MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 10/06/09

"African Podcasts, Posters, Publishing and Papers: New Treasures of MSU's Africa Involvement," African Studies interdisciplinary, interactive panel with MSU Professors, Peter Alegi (History), Ken Harrow (English), Joseph Lauer (Librarian), Peter Limb (Bibliographer), Gabriel Dotto, Director, (MSU Press), and Getahun Haile, graduate student (History), highlighting exciting new developments in MSU's engagement with Africa, 12:00 noon, 3rd Floor, Room 303 International Center. Friday, October 9, 2009

Third Annual Africanist Graduate Student Research Conference, focusing on the theme: "Africa's Challenges and Possibilities," two-day conference with Keynote Speaker: Dr. James A. Pritchett, Director (MSU African Studies Center), 6:30 p.m., 3rd Floor International Center, reception to follow. Please direct inquiries to: msuasgc@msu.edu. Thursday, October 15, 2009

"Donkeys: a Vital Animal to Africa's Development," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Charles Mackenzie, Faculty (Pathology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center. Friday, October 16, 2009

"Dynamics of Sexual Violence as Weapons of War: Crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Lyman Briggs College Speaker Series with Dr. Julia Van Rooyen, Gynecologic Surgeon and Fellow at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m., C102 Holmes Hall. Friday, October 16, 2009

"The Journey from MSU's Lyman Briggs College to the Congo: Advancing the Science and Practice of a Humanitarian Response to Violence and War," Lyman Briggs College Speaker Series with Dr. Michael Van Rooyen, Faculty (Harvard School of Public Health), 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m., Room C102 Holmes Hall. Friday, October 16, 2009

"Growing up Healthy in Africa (and What We Can Do to Make it Possible)," Fall 2009 Andrew D. Hunt Memorial Lecture with speaker Michael L. Bennish, M.D. (CHM, MSU), Executive Director and Founder, Mpilonhle, South Africa, 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Pasant Theatre - Wharton Center. For questions regarding the lecture, please call the College of Human Medicine Office of Advancement at (517) 353-5153. Announcements
African Studies Evening Lecture Series at MSU

The African Studies Center will host two evening lectures during the month of October.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, the first evening lecture will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the International

Center, followed by a reception. The lecture is entitled: "Declarations of Dependence: Labor, Personhood, and Welfare in South Africa and Beyond" with Dr. James Ferguson, Chair and Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University. Dr. Ferguson has conducted research in Lesotho and Zambia, and has engaged a broad range of theoretical and ethnographic issues. He is beginning a new research project in South Africa, exploring the emergence of new problematics of poverty and social policy under conditions of neoliberalism.

Dr. Ferguson will speak on South Africa's recent decades of wrenching transformation from a labor-scarce society to a labor-surplus one. For more information contact the African Studies Center at 517-353-1700.

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The Annual ASA Presidential evening lecture will take place on Thursday, October 29, 2009 with the African Studies Association President, Dr. Charles Ambler. Dr. Ambler will speak on "African Audiences from Hollywood to Nollywood" beginning 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Room 115 International Center. A reception will follow at 7:30 p.m. in Spartan Rooms B & C, Crossroads Food Court.

Dr. Charles Amber is Professor of History at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was formerly Dean of the Graduate School and Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies. He earned his PhD in African History from Yale University and has done research on eastern, central, southern, and west Africa. He is the author of two books and numerous chapters, articles and reviews on various aspects of modern African history. He teaches classes on African and World history at the undergraduate and graduate levels. He was recently elected President of the African Studies Association, the major professional organization for scholars, teachers and practitioners with interests in Africa. Founded in 1957, the ASA has more than 2,000 individual members based in the United States and overseas.

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