MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 04/20/04
Issue No. 14 Spring 2004
April 20, 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
<http://africa.msu.edu/>;>
*BULLETIN CONTENTS
EVENTS
MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
CONFERENCES
EVENTS
April 22, Tuesday
*"African Refugees and Displaced Persons," African Studies Center Brown
Bag with Barry Stein, Faculty (Political Science, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room
201, International Center.
*
**April 29, Thursday
*"The African Fish Eagle: Developing a Biosentinel Model to Study
Environmental Pollution in Africa's Great Lakes Region," African Studies
Center Brown Bag with Wilson Rumbeiha, Faculty (Veterinary Clinical
Toxicology, Dept. of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation), 12:00
noon, Room 201, International Center.
*
**MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
MSU Library Africana Treasures
*MSU Libraries Special Collections has extensive
Africana collections that attract scholars from far and
wide. These include rare books, manuscripts, private
papers, cookery books, comic art, and political
ephemera. MSU is a major center of African Studies,
producing more dissertations on Africa than any other
U.S. university since the 1980s. Among the more
interesting collections are the following:
Ethiopian Materials. 9 boxes: photocopies of archival
materials and other documents deposited by the late
Harold Marcus, his students, and others who traveled to
Ethiopia.
Islamic Prayerbook and Satchel: Moroccan a
manuscript from the early 18th century.
Onuma Ezera Collection of Biafran (Eastern Nigerian)
materials. Onuma Ezera was MSU Africana
Bibliographer. Includes pamphlets, photographs, and
unpublished papers on the University of Nigeria
(established with MSU sponsorship), which complement
papers in the MSU Archives, as well as documents on
the Biafran War.
Ottenberg, Simon. Limba Notes [1978-98]: Research
notes on the Limba of Sierra Leone, which complement
numerous objects donated by the author to the MSU
Museum.
Ryck, Maurice Martin de, Congo manuscripts, ca. 1870-
1962. Diaries, correspondence, notes, etc. on the Belgian
Congo collected by a Belgian colonial official.
Teleki, S muel. East African diaries, in Hungarian,
1886-95; with English translations, 1961-65. Original
diaries and translations of Count Samuel Teleki in East
Africa, 1887-8.
The American Radicalism Vertical File collection
includes several African folios, notably the papers of the
Southern Africa Liberation Committee of East Lansing.
The Michael Morris South Africa Collection includes
material on political violence.
Recent acquisitions include the private papers of David
Hoffman, a Minnesota engineer in central Africa in
1911, Webster family papers, letters by sisters working
in East Africa, 1925-45, South African Political
Ephemera (party, union, and civil society ephemera
from 1980s-90s, including ballots from the historic 1994
election), African Political Posters, and ephemera from
recent major U.N. Conferences in Africa--World
Conference against Racism, 2001 and World Summit on
Sustainable Development, 2002.
Three significant donations currently in process are the
papers of the late Professor Harold Marcus (Ethiopia),
papers of Professor James Bingen (West Africa), and
papers and field notes of Emeritus Professor John
Hunter (medical anthropology).
Special Collections has a rich store of African
cookbooks and comic art from many African countries,
ranging from Algeria, Senegal and Nigeria to Kenya,
Uganda and South Africa, not to mention the well-
known Tintin au Congo.
More than forty rare Africana titles published before
1800 are held, including A voyage to Congo by Father
Jerom Merolla da Sorrento (London, 1682?) and
Substance of the report delivered by the Court of
Directors of the Sierra Leone Company (Philadelphia,
1795).
People interested in depositing gifts should contact Peter
Berg, Head of Special Collections, (517) 355-3770,
berg@msu.edu, Joseph Lauer, Africana Librarian (517)
432-2218 lauer@msu.edu or Peter Limb, Africana
Bibliographer (517) 432-4983 limb@msu.edu.
