| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
WISCONSIN AFRICAN STUDIES
______________________________________
NEWS & NOTES * NO. 41 * WINTER 1993
ZAIRE SYMPOSIUM
by Kathleen Smythe, History
Betty Wass, African Studies
Michael G. Schatzberg, Political Science, coordinated the African Studies Program annual symposium titled "The Past as Prologue: Historical and Cultural Roots of Contemporary Zaire" on October 2, 1993. The symposium was held in conjunction with the Elvehjem Museum of Art exhibit African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire, which was on display through January 4, 1994.
African Studies Program Chair Herbert S. Lewis welcomed the 200 participants. Jan Vansina, History, and M. Crawford Young, Political Science delivered keynote addresses. Other symposium speakers were Bennetta Jules-Rosette, Sociology, University of California-San Diego, "Cutting the Canvas: Zairian Popular Art in Global Context"; Aliko Songolo, UW-Madison, French & Italian, "On the Outside Looking In: Zaire's Literature of Exile"; Curtis A. Keim, History, Moravian College, "Do Kings Still Dance?"; Bruce Fetter, History, UW-Milwaukee, "Zairian Demography in the Late Nineteenth Century: Some Speculations"; Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, African Studies, Howard University, "The National Conference and the Current Process of Democratization in Zaire"; and Wyatt MacGaffey, Social Anthropology, Haverford College, "Traditional Roots of Political Culture."
In Vansina's lecture on "1910-1914 and the Making of Zaire," he argued that this five year period was as critical a turning point in the making of modern-day Zaire as was the Congo's transition to independence in 1960. King Leopold's Congo (1885-1908), which preceded the era considered by his lecture, was a government on paper only. There was only a modicum of administration as demonstrated by few government posts and a rag-tag army consisting mostly of recruited slaves. Indeed, the mining companies and missionaries exerted more influence than the state administration. By 1914, however, the Belgian colonial government had managed to establish its presence everywhere in the Congo. Two factors were especially significant in turning the situation around: the introduction of legal tender which was crucial in levying taxes and the creation of districts with well-delineated administrative duties which provided much-needed structure. Vansina concluded that this state structure, implemented largely in this five-year period, remains in place today in Zaire.
"Segments of the state structure remain in place, but basic public services have been disastrously affected."
"In Search of Zaire: The Shattered Illusion of the Integral State" was the theme of M.Crawford Young's lecture. Young stated that, for the past century, Zaire has experienced persistent efforts to construct a leviathan state invested with the mission of transforming society according to an image of its rulers. Young characterized the developments within the concept of the "integral state" - a state which seeks to achieve unrestricted domination over civil society. Three versions of the integral state in the history of Zaire include the colonial state at the peak of its power from the 1920s to 1950s, the vision of the forces of Patrice Lumumba who served as Prime Minister for a brief period in 1960, and the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko since 1965.
Young depicted the colonial state using the metaphor of Bula Matari or "crusher of rocks, " representing the dominating, coercive force of the Belgian regime. Belgian rule ended with a social explosion in Kinshasa in 1959 after which Zaire was quickly granted independence. Lumumba, in his brief tenure which followed, did not wish to destroy the structure of the colonial state, but advocated that an intellectual elite had evolved among Zairians, and they deserved equal privileges alongside Europeans. Lumumba's ideas were challenged by hostile forces, especially the army who mutinied against the prospect of gaining no rank in a new order. Emerging out of waves of rebellion from 1963-65, Mobutu seized power and established a hierarchical military administrative structure very similar to that established by Leopold II for the occupation of Zaire. Young epitomized the extravagant pretensions of Mobutu by describing a brief period in 1974 when the press was forbidden to use the names of any state official other than President Mobutu. Since the mid 1970s, the failure of grandiose projects aimed at creating a modern state has redirected Mobutu's ambitions toward concentrating on the accumulation of personal wealth. Segments of the state structure remain in place, but basic public services have been disastrously affected.
Young suggested that the undertaking of an "integral state" has proven to be a flawed notion from the outset, strongly reinforced by collapse of regimes in Eastern Europe whose structures bear a strong resemblance. He posited that a reinvented Zaire will be grounded in a relationship between state and civil society that is profoundly different from that imposed by the integral state.
