MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 11/03/09

Tuesday Bulletin for November 3rd, 2009

Topics covered in this issue: Events | Announcements | Other Announcements | Conferences | Jobs
Events
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

"Afrobarometer Symposium on Public Opinion in Africa: Results from Afrobarometer Round 4," 3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Room 303 International Center. (Refreshments will be served).

Featured presentations by:

Michael Bratton, Univ. Distinguished Professor, (Political Science MSU), speaking on: "Neither Consolidating Nor Fully Democratic: The Evolution of African Political Regimes"

Carolyn Logan, Deputy Director, (Afrobarometer and Assistant Professor, Political Science, MSU), speaking on: "Poverty Reduction, Economic Growth and Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa"

Boniface Dulani, Lecturer, (Univ. of Malawi and Ph.D. candidate, Political Science, MSU), speaking on: "The African President: A View from Below." Thursday, November 5, 2009

"All Girls to School: Education and Migration in Benin," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Marcy Hessling, Ph.D. student (Dept. of Anthropology, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center. Thursday, November 12, 2009

"Diaspora Mobilization Through Twining Program for Knowledge and Technology Transfer! to Africa: The Experience of P2P in Health Care Delivery and Education in Ethiopia – Achievements and Challenges," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Workayehu Kebede, Faculty (Addis Ababa Univ., Medical School, Ethiopia; currently visiting scholar, Medical School, MSU), 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m., Room 201 International Center. Thursday, November 14, 2009

"From Sunrise to Sunset: The Harvest is Ripe!" African Culture Week Begins with the Gala, a theater production in celebration of African culture. The show is from 5:00-7:30 p.m. with dinner following. The venue is MacDonald Middle School. MSU students with ID may attend the show free, however, the cost for dinner is $8.00. The general admission cost is: Show = $10/pp, Dinner = $10/pp, or Show + Dinner combo = $17.00. There will be shuttle service for MSU students. For further details visit: https://www.msu.edu/~asu/cultureweek.html. Announcements
$14 million Award to MSU for Filarial Diseases

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded the Filariasis University Consortium-MSU, Washington U (St. Louis), Case Western (Cleveland) and McGill U (Montreal) - a $14 million grant to work on improving the current mass drug administration programs for filarial disease control and elimination.

This grant will be used to determine if there are better ways to use existing anti-worm drugs in ways that can assist the mass distribution programs now going on in over 80 countries to more quickly reach their ultimate goal of eliminating "River Blindness" and "Elephantiasis" from their people. Dr. Charles Mackenzie, Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, CVM, MSU states: "This is an exciting new phase in our quest to control and eliminate the devastating and disfiguring filarial diseases from the world, a major health program that we here at MSU have been involved in for decades." Dr. Mackenzie may be reached at: mackenz8@msu.edu. Study Abroad Programs in Africa - Info Meetings

MADAGASCAR

Paradise in Peril? Exploring Madagascar's Biodiversity Crisis

Summer 2010

Wednesday, November 4

5:30 pm - 555 Baker

KENYA

Behavioral Ecology of African Mammals (BEAM)

Summer 2010

Tuesday, November 10

5:30 pm - 203 Natural Science

MADAGASCAR

Paradise in Peril? Exploring Madagascar's Biodiversity Crisis

Summer 2010

Wednesday, November 11

5:30 pm - 338 Natural Resources

Direct inquiries to Chris Barden, Office of Study Abroad, 109 International Center, (517) 432-8785; or e-mail: barden@msu.edu. MSU Peace Corps Informational Meeting

Peace Corps is hiring people from a broad range of fields to work internationally. An informational meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 6:00pm-7:30pm on the Third floor of the International Center. This session is an opportunity to learn more about where and in what sectors Peace Corps Volunteers serve, the benefits of serving, the application process, and experiences of former Volunteers. The coordinators will also answer any of your questions about this incredible opportunity to make a difference in the world. Fulbright Fellowship Opportunities

Participants will be informed about the objectives, requirements, and deadlines for each program as well as how to: 1) develop a more competitive application, 2) select a host country, and 3) make necessary host country contacts. Fulbright Fellowships are prestigious and career-enhancing. They confer special status on winners during and following their foreign study, as outstanding, officially recognized representatives of the United States. The Fulbright program funds students, faculty, and other professionals to undertake graduate study, advanced research, and teaching at all levels: elementary, secondary, and university in more than 140 countries. Most grantees plan their own programs.

The approximate application submission deadlines for selected Fulbright Fellowship Programs for the 2010-2011 academic year are:

Faculty/Professional Programs -Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Program approximate deadline: November 9, 2009

Student/Graduate Student Programs -Fulbright-Hays DDRA applications available at: http://e-grants.ed.gov

Preliminary MSU Fulbright-Hays DDRA budget deadline: November 11, 2009

MSU Fulbright-Hays DDRA application submission deadline: November 24, 2009

Fulbright-Hays DDRA National application submission deadline: December 1, 2009. Other Announcements
Recruiting Michigan Teachers - Study in Tanzania

The African Studies Center (ASC) at Michigan State University (MSU) in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID), the MSU Department of Teacher Education, and the Ingham County Intermediate School District have submitted a proposal, which if funded, will sponsor 13 Michigan teachers for a four-week study program in Tanzania. Although funding will not be confirmed until March, 2010 the recruitment and the application process must begin immediately.

