MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 11/18/03

Issue No. 13 Fall 2003 November 18 2003

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
FELLOWSHIPS
CONFERENCES
JOBS

EVENTS

November 20, Thursday

"Freedom of Speech, The Media, and Democracy in Africa," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Folu Ogundimu, Faculty (Journalism, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

November 21, Friday

"Measuring the Effects of HIV/AIDS on Rural Households in Africa: Methods and Findings, " CASID/WID Forum with Thom Jayne, Faculty (Department of Agricultural Economics), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

November 27, Thursday

Thanksgiving Holiday, No Brown Bag

December 4, Thursday

"The Ongoing Crisis in Zimbabwe: Implications for Higher Education, Research and Collaborative Research," African Studies Center Brown Bag with Bill Derman, Faculty (Anthropology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201, International Center.

MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS

Irreplaceable Colleague Will be Missed

With great sorrow, we have learned of the death of Prof. Ruth Simms Hamilton, MSU Professor of Sociology and African Studies Center Core Faculty member. Ruth was found dead in her home in Okemos, Michigan on Tuesday, November 11, 2003, the presumed victim of a homicide. A suspect is being charged today.

Dr. Hamilton taught and conducted research at MSU for 35 years and was director of the African Diaspora Research Project which studied African migration around the world. She has been a treasured and irreplaceable MSU faculty member in Sociology, everything an engaged, intelligent, hard working, creative, and productive faculty member should be. She has just now arrived at the crown of her career with 11 volumes coming out now on the African Diaspora in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Trinidad, India, and more. She has been a superb teacher of sociological theory, race and ethnicity, and the U.S. and African diasporas in the global system.

Dr. Hamilton has mentored dozens of sociological faculty around the world, with whom she was a tough mentor, demanding the very best they could produce and be. She has been one of the founding and central core members of the MSU African Studies Center faculty. She has co-chaired the recent College of Social Science Task Force on Urban and Metropolitan Affairs to set MSU on a course of studies of urbanization around the globe.

Dr. Hamilton was also a member of the Rockefeller Commission on U.S. Policy on South Africa, shaping the political policies in Washington that resulted in the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 and contributing to the release of Mandela and democratic elections there. She has made a huge mark on the University. She was a great colleague and dear friend who will be missed terribly.

Dave Wiley, Director
African Studies Center

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Detroit Premiere Film: "A Closer Walk"

The War on Aids Can Be Won! The spread of AIDS throughout the world is the worst public health crisis in history. "A Closer Walk" is the first film to depict humankind's confrontation with the global AIDS pandemic. Shot over three years on four continents, the film's power lies in the one-on-one connection it allows the viewer to make with AIDS patients, their families, and the dedicated health care professionals who treat them. The revolution to end this horrible disease will require sustained action on the part of millions of people.

"Walk the Walk" in joining the worldwide battle against AIDS. A film by Robert Bilheimer Narrated by Glenn Close and Will Smith, Monday, December 1,2003, 7:00p.m., St James Church, Woodward Ave., 5 blocks south of Nine Mile, Ferndale, Michigan. Donation requested is $5.00. There is also ample FREE, well lighted parking!

Sponsored by the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Co-Sponsored by Triangle Foundation, International Institute. For further information call the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights at (313) 874-2624.

Human Rights Day Program (Greater Lansing)

The Greater Lansing United Nations Association presents a Program for Human Rights Day: The speaker, Nabina Pradhan Shrestha will talk on "Empowering Women by Enterprise Development."

Nabina is a Humphrey Fellow from Nepal, attending MSU this year. She is on a Fulbright Exchange program funded by the U.S. Government through the Department of State. She works as a Micro-enterprise Officer for the United Nations Development Program in Nepal.

The event will take place on Sunday, December 7, 2003, 7:00p.m. at the Hannah Community Center, Room 211, 819 Abbott Road, East Lansing, MI 48823(entrance near Burcham Road).

Everyone is invited to join the Greater Lansing United Nations Association for a potluck at 6:00p.m.. Please bring a dish to pass.

FELLOWSHIPS

Rockefeller Foundation Resident Fellows in the Humanities Program 2004-2007

How do the poor constitute community? From 2004-2007, Northwestern University will offer residential fellowships to scholars exploring the disruption, defense, and representation of community among the poor. Drawing on experiences from Latin America, Africa, and diasporic communities in the United States, the program will focus in successive years on three themes: defending property, claiming community and imagining place.

For the 2004 academic year, residential fellowships will be offered to scholars who study the historical and cultural meanings of property and its defense among the poor in Africa and the Americas. Potential research themes might include the significance of property for slaves and freed persons, the meaning of property in defining identity and community for indigenous peoples, the claims to property made by shantytown residents, or the links between property and community in diasporic communities in the US.