AFRICAN ART ENLIVENS CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY The Elvehjem Museum of Art and the African Studies Program hosted an exhibit titled African Reflections: Art from Northeastern Zaire, a collection of art from the Mangbetu people, at the Elvehjem from September 4, 1993 to January 2, 1994. Coordinated by Henry Drewal, Afro-American Studies and Art History, and Russell Panczenko, Director of the Elvehjem, the exhibit originated at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The exhibit attracted over 40,000 people from schools and communities in Madison and southeastern Wisconsin.
Educational instruction, planned primarily by the Elvehjem and African Studies staff, was enhanced through several components. Included were guided tours to 11,977 public school students and adults; a curriculum slide packet for teachers which was lent 110 times to prepare students prior to the guided tour; public lectures and teacher workshops for 2,642 people; story-telling attended by 249 people; a seven-week class "African Art: Expressions and Reflections in Zaire" and a semester long class in art history on "The Arts of Zaire"; performing arts of music and dance; an exhibition brochure; an exhibition catalogue, and videos, Mangbetu in the Modern World and Spirits of Defiance.
AFRICAN OPTIONS FOR UNDERGRADS
UW/Non-UW Study in Africa! The Office of International Studies & Programs offers four study-abroad programs in Africa for undergraduates from the UW and other colleges.
Summer: Mohammed V University, Rabat, Morocco; Academic year: American University of Cairo, Egypt; Dar es Salaam University, Tanzania; Universite de Saint Louis, Senegal. The Senegal program requires two years of French.
UW-Madison Undergraduates Have New Degree Choice The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) is offering a new B.S. Degree in International Agriculture and Natural Resources. Students who elect this major must meet the basic degree requirements of their major and complete six credits of natural sciences courses as well as six credits of social science courses related to international agriculture or natural resources and four semesters of a foreign language. Each student must also have an approved international work or study experience.
ST. LOUIS FACULTY CONTINUE EXCHANGE PROGRAM AT UW
Professors Baydallaye Kane, Humanities, and Momar Gueye, Economic Sciences & Management, Universite de Saint Louis visted UW-Madison from August 12-September 18, 1993. Their visit was part of an ongoing exchange with the UniversitC de Saint Louis, Senegal, funded by the USIA University Affiliations Program. According to Kane and Gueye, their visit was a rewarding learning experience, highlighted by access to several library documents, book purchases for colleagues at USL, and several opportunities for academic exchanges with UW faculty. The Senegalese professors helped orient three UW undergraduates who are currently studying at the Universite de Saint Louis. Dr. Gueye instructed them in basic Wolof skills. The lively cultural and academic exchange continues to enrich faculty, staff and students on both campuses, UW-Madison and Universite de St Louis.
TANZANIAN PROFESSOR SENKORO FACILITATES SWAHILI SKILLS AT UW
by Jacquelyn Benton, African Languages & Literature
Last summer the Department of African Languages & Literature provided students interested in studying Swahili with a rare opportunity. Over an eight-week period, a Swahili Institute offered three levels of intensive language study, each level equivalent to one year of academic instruction. A further enhancement of the Institute was the presence of F.E.M.K. Senkoro, visiting professor from the Department of Kiswahili at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. This was Senkoro's second invitation to teach at UW-Madison, and he saw the interest in Swahili as reflecting a worldwide trend.
"Africa's oral literature...the guiding light of a person from the cradle to the grave."
"Students from all parts of Africa and many parts of the world study Kiswahili," he said. "I think people are comfortable with this language because it has gone beyond ethnic and national affiliations." Classes that Senkoro teaches in Tanzania have drawn students from Libya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Burundi, as well as Cuba, Denmark, Japan, the former Soviet Union, and the United States. "I would estimate that 100 million people speak Kiswahili, and now we have 100 million and eighteen," he continued, referring to the first-year students at the Institute.
Senkoro brought more than language study to the Institute. Weekly culture sessions allowed students from each level to come together for a discussion of issues affecting East Africa. Assisted by Magdalena Hauner and Mark Plane, Senkoro spoke on topics ranging from history and politics to music and literature.