This Fulbright study tour is oriented primarily towards world history & geography (high school) and global studies teachers (middle school), but language arts and humanities teachers are also encouraged to apply. The program is specifically designed to use the richly diverse country of Tanzania as a case study that systematically addresses the Michigan standards and benchmarks for global studies (eastern hemisphere) and world history/geography. In meeting this goal, the participating educators will be immersed in study of the history, geography, cultures (including expressive culture: literature, music, art), society, politics and economics of Tanzania within the broader East Africa context.

The four-week program will focus on four specific ecological regions in Tanzania. Participants will spend one week in each of the following regions: Highland region (Kilimanjaro); semi-arid Savanna region (north central Tanzania); Great Lake region (Lake Victoria), and Coastal region (Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam). All participants will be required to develop a curriculum project (either individually or as part of a team) that will be incorporated into their teaching beginning in academic year 2010-2011.

Participants will receive a $5000 grant from the Fulbright-Hays program but will be obligated to a $,1000 cost-share to help fund the program. Application deadline is January 15, 2010. Successful applicants will be notified by February 5, 2010. For more information or to have your questions answered, please contact Dr. John Metzler, African Studies Center, Michigan State University. 517-884-2155 or metzler@msu.edu. An application form can be downloaded at the African Studies Center website: http://africa.msu.edu. (follow the Outreach link). Convention on the Rights of the Child in Africa

This Call For Abstracts is for a proposed volume assessing the progress of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Africa.

2009 is the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th November 1989. To date, it is the world's most widely and most rapidly ratified international convention. Although it was hoped that the Convention would mark the beginning of a new way of dealing with children, turning this landmark treaty in international law into reality in the past 20 years has been a journey full of pitfalls. It is these challenges that have faced this 'landmark' Convention from its earliest days that make it crucial to produce a volume which takes stock of the progress of the Convention viz-a-viz the vision on which it was founded.

In this process of taking stock of the Convention's achievements and challenges, Africa presents an important focus for two primary reasons: 1) African governments were amongst the very first to ratify the Convention, with Ghana being the first in February 1990; 2) it consists of the world's youngest populations, with young people under the age of 15 comprising half of the continent's 500 million inhabitants. It is hoped that through country-based in-depth examinations of the implementation of the Convention, this volume will provide critical analysis of the progress of the Convention and identify concrete ways forward for the better implementation of this treaty in the various social, cultural and political contexts that exist in Africa.

Therefore, the editors of this proposed volume are looking for papers that will enable them to assess the progress of the Convention in terms of policy and practice and its impact on the lived experiences of children in different African societies. Please submit abstracts of between 300 and 500 words to Afua Twum! -Danso at: a.twum-danso@sheffield.ac.uk by Monday, 30th November 2009. The editors of this proposed volume are Dr. Afua Twum-Danso, The University of Sheffield (UK), and Dr. Nicola Ansell, The University of Brunel (UK); Tel: (0114 22) 26444; Fax : (0114) 2768125. Conferences
Sports in Africa: Politics and Globalization

The Ohio University African Studies program will host the Sixth Sports in Africa Symposium on March 5- 6, 2010 on the theme, "Politics and Globalization."

Since its inception in 2004, the Sports in Africa Symposium has sought to foster meaningful dialogue on the interface of sports and Africa among academics, practitioners, media, NGOs and the public. The first five conferences covered a range of topics across time and disciplines. The presentations have explored the relationships among sport and broader themes such as politics, culture, gender, disability, cooperation, conflict, history, migration, mass media, and development. The multi-disciplinary approach has allowed scholars and practitioners to explore multiple dimensions of African sports. In continuing the multi-disciplinary exploration and study of African Sport, the theme, "Politics and Globalization" will represent the leading topic of the 2010 symposium. The FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010, the global presence of African soccer players demonstrates the presence of Africa on the global sport stage. Therefore, the 2010 conference will focus on themes such as sport politics, politics and sport, African participation and contribution to global sport, global media networks and sport, sport and African development, women in sport, and youth and sport. Although submission of papers that focus on politics and globalization in African sports are encouraged, conference organizers are also open to the submission of papers that deal with other aspects of sports in Africa. The deadline for abstract submissions is January 3, 2010. For further details, visit: http://www.ohio.edu/sportsafrica/politicsglobalization/callforpapers.htm. Jobs
Department of History - University of Florida

The Department of History at the University of Florida is seeking to hire a tenure-track assistant professor who is an historian of Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. Regional specialization and time period are open. The position will begin in August 2010 and applicants must have been awarded their PhD's by then. The University of Florida's Department of History has forty faculty members, over 100 graduate students, and an established graduate program in African history. The University of Florida Center for African Studies (www.africa.ufl.edu) is a federally-funded Title VI National Resource Center, which draws on some 100 affiliated faculty to create campus-wide graduate and undergraduate interdisciplinary programs related to Africa.Please send letter of application, a curriculum vitae, and three letters of recommendation to: Luise White, Chair, Francophone Africa Search Committee – PS # 00025355, Department of History, University of Florida, PO Box 117320, Gainesville, FL 32611-7320. E-mail enquiries to: lswhite@ufl.edu. The application deadline is December 15, 2009. The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

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