MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 03/20/07

The African Studies Center at MSU

Tuesday Bulletin for March 20th, 2007

Topics covered in this issue: Events | Announcements | Other Announcements | Conferences | Jobs
Events
“Black Gold”

Saturday, March 24, 2007

A film focusing on Ethiopia's coffee industry, 1:30 p.m., MSU Wells Hall, Theater B -Capra. (East Lansing Film Festival Series). "An Open Window"

Saturday, March 24, 2007

An award winning feature that deals with a mentally troubled woman in Dakar, and her friendship with the filmmaker. 4:00 p.m., MSU Wells Hall, Theater C - Fellini (East Lansing Film Festival Series). This film will also show at Lansing Community College (LCC) on Fri. March 23rd, 7:00 p.m., Rm 170 Arts &am! p; Science Bldg. Four South African Photographers: Document and Images

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Slide lecture and Special Brown Bag talk with Professor Waldemar Bussiahn, Tshwane Univ. (Pretoria, South Africa), and Professor Glenn Meyer, Nelson Mandela Univ. (Port Elizabeth, South Africa), 12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m., Room 201 International Center. Their visit is sponsored by the Dept. of Art & Art History and the African Studies Center. Development and Citizenship in South Africa's 2010 World Cup

Thursday, March 29, 2007

African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Peter Alegi, Faculty (History, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center. The Aesthetics of Photographing Serene Environments

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Lecture by Professor Bussiahn, 7:00 - 8:00p.m., Room 108 Kresge Art Center. Sponsored by the Dept. of Art and Art History. Contact Prof. Peter Glendinning at glendinn@msu.edu for further information. "The Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela"

Friday, March 30, 2007

A documentary by Allen Harris. It is based on the story of the South African exiles who kept the anti-apartheid movement alive from East Africa, Europe, America, and Cuba. The film is sponsored by the African American and African Studies Dept., 7:00 p.m., Room 206 Old Horticulture Bldg. "Black Gold"

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

A film focusing on Ethiopia's coffee industry, 7:30 p.m., Room B102 Wells Hall. Sponsored by the MSU Geography Club. Contact Heather at aschoffh@msu.edu for detai! ls. Facilitating Mozambican Women's Attainment of Postwar Well-being

Thursday, March 22, 2007

African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Zermarie Deacon, Advanced Graduate Student (Psychology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center. Announcements
MSU Int'l Predissertation Travel Awards - 2007

Go to: http://www.isp.msu.edu/deadlines/dead_2.phpfor application forms. Deadline is March 30, 2007.

Applications are being solicited for the 2007 Predissertation Travel Awards of up to $5000. These awards are designed to provide funds for MSU Ph.D. candidates 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, 2007, fall, 2007, and spring 2008.

U.S. and international Ph.D. candidates may apply for the awards which support travel abroad to your intended dissertation research site for a minimum of 60 days. For further details, visit the above website or contact Dr. Jenny Bond, Acting Assistant Dean, International Studies and Programs, (517) 355-2350. Summer Course Announcement

Graduate Seminar available on the Internet

RD876, International Rural Development, is a 3 credit graduate seminar available every semester on the MSU ANGEL Program. The course simulates a small group of students sitting around a table with the professor, who has years of hands-on experience designing and implementing many development programs and projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For more information see the preview at: https://angel.msu.edu or e-mail Professor George H. Axinn at axinn@msu.edu. Afrobarometer Conference at MSU, May 12-13, 2007

On behalf of the Afrobarometer Network, the Department of Political Science and the African Studies Center at Michigan State University are pleased to host a conference on the Micro-Foundations of Mass Politics in Africa.

To date, scholars of African politics have concentrated principally on the deeds -- and misdeeds – of political elites. Studies of mass participation have been largely limited to local cases and have been hampered by a lack of systematic data on public values, attitudes and behavior. The advent of the Afrobarometer, now comprising three rounds of national probability sample surveys in up to 18 African countries, 1999-2006, offers unique opportunities to delve into the foundations of individual political action.

The conference will feature 20 original research papers by leading and emergent scholars from Afric! a, Europe and the United States. The themes of the papers include electoral participation, ethnic identity, economic well-being, social capital, and democratic citizenship. All papers draw evidence from Afrobarometer public opinion data. An edited volume is planned. Conference papers will be available at http://www.polisci.msu.edu/about/2007microMPA.htm by April 15, 2007.

Explore Africa at MSU, June 17-23, 2007

Explore Africa at MSU is a residential program designed for academically talented high school students (entering grades 10, 11, and 12) who would like to become immersed in learning about the tremendous diversity found within the continent of Africa. This program is a cooperative venture by the African Studies Center and the Office of Gifted and Talented Education at MSU.

Participants will attend daily language classes in Swahili; participate in sessions on African literature; develop self-selected projects on African topic! s; participate in African music and dance, as well as assist an African chef in making a traditional dinner.

For registration or other information, contact John Metzler, (517) 353-1700; e-mail: metzler@msu.edu, url: http://www.msu.edu/~gifted/exploreafrica/exploreafrica.htm. The application deadline is March 30, 2007.

Peace Corps Photo Exhibit, Feb. 25 - March 31, 2007

In honor of Michigan State University's continued collaboration with Peace Corps, Greater Lansing Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (GLRPCV) is sponsoring a photo exhibit highlighting local returned volunteers and the countries in which they served. The photo exhibit will run from February 25 through March 31, 2007, in MSU's International Library just off the lobby of the International Center (on North Shaw between Farm Lane and Red Cedar Road).

For more information, please contact MSU's Peace! Corps office at msupeace@msu.edu or 517-432-7474. To join the Greater Lansing Returned Peace Corps Volunteers active membership, contact Lexine Hansen at lexrpcv@yahoo.com or 517-853-8396.