Literature, a special love of Senkoro's, is a subject that he also teaches in Dar es Salaam. In one of the culture sessions, he described Africa's oral literature as "the guiding light of a person from the cradle to the grave," yet he saw this tradition undergoing changes in the urban areas. "My initiation into literature was through my grandmother, but my children live apart from their grandparents so their experience has been quite different." Since many children living in urban areas experience similar situations, Senkoro is in the process of collecting tales which still abound in the villages. "Africa has a rich oral tradition, but we are now in a reading and writing culture. (The literacy rate in Tanzania is 90-95%). However, we can bring these tales to the kids through the medium of books. A dream of mine is to see libraries specifically for children introduced all over Africa."
African names are another rich tradition of the continent, and students at the Institute shared a curiosity in discovering what the initials F.E.M.K. in Senkoro's name stood for. Though he never explained this ("because it's a long story, and I don't like to cut it short"), he did offer insight into their meaning. Quoting Senkoro, "Since I was interested in discovering the history of my family, I began talking to people in the villages and piecing together things that I heard. As I learned new pieces of information, I would add another letter to my name. So the letters represent the history of my family." Senkoro went on to say that he had to drop the initial "S" from his name. Upon taking the Cambridge exams at the end of secondary school, he was told there weren't enough spaces to accommodate it!
On the last day of the Swahili Institute, the students gave final presentations. Those of the first and second year students included presentation offerings which incorporated expressions used by Senkoro, and he played an active role in the presentation by the third year students. On that day it was evident that he was leaving much of himself here in Madison as he prepared to return to Tanzania.
FACULTY NEWS
Laurence C. Becker, Nutritional Science, teaches the course "Causes of World Hunger and Malnutrition" replacing Joanne Csete who is on leave. Semester II he will teach in the Department of Agronomy. He received a M.S. in Education from Stanford University, California, and a Ph.D. in Geography from University of London, SOAS.
Peter Bloch, formerly with the Land Tenure Center, is serving as Acting Director of the International Development Support Office.
John Bruce, finished his term as Chair of the Land Tenure Center. He now has an appointment in Forestry and also continues with the Land Tenure Center.
Henry Bunn, Anthropology, was awarded a Fulbright grant for 1993-94 to conduct research at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Jo Ellen Fair, Journalism, conducted economic affairs reporting workshops with journalists in Zambia and Namibia during November 1993. The week-long workshops were sponsored by the USIA and national mass communications institutes of Zambia and Namibia.
David Henige, Africana Bibliographer, chaired the panel, "Historical and Source Criticism: Retrospect and Prospect, Perception and Reception: A Roundtable," at ASA, Boston. In conjunction with African Reflections on campus, he organized an exhibit, "Perceiving Africa: Books, Maps, and Manuscripts from Wisconsin Collections," in the Rare Books section of Memorial Library.
Stanlie M. James, Afro-American/Women's Studies, was co-convener of the ASA Women's Caucus in Boston. She presented "Black Feminism in Africa" on a panel "Feminist Theoretical Perspectives and African Women" at ASA. Her recent publication is Theorizing Black Feminisms: The Visionary Pragmatism of Black Women, eds., Stanlie M. James and Abena P.A. Busia, London: Routledge, 1993.
Daniel Kunene, African Languages & Literature, traveled to South Africa last May with his wife Selina. After thirty years in exile, they returned to South Africa to reunite with family members and to participate in an academic tour of the country.
A great loss was the death of Selina Kunene on October 22, 1993 in Madison, surrounded by her family.
Herbert S. Lewis, Anthropology, Director of African Studies, presented a paper "Oromo Political Culture and the Future of Ethiopia" at the week- long "Symposium on the Making of the New Ethiopian Constitution," held in Addis Ababa in May 1993. He received the Oromo Studies Association Award in recognition for outstanding contribution to Oromo Studies at the Annual Conference of OSA in August 1993 in Toronto. He published the chapter, "Ethnicity in Ethiopia: The View from Below," in M.C. Young (ed.), The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism, University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.
Edris Makward, African Languages & Literature, has been appointed Director of the Program Abroad in Aix-en-Provence, France, for 1994-95. He traveled to Senegal in January to meet with students who are part of the UniversitC de Saint Louis Exchange. Makward presented "Pan- Africanism: Is There an African Unity?" at the opening symposium of the new exhibit "Africa" at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Russell Middleton, Sociology, is new Chair of the Development Studies program of the Land Tenure Center.
