MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 10/03/2008

The African Studies Center at MSU
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Tuesday Bulletin for October 7th, 2008
Topics covered in this issue: Events | Announcements | Other Announcements | Fellowships | Conferences | Jobs

Events

Strengthening Civil Society through Dialogue on Faith and Community: A U.S. - Mali Exchange Program Wednesday, October 8, 2008
International Studies and Programs Public Reception, 4:30-6:00 p.m., LookOut! Gallery at Snyder Hall. (See MSU announcements below for more details.).

Reflections on Africa and African Studies 1965-2008 Thursday, October 9, 2008
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Bill Derman, Faculty (Dept. of Anthropology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 303 International Center.

And the Land Belongs to Those Who Work It: Reflections on the Dilemmas Facing South Africa's Land Reform Programs Friday, October 10, 2008
CASID/WID Friday Forum with Bill Derman, Faculty (Dept. of Anthropology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Spartan Room C, International Food Court.

MSU's Elephantiasis and River Blindness Control Programs in Africa: Stories of Success Thursday, October 16, 2008
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Charles Mackenzie, Faculty (Pathobiology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 303 International Center.

Metals or Management? Explaining Africa's Recent Economic Growth Performance Thursday, October 23, 2008
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Lisa Cook, Faculty (Dept. of Economics and James Madison College, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 303 International Center.

Announcements

MSU Africa Podcast
This podcast about history, culture, and politics in Africa - is hosted by Michigan State University historians Peter Alegi and Peter Limb. It is produced by MATRIX - The Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online at MSU ( http://www.matrix.msu.edu). Listen and subscribe to the biweekly podcast at: http://afripod.aodl.org/. Direct inquiries to: alegi@msu.edu or limb@msu.edu.

Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship MSU students who are interested in applying MUST contact Frank D'itri, International Studies & Programs, (517) 432-8244 as soon as possible. The MSU deadline for the preliminary budget is October 22, 2008.

The DDRA fellowship is for students to conduct research in other countries in modern foreign languages and area studies for periods of six to 12 months.

Applications must meet the following priority: your research project must focus on Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, South Asia, the Near East, East Central Europe and Eurasia, and the Western Hemisphere (excluding the United States and its territories).

Competitive preference priority includes a research project that focuses on any of the 78 languages deemed critical on the U.S. Department of Education's list of Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs). African languages include: Akan (Twi-Fante), Amharic, Arabic (all dialects), Bamanakan (Bamana, Bambara, Mandikan, Mandingo, Maninka, Dyula), Igbo, Oromo, Somali, Swahili, Tigrigna, Wolof, Xhosa, Yoruba, and Zulu. Visit the following website for more information: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-22421.pdf.

The Scholarship of Islam: Timbuktu, Mali, 2007 Photographs by Alexandra Huddleston
September 29 - October 10, 2008, Monday-Friday, 12-4p.m. at LookOut! Gallery, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities, C200 Snyder Hall, MSU.

Mali in Michigan

Art, Religion, & Politics in the 21st Century - U.S. Mali Exchange Program (October 3-17, 2008) MSU and the University of Bamako are partnering in an exchange program focusing on issues of Islam, faith, community, and democracy. The program will provide an opportunity for a delegation of Malian clerics and heads of Islamic schools, university faculty with scholarly interests in religion, and community leaders to learn about Islam and the lives of Muslims in the U.S. as well as enhance their knowledge of civil society.

A Public reception will be held on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at the LookOut! Gallery in Snyder Hall. This program is led by the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) and Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID). For more information e-mail: http://www.rcah.msu.edu or call (517) 355-0210; or http://www.casid.msu.edu or call (517) 353-5925.

Other Announcements

U. of Michigan

Wallenberg Medal to be awarded to Archbishop Desmond Tutu - Oct. 29, 2008, 7:30 p.m. Nobel Peace Prize winner and South African cleric Archbishop Desmond Tutu will be awarded the eighteenth University of Michigan Wallenberg Medal by U-M president Mary Sue Coleman on Wednesday, October 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Hill Auditorium on the University of Michigan campus. After the medal presentation, Archbishop Tutu will give the Wallenberg Lecture. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.wallenberg.umich.edu/.

International Human Rights Training- Canada The International Human Rights Training Program (IHRTP) is at the heart of the Equitas' activities. Since 1980, this annual three-week training session, which will be held June 14th - July 3rd, 2009 will take place in Montreal, Canada, brings together approximately 120 participants from over 60 countries. The IHRTP provides a unique opportunity for human rights workers to deepen their understanding of human rights and of the essential role of human rights education in effecting change. The application deadline is November 21, 2008.

As recognized by the United Nations: "There is a growing consensus that education in and for human rights is essential and can contribute to both the reduction of human rights violations and the building of free and peaceful societies. Human rights education is also increasingly recognized as an effective strategy to prevent human rights abuses. Read more at: http://cambodiajobs.blogspot.com/2008/09/international-human-rights-training.html.

Fellowships

Michigan Circumnavigator Scholarship
By January, 2009, a student with junior standing from Michigan State University, Wayne State University, or University of Michigan will be awarded a grant to travel around the world. The Michigan Chapter of Circumnavigators is sponsoring this award, and Chapter President, John Carroll, is inviting college juniors to apply between now and November 1, 2008. Since 1981, Michigan Circumnavigators, through its Foundation, have sponsored 13 students on an around the world trip during the summer between the junior and senior years. For more details concerning the Foundation and this grant, please look at the link on the Circumnavigators web site: http://www.circumnavigatorsclub.org. Now would be a great time to investigate a topic and think about a possible itinerary. Examples of research grants are listed under The Foundation on the aforementioned website. This grant/scholarship is worth $9,000.00.