2007 Compton Africa Peace Fellowships-Extended

Deadline April 13, 2007 and September 15, 2007.

Michigan State University's African Studies Center (ASC) and Women and International Development (WID) Program are offering Compton Africa Peace Fellowships to graduate students from Sub-Saharan Africa to support their dissertation field research in Africa. This program is an element of the MSU African Higher Education Partnerships Initiative (AHEPI). These dissertation fellowship awards are made possible by a grant from the Compton Foundation through its Peace Fellowship Program for addressing peace, conflict resolution, and security in Africa.

For Information on eligible research topics, eligibility requirements, and application forms please visit: http://africa.msu.edu/compton.php. Completed application forms must be submitted by mail and e-mail to: MSU-Compton Fellowship Committee, c/o David Wiley, African Studies Center, 100 International Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1035; Tel: 517-353-1700; Fax: 517-432-1209; e-mail: wiley@msu.edu. The application deadline is April 13, 2007 (MSU African Students) and September 15, 2007 (Students from Africa). `Big, Bold & Beautiful: African Household Pots' - Exhibit runs Feb. 19-Aug. 15, 2007

An important collection of sub-Saharan African clay pots was donated to the MSU Museum and 14 of them will be shown in University Development's display area in the new East Spartan Stadium expansion (300 Spartan Way). Included in the exhibit will be ceramics from Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon! and Ghana. Other Announcements
Collaborative Partnerships: Ethiopia/Uganda

Higher Education for Development (HED), in cooperation with USAID, is issuing this request for applications for partnerships in Ethiopia and Uganda.

The deadline for receipt of applications is April 30, 2007, 5:00 p.m. EDT. HED anticipates making two (2) awards, contingent on USAID funding:

One (1) award for Ethiopia of up to $200,000 for a three-year period for Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development; and One (1) award for Uganda of up to $200,000 for a three-year period for the Parliamentary Research and Internship Program (PRIP).

Please view the full RFA for more information: http://www.hedprogram.org/tabid/227/itemid/101/Request-for-Applications-Ethiopia-Disaster-Risk-R.aspx

For more information about HED, please visit http://www.hedprogram.org/

Conferences
African Film Conference, 2007- Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign

November 9-10, 2007The African film conference in Urbana-Champaign will explore how an appreciation of films as mode of expression and form can be combined with an understanding of their content. The conference will be at the Center for African Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Cinema has a more pronounced public dimension than some of the other arts; it creates an audience and depends on it for its survival, and filmmaking itself can be situated within the history, economy, politics, and broader cultural trends of postcolonial Africa. The conference will aim to foster a dialogue between film scholars, critics, and the social science interpreters, users, and enthusiasts of African films, and will try to achieve, among other things, a greater sensibility for film as a medium among the latter. The organizers seek abstracts from scholars and writers interested in participating in this project.Contributions on thematic and stylistic development in African filmmaking and on the way the films reflect and feed upon urban popular culture are invited. A subset of related themes involve the connections to international film making styles or to the ethnographic and documentary film traditions, including considerations of emerging regional and national styles within Africa.

Please send abstracts of 250-300 words by e-mail or by post to: Mahir Saul, Dept. of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Davenport Hall, 607 S. Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801; m-saul@uiuc.edu or Ralph Austen, Dept. of History, University of Chicago, Pick Hall 214, 5828 S. University Avenue, Chicago IL 60637; wwb3@uchicago.edu. Deadline is May 31, 2007.

Jobs
Lectureship in Swahili - University of Hamburg

The Department of African Languages and Ethiopian Studies at the Asia-Africa-Institute of the University of Hamburg invites applications for a full-time Lectureship in Swahili (39 h per week), beginning October 1, 2007. The University of Hamburg has a policy of increasing the proportion of women in academic research and teaching, and strongly encourages qualified women to apply. In accordance with Hamburg's `Gender-Equality' law, a woman candidate will be preferred, if two or more candidates have the same qualifications.

The department seeks a candidate who is able to teach Swahili courses at all levels and willing to participate in a full range of Swahili language programme activities such as the development and implementation of Swahili courses within the framework of the new B.A. and M.A. curricula. The teaching load will be 16 academic hours per week during the semester. The successful candidate should have a university degree in Swahili language or linguistics and a record o! f at least three years of teaching Swahili as a foreign language. Native or near-native command of Swahili is required. Experience with Swahili language teaching materials development is preferred. The successful candidate will also be willing to regularly update her/his didactic training. While high proficiency in both Swahili and English is a prerequisite, a working knowledge of German is expected to be acquired in at most two years' time.

To ensure full consideration, please send a curriculum vitae, degree certificate(s), two letters of reference, a complete description of relevant teaching experience and a concise statement specifying the methods and the media to be employed in furthering curriculum development and the learners' progress no later than 01.April 2007. Send to: Sprecher des Asien-Afrika-Instituts, Prof. Dr. Ludwig Paul Stichwort: Swahili-Lektor, Universität Hamburg, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 (Ostflügel), 20146 Hamburg, Germany. Please do not send original documents. In order to reduce costs, documents or copies sent in connection with the application will not be returned - unless a stamped addressed envelope is enclosed. The official (German) text of this announcement will be accessible shortly on the following page: http://www.verwaltung.uni-hamburg.de/stellenangebote/wissmit/aai_3.html.

For more information, visit the African Studies Center Website. Please submit information on Africa-related events or news seven to ten days in advance of publication. Send to the African Studies Center, 100 Center for International Programs, Michigan State University. Telephone: (517) 353-1700; Fax: (517) 432-1209; E-mail: africa@msu.edu.

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