Timothy Moermond, Zoology, received grants from the National Science Foundation and from USAID for a project on "Progress in Science and Technology Cooperation."
Antonia Schleicher, African Languages & Literature, will direct the second GPA Advanced Yoruba and Hausa program funded by Fulbright-Hays and the US Department of Education in Nigeria this summer.
Gay Seidman, presented "Politics in Production: Conflict in South African Industrial Restructuring" on a panel "Labor in Southern Africa" at ASA, Boston.
Aliko Songolo, African Languages & Literature and French & Italian, presented a paper on "Aime Cesaire, Edouard Glissant, and Postnegritude" on the panel "Afro-Caribbean Literature after Negritude and Negrismo: Postcolonial Perspectives" at the Modern Literature Association on December 29 in Toronto. He was a discussant on the panel, "The Ecology of African Language Literatures" at ASA, Boston.
Thomas Spear, presented "Blood on our Land: Stories of Conquest" on the panel "Revisiting Oral Sources as Historical Sources" at ASA, Boston. He also chaired the panel, "The History of Land Use in Africa: No Longer at Home on the Range: Problems of Pastoral Land Use and Tenure in East Africa."
Freida H. Tesfagiorgis, Afro-American Studies, lectured in three cities in Germany on behalf of Arts America. She exhibited her works at the "Wisconsin Triennial" at Madison Art Center. Professor Tesfagiorgis published a chapter "In Search of a Critical Dialectic that Centers the Art of African-American Women" in James and Busia (eds.) Theorizing Black Feminism. She presented "Feminism as a Theoretical Approach to Contemporary African Art" on the panel, "The Varied Uses of Tradition in Contemporary African Art" at ASA.
M. Crawford Young, Political Science, received the John Bascom Professorship which honors outstanding teaching at the UW-Madison. He chaired the panel "New Research/New Scholars" at ASA, Boston. His recent publication is The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism: The Nation-State at Bay?, Crawford Young (ed.). Young contributed the overview chapter, "The Dialectics of Cultural Pluralism: Concept and Reality," University of Wisconsin Press, 1993.
STUDENT COMMITTEE CREATED
The African Studies Program invited students to form an advisory committee to help organize Sandwich Seminars and other African Studies events. Students who volunteered to serve on committee are Gretchen Bauer, Political Science, Jeremy Foltz, Ag Econ, Beth Kaplin, Zoology, David Mirzeler, Anthropology, and Maria Olson, Journalism. We are grateful for their suggestions and the addition of new representation in the seminars.
AFRICAN TRADITION ALIVE AT UW-PARKSIDE
Professor Lillian Trager, Director of International Studies, UW-Parkside coordinated "An Evening in Senegal" on November 13, 1993. Professor Edris Makward, UW-Madison, African Languages & Literature, presented "Griots of SCnCgambia and West Africa: Traditional Bards of the Past and Present" after the dinner of poulet yassa accompanied by Senegalese music.
DEDICATION OF MURAL BY NIGERIAN SCULPTOR
Director of the UW-Parkside faculty exchange with Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Lillian Trager, announced the dedication of the copper relief mural "Diversity of Creation Myths" by Nigerian sculptor Agbo Folarin on Sunday, February 6, 1994 at 3:00 p.m. Folarin was commissioned by UW-Parkside to create the mural, assisted by art students. Folarin, Visiting Professor of Art at UW-Parkside in Spring 1993, has exhibited in Europe, the U.S. and Africa.
TWO UW ALUMNA JOIN AFRICAN STUDIES
Former Minister of Agriculture in Liberia appointed to UW Staff The African Studies Program welcomes Florence A. Chenoweth, Senior Scientist, International Agricultural Programs. Dr. Chenoweth received a B.S. from the University of Liberia, and M.S. and Ph.D. from UW- Madison. She served as Minister of Agriculture, Government of Liberia from 1977-1979. She taught agricultural economics at the University of Liberia in the late 70s and was a consultant to the World Bank, 1986-87. Since 1987, Dr. Chenoweth has worked in Zambia with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, in cooperation with the USAID sponsored ZATPID II (Zambia Agricultural Training, Planning and Institutional Development Project) for which she received commendation from the Government of Zambia in 1993. Dr. Chenoweth develops and coordinates African projects with donors to offer international opportunities in Africa for the College of Agriculture. She is also assisting in planning the Summer Institute for African Agricultural Research.