*
**OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Third Abidjan Scholarship Benefit
*The Institute for Education of Women in Africa and the
Diaspora, a local non-profit organization, is pleased to
announce its Third Abidjan Scholarship Benefit on
Sunday, April 25, 2004 from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The benefit raises funds to educationally support high
school girls in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. A special
presentation will be given on the girls that currently
receive support, as well as entertainment from the
Likewater Drumworks Troupe and the Sompas
Congelese Dancers.
The Institute for Education of Women in Africa and the
Diaspora (IEWAD) is a local non-profit organization
with an international focus on the promotion of
education of girls in Africa and the Diaspora. For more
information about the event, tickets, or IEWAD, please
visit http://iewad.tripod.com/ or call (734) 709-1078.
*
**Ten-Year Commemoration of the War in Rwanda
*The Detroit Council for World Affairs and Michigan
Coalition for Human Rights present: A Ten-Year
Commemoration of the War in Rwanda on Friday, April
30, 2004 at 6:30 p.m.
The featured speaker is Michael Scharf, Professor of
Law and Director of the Frederick K. Cox International
Law Center at Case Western Reserve University School
of Law. He is the author of The International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda, which was awarded the American
Society of International Law's Certificate of Merit for
the Outstanding book in International Law in 1999.
This event will take place on the campus ofWayne State
University in the Great Hall of the African Heritage
Training and Cultural Center at 21511 W. McNichols
Rd. Free parking is available and African food will be
provided. A $5.00 donation is appreciated. For more
information, please call: (313) 577-3453; or visit
http://www.pcs.wayne.edu/DCWA
*
**CONFERENCES
*Mid-America Alliance for African Studies (MAAAS)
Tenth Annual Conference - October 1-2, 2004
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is pleased to
serve as host for the Tenth Annual Mid-America
Alliance for African Studies (MAAAS) conference. The
conference will be held October 1-2, 2004 in Morris
University Center of the SIUE campus in Edwardsville.
The keynote speaker will be Professor Jean Allman of
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Africanists, including faculty (professors and teachers),
students, and interested members of the community --
from the mid-America region and beyond are invited
to submit paper and panel proposals on aspects of the
theme, "Ethnic Groups and Nationhood in Africa."
Questions that will be entertained at the conference
include but are not limited to the following:
What is the impact of ethnic groups on our
understanding of the African continent?
Are there particular regions that highlight ethnic
diversity?
How are ethnic groups viewed from within Africa?
How are ethnic groups represented in the literature
and theater of Africa, particularly literature
published in a European language?
How are ethnic groups represented in contemporary
artistic traditions emanating from Africa?
To what extent are the forces of ethnicity playing a
role in contemporary political and economic
conditions?
Have these forces been sufficiently described to
understand their role in the history of the
continent?
What is the relationship between ethnicity and
democratization?
How can the forces of ethnicity be marshaled to
sustain economic, political and social directions
on the continent?
Where are major fault lines regarding the
relationship between ethnicity and nationhood?
How does ethnicity in Africa compare to ethnicity
in other parts of the world?
These are but a few of the questions that can be
considered for developing a paper or a panel proposal
for MAAAS '04. Moreover, the conference organizers
welcome papers or panels on any topic related to
African studies. Abstract submissions from those who
have never participated in previous MAAAS meetings
are especially invited.
The deadline for proposal submission of paper and panel
abstracts is June 15, 2004. Abstracts should not exceed
one single-spaced page. Observing these same
restrictions, panel proposal should include a one-page
panel abstract as well as an abstract for each paper
included in the panel. Abstracts should be sent via e-
mail attachment to Professor Ron Schaefer at
rschaef@siue.edu
Membership in MAAAS is required for all conference
presenters. Membership fees are:
$20 for faculty; $15 for students and independent
scholars; $30 for institutions.
Conference pre-registration (until August 1): faculty
($25); students and independent scholars ($10). After
that date, registration will be $30 and $15, respectively.
All conference presenters must pay membership and
registration. Please make all checks payable to SIUE.
All conference correspondence, including payment of
membership and registration fees should be sent to:
MAAAS '04, Department of English, Southern Illinois
University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026-1431;
Phone: (618) 650-3481; Fax: (618) 650-5050.
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.