The student receiving the grant is looked upon as an ambassador representing both the Circumnavigators, which has 14 chapters throughout the world, and the United States. Interested candidates must complete an application that will be carefully screened by a committee. The application can be downloaded from the Michigan Circumnavigator's website: http://www.circumnavigators.homestead.com . Instructions on how to submit the application can be found on this website.

The Circumnavigators Foundation was created by Michigan's legendary travel writer and TV host, George Pierrot, and Raymond Dinsmore from New York. The purpose of the Foundation is to encourage global fellowship and understanding by sponsoring grantees while they travel and learn. Also, club members benefit upon the grantee's return by listening to a presentation. Interested students will apply for the 2009 Around The World Grant through John Carroll. He can be reached by email at mdwc31a@yahoo.com or by phone at 313-824-6564. The deadline is November 1, 2008.

Conferences

Refugee Warehousing

U. of Pittsburgh, Oct. 10-12, 2008 Learn how to help refugees fleeing war and persecution live safely and with dignity by attending the FORGE 2008 Conference on Refugee Warehousing. The conference takes place October 10-12, 2008 at the University of Pittsburgh. To register, visit http://www.refugeeconference.org/.

Nearly 9 million people around the world are victims of refugee warehousing. Many are confined to refugee camps for decades, others banned from working indefinitely. They are not criminals who belong in jail or animals that belong in zoos­ they are people fleeing persecution who deserve the right to live freely. Refugee warehousing is a direct violation of human rights. The 2008 Conference on Refugee Warehousing presents a unique opportunity to learn about the issues and join the global movement to end the human warehousing of refugees. Learn from experts and activists in the field. Keynote speakers Merrill Smith of USCRI and Dr. Barbara Harrell-Bond of the American University in Cairo will kick off the conference with an inspiring talk about how you can help stop this inhuman practice.

To learn more about warehousing, visit http://www.refugees.org/. For more information about the conference, contact Ellie Ott at warehousing08@refugeeconference.org or Marissa Heyl at mheyl@uscridc.org.

9th Annual Global Perspective Conf.- Lansing, MI The Center for International and Intercultural Education (CIIE) at Lansing Community College is seeking proposals from potential presenters for the 9th Annual Global Perspectives Conference, which will be held on the Lansing Community College campuses Monday March 30-Thursday, April 2, 2009. The theme for the 2009 conference is "The Realities of Globalization: Past, Present and Future." Proposal forms or more information can be obtained by phone at 517-483-9963 or 483-1006, or by sending an email to hayhoe@lcc.edu. The deadline for proposals is Friday, October 31, 2008.

Jobs

Cultural Anthropology & African Studies -St. Lawrence University St. Lawrence University invites applicants for a tenure track position in Cultural Anthropology and African Studies, beginning August 2009. The successful candidate must be able to teach introductory cultural Anthropology and elective courses that will be cross-listed for Anthropology and the African Studies interdisciplinary combined major and minor program. The committee is especially interested in candidates who are also capable of teaching either introductory linguistic anthropology or a capstone seminar in the history of anthropological theory. Ideally, an excellent teacher-scholar interested in a small, liberal arts environment, whose topical areas of interest complement those of the Anthropology Department and the African Studies core faculty. Ph.D. completed by August 2009 is preferred.

Candidates must show tangible evidence of teaching excellence and commitment to a holistic, four-fields approach to anthropology and to interdisciplinary area studies and support for student study abroad in Africa. Send a detailed letter of application, curriculum vitae; three academic references with e-mail and regular mail contacts; and a short (1-2 pages) statement of pedagogy to: Alice Pomponio, Chair, Department of Anthropology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 13617. Review of applications will begin October 31, 2008.

The committee will be interviewing at the ASA meetings in Chicago and the AAA meetings in San Francisco. For further information on the Anthropology and African Studies programs at St. Lawrence University, contact Dr. Pomponio at apomponio@stlawu.edu (but no electronic applications, please). For additional information about the programs, visit the African Studies Program's and the Anthropology Department's websites at: http://www.web.stlawu.edu/african/home.html and http://www.web.stlawu.edu/anthropology.

African Diaspora Studies - U. of Wisconsin-Madison The University of Wisconsin-Madison seeks candidates for a new faculty position in the field of African diaspora studies. Appointment to begin in August 2009. The committee is seeking a scholar irrespective of discipline, of assistant or associate or full professor rank, whose primary specialization lies in some aspect of African diaspora studies, focusing upon the linkages between African diasporic communities and Africa, the dynamics of the forced or voluntary migration that led to the creation of those communities, their interactions and relations with societies of encounter, and the adaptation, reproduction and transformation of African institutional, cultural and expressive forms in diasporic settings. The committee particularly welcomes applications from candidates in Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, Geography, or related social sciences fields.

Interested persons should send a curriculum vitae, a statement of their background and interest in African diaspora research and teaching, a sample of publications or writings, and three names of potential references to: Professor Tejumola Olaniyan, Chair, African Diaspora Search Committee, African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 205 Ingraham Hall, 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706-1397; e-mail: tolaniyan@wisc.edu. To ensure full consideration, the application should be received by October 30, 2008.

from MSU African Studies Center <Africa@msu.edu>

date Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 5:02 PM
subject Tuesday Bulletin for October 7th, 2008

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