African Dance Professor Welcomed to Program The African Studies Program is pleased to have the expertise and participation of Claudia Melrose, Physical Education/Dance, who joined the African Studies Program this year. She received a B.S. in Dance from UW-Madison and a M.F.A from UW- Milwaukee. She teaches choreography, performance composition, improvisation, African and Afro-Brazilian dance. Professor Melrose received Kittredge Foundation and UW Research grants to conduct research in Ghana this past summer on West African dance and music.
NIGERIAN SCHOLAR COMPARES SOUTH AFRICA
by Maria d.G. Olso
African Fulbright scholar Tyohdzuah Paulinus Akosu has expanded his yearlong research project since arriving at the UW-Madison this fall. Akosu, who originally proposed to compare five autobiographies written by African Americans with five written by black South Africans, will now examine 21 texts in all.
The 42-year old Nigerian said he expanded his reading list because once in the States he discovered additional autobiographies representing important historical and social perspectives. For instance, Akosu has added several women writers to his list.
"The oppressed usually has an image of his oppressor which coercion won't reveal, but if he decides to write it down on his own, then you can trust him."
The professor, who is on leave from the English Department at Nigeria's Benue State University, is researching how African American and South African authors have responded to their historical, economic and political existence. Akosu is considering each author's motives for writing his/her autobiographies; how one's birthright was denied; aspirations, philosophy on life, attitudes, documentation of brutality, violence, labor exploitation, poverty, insecurity; and the emerging images of blacks and whites. Additionally, Akosu is getting to know African Americans so that he can better understand their history, struggles, politics and culture.
Akosu hopes his findings will help offset inaccurate perceptions of the African American and the black South African and add to research of the autobiographical genre. More importantly, Akosu said he hopes his work will help foster nation building, cultural integration and human dignity by furthering an understanding of the life of blacks - in Africa and America.
Black and white people have misunderstood one another because of the historic and present racial dynamic. Autobiographies offer a way around that, Akosu said. "The oppressed usually has an image of his oppressor which coercion won't reveal," he said. "But if he decides to write it down on his own, then you can trust him." Generally, blacks and whites don't know one another because they rarely live together, Akosu said. "In South Africa and in the African American community they have always been living apart. That basis of human communication is not there."
Akosu became interested in comparing the African American and black South African communities because of several similarities. African Americans and black South Africans have struggled for human and civil rights in societies run by whites; they have existed as slaves and survived segregation, violence, dehumanization and insecurity; each community's economic existence is marked by class and racial conflict; and each community has a tradition of telling their life experiences.
Authors in Akosu's study include: Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Lorene Cary, Bebe Moore Campbell, Ellen Tarry, Harriet Jacobs, Albert Luthuli, Ellen Kuzwayo, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Peter Abrahams, Phyllis Ntantala, Bloke Modisane, Alfred Hutchinson, Winnie Mandela, Mark Mathabane, Dugmore Boetie and Miriam Makeba.
By the end of the year, Akosu plans to have his findings summed up in a draft of a manuscript to be used for teaching. Akosu's four children and wife live in Makurdi, Nigeria.
Beverly B. Mack, African Languages & Literature '81, joined the African and African-American Studies faculty at the University of Kansas as an Assistant Professor of Hausa language and cultural studies.
Jeri Moxley, African Languages & Literature '92, is in the doctoral program at the University of California-Berkeley. She received a FLAS to study Setswana at Yale last summer.
Samuel O. Onakomaiya, Geography '70, was Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Ogun State University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria from 1991-94. An expert in transportation and road traffic accident studies, Professor Onakomaiya has been instrumental in establishing a specialized post-graduate program in Transportation Studies in his department, the first of its kind in any university in Nigeria. He is soliciting faculty and institutional support, in the form of journals, books, equipment and financial aids for the new program which aims to produce much-needed transportation experts. His address: Department of Geography and Regional Planning, Ogun State University, P.M.B. 2002, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Mark Plane, African Languages & Literature '92, presented a paper "Popular Theatre in Dar es Salaam" at the symposium on African Theatre and Film at the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, Toronto, Canada, in April 1993. Mark is teaching literature at the Washington University, St. Louis.