Applicants should be humanists or social scientists with a humanistic bent. Applications will be accepted for 3 fellowships each year: a nine-month fellowship for a junior scholar, a four-month (Sept-Dec) and a five- month (Jan-May) fellowship for senior scholars. Resident fellows will participate in seminars, lectures, and workshops but will principally devote themselves to research and writing.

To apply, please send hard copies of the following: Cover letter containing full name, current position or occupation, contact information, title of your project, and names and contact information of two referees; CV; Proposal abstract of no more than 150 words; Proposal of no more than 5 double spaced pages, detailing the project to be undertaken during term; and Writing sample pertinent to the year's theme. The application deadline is January 5, 2004. For further details contact Kate Lee, Center for International and Comparative Studies, 1902 Sheridan Rd., Evanston IL 60208-4005; Tel: (847) 467-2770; Fax: (847) 467-4996; e-mail: leek@northwestern.edu.

2004 Claude Ake Memorial Awards Program

The Africa-America Institute (AAI), in collaboration with the African Studies Association (ASA), announce the 2004 Claude Ake Memorial Awards Program Competition.
The Claude Ake Memorial Awards Program seeks to encourage young and mid-career African scholars- activists to carry out research, reflection and writing about their ideas and activities. The award is intended for Africans, working in Africa, who are engaged in knowledge-based and reality-informed problem solving to address the continents development challenges, in the tradition of Claude Ake. It will support research projects that are applicable to a country, region, or other defined setting within Africa.

Successful applicants will receive a stipend of $6,000 for innovative research aimed at promoting Africa's development. In addition, Ake Scholars will travel to the U.S. on or about October 31 for 2-week study tours to various American college campuses where they will network with community and faculty members who have similar research or advocacy interests. Following the study tours, the award recipients will attend the African Studies Associations (ASA) Annual Meeting, November 11-14, 2004 in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they will present their research to a representative cross section of the Africanist community from around the world. The Africa-America Institute will compile a resource book with syntheses of the Ake Scholars research and distribute it widely to academic and other audiences.

For further information and to download application forms, please logon to http://www.aaionline.org. Applications must be postmarked on or before January 17, 2004.

CONFERENCES

Uganda Conference at Notre Dame - Religion, Peace- Building, and Conflict in Africa - April 1-3, 2004

The Kroc Institute's Program in Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding (PRCP) will convene a conference entitled, Religion in African Conflicts and Peace- building Initiatives: Problems and Prospects for a Globalizing Africa, at the Jinja Nile Resort in Uganda. In an effort to develop the promising new sub-field of religion, peace-building, and conflict in the African context, with an emphasis on the cross-fertilization of theory and practice, submissions are invited from scholars, activists, and practitioners from inside and outside of Africa

The conference fee of $2,000 USD will cover air- transport from Chicago to Entebbe via British Airways, six day accommodation and all meals at the Jinja Nile Resort for the full duration of the conference and an excursion to Kampala. Flights will leave out of Chicago on March 29, 2004 and return on April 6, 2004. Participants must seek their own funding. To have a paper considered for inclusion, or to attend the conference, please contact the PRCP coordinator, A. Rashied Omar, with the following information: a paper title; an abstract of up to 250 words; your name and full contact details including e-mail address; a short bio of less than 50 words. Proposals may be made either by e- mail, by mail or by fax. Deadline is December 15, 2003. For all inquiries, please contact: A. Rashied Omar, The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, PO Box 639, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0639 USA; Tel: (574) 631-7740; Fax: (574) 631-6973; e-mail: OMAR.1@nd.edu; web site: http://www.nd.edu/krocinst/events/prcpcallpapers04. html

JOBS

Program Coordinator - Iowa State University

The Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Program seeks a full time program coordinator to develop, implement, and manage a community-based program in one or more developing countries, starting in Africa, to increase household food security and improve health in impoverished rural communities. Focal areas include sustainable agriculture and natural resource management; human nutrition and health; marketing and small business development; local credit systems and microfinance; human resource development and community capacity strengthening. The program coordinator, based at Iowa State University, will liaise with country program directors and partners, and the management team and faculty at ISU, oversee planning and implementation of training activities, monitor the budget, provide periodic reports, and assist in program promotion and fund-raising activities. Extensive travel to developing countries is expected. The duties of this position will require the ability to work and make decisions relatively independently.

Masters degree in a program area and knowledge of others; minimum of 3 years experience in planning, implementing and monitoring participatory rural development projects in a developing country (preferably in Africa); good knowledge of theory and practice relating to sustainable rural livelihoods; strong leadership, management, financial, and teamwork skills; experience working with a diverse set of stakeholders (farmers, donors, partners, faculty, government authorities); and excellent written and interpersonal communication skills are desired.

Deadline for applications is January 2, 2004. Send letter of application, résumé, transcript and contact details of three references to: Lorna Michael Butler, Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, 110 Curtiss Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011-1050; susrl@iastate.edu; Fax: (515) 294-7177. For more information see
http://www.hrs.iastate.edu/jobs/jobs.html. Iowa State University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar