impose a result. A matter of great importance, therefore, is a consideration of the appropriate role for the international community and regional organizations in the resolution of conflicts and reconstruction in post conflict societies.

The symposium will bring together an interdisciplinary group of experts in comparative constitutionalism, conflict resolution, governance, development and security to discuss issues raised above. An attempt will be made to derive common lessons learned; identify pitfalls to be avoided and to articulate issues and guidelines to be considered in the design of post conflict processes. It hoped through an exchange of views and experiences, the symposium would determine the variables that underline success in the approaches adopted to achieve reconciliation and reconstruction in post conflict societies.

This conference is free and open to the public. Attendees are asked to fill up a form of attendance. An evening reception, breakfast and lunch are all free and open to the public. For information regarding the symposium and hotel accommodations, contact: Jackie Sayegh, Program Coordinator, Institute for African Development, 170 Uris Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853; e-mail: CIAD@cornell.edu; Tel: (607) 255- 5684; website: http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/Africa.

African Refugees: Reexamining Practices, Partnerships and Possibilities - May 24-26, 2004

The Ethiopian Community Development Council, African Resource Network's (ECDC/ARN) tenth national conference will provide opportunities to explore new responses to the new challenges and dramatic changes in the African refugee resettlement program in the United States. The conference will review the past, present and future of shared efforts to respond to the needs, hopes and dreams of African refugees on the continent; those awaiting imminent resettlement; and those who have recently arrived and are now beginning new lives in a new homeland.

The conference will be held at the Hilton Crystal Hotel, just five minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. For more information regarding the conference, contact: ECDC, Attn: ARN Conference, 1038 S. Highland St., Arlington, VA 22204; Tel: (703) 685-0510; Fax: (703) 685-0529; e-mail: arn@ecdcinternational.org; website: www.ecdcinternational.org.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Stanley J. Tarver Memorial Scholarship

The Stanley J. Tarver Scholarship fund was established by the Tarver family in memory of their son, Stanley.

The fund provides a scholarship to a graduate student of African descent, an African American, or a Black person of another nationality who is matriculating toward a Doctorate or a Masters Degree in African History and/or Culture, and who has completed at least one year of graduate study at a college or university in the United States.

The Stanley J. Tarver Memorial Scholarship will be a $1,000 per semester award, for a maximum award of $2,000 per academic year. Applications can be obtained from the Community Foundation of Dutchess County. (MSU students may obtain application packets from the African Studies Center, Room 100, ISP; tel: 353-1700).

Applications must be postmarked by April 19, 2004. Send to: Stanley J. Tarver Memorial Scholarship, c/o the Community Foundation of Dutchess County, 80 Washington St, Suite 201, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601; Tel: (845) 452-3077;Fax: (845) 452-3083; website: www.communityfoundationdc.org.

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