Edward L. Powe, African Languages & Literature '84, recently returned from Madagascar where he conducted research on Malagasy folklore for one year. He was affiliated with the Department of Malagasy Language & Literature at the University of Madagascar. He is in Madison writing up his research for a future publication titled The Lore of Madagascar.
William Reno, Political Science '92, continues in his second year of a two-year teaching contract at Hamilton College, Clinton, New York. He is filling in for UW alumnus Steve Orvis. (email IN%wreno@itsmail1.hamilton.edu) Cambridge Press has recently accepted his new book Shadow State Politics and Networks in Sierra Leone for publication next fall. Will has been invited to travel to SOAS to speak about his book and other work on Charles Taylor's NPLF in Liberia.
Bianga Waruzi, Political Science '82, died suddenly in Kinshasa in Fall 1992. Bianga was a professor of Political Science at the Universities of Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, and was a member of Zairian parliament since the early 1980's. He returned to Madison for a few months as a Fulbright exchange scholar second semester 1990.
Ernst R. Wendland, African Languages & Literature '79, is affiliated with The Bible Society of Zambia, Lusaka Translation Centre. His recent publications are: Bridging the Gap: African Traditional Religion and Bible Translation; "UFITI-Foundation of an Indigenous Philosophy of Misfortune: The Socio-religious Implications of Witchcraft and Sorcery in a Central African Setting" in Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (Vol.4). Monty Lynn and David Moberg (eds). Greenwich, CT: JAI press 1992; Comparative Discourse Analysis and the Translation of Psalm 22 in Chichewa, a Bantu Language of South-Central Africa. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1993.
STUDENT NEWS
Joe Alie, History, returned to Sierra Leone after completing his Ph.D. in August.
Christopher Barrett, Ag Econ and Economics, received a National Science Foundation Grant for dissertation research in Madagascar.
Cynthia Becker, Art History, participated in an archaeological project last spring in Southern Morocco at Sijilmasa. Sijilmasa was an important town along the trans-Saharan trade route during the Arab conquest of North Africa. She studied ceramics at the site in order to compare them to ceramics in West Africa and the influence of Islam on the material culture of West Africa.
Jacqueline Benton, African Languages & Literature, received an Advanced Opportunity Fellowship for the 1993-94 academic year.
Elhadji Chaibou, African Languages & Literature, was awarded the 1993 Editor's Choice Award for outstanding Achievement in Poetry presented by the National Library of Poetry.
Mabel Enwemnwa, Educational Policy, received her Ph.D. in December 1993.
Jeremy Foltz, Ag Econ, returned in January from preliminary research on the economics of natural resources in Tunisia.
Eric Higgins, History, received his Masters degree in December 1993.
Carolyn Keyes, History, received her Ph.D. in December 1993.
Timothy Longman, Political Science, presented a paper at the conference on Christianity and Democratization in Africa on September 20 sponsored by the University of Leeds and the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.
Abdalla Mohammed, received a travel award from the Land Tenure Center to conduct research in Eritrea on the role of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) within Eritrea.
Bruce Magnusson, Political Science, is in Benin on a Fulbright fellowship to conduct research on multilevel politics and the process of regime change in Benin.
John Peck, IES, presented "A Journey Through Zimbabwe" on December 9, sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate Travel Committee.
Kathleen Smythe, History, presented a talk on Kenya "Mwalimu, What is Eating Your Face? An American Teacher's Experience in Kenya" on December 2, sponsored by the Wisconsin Union Directorate Travel Committee.
Cynthia White, Sociology, received her Ph.D. in August 1993.
STUDENTS PRESENT RESEARCH AT ASA
The following students presented papers or chaired panels at the African Studies Association Conference held in Boston in December: Gretchen Bauer, Political Science, chaired the panel,"Labor in Southern Africa" and presented "The Trade Union Movement in Namibia Three Years After Independence on the panel "Politics and Labor in Namibia"; Patricia Kuntz, Curriculum & Instruction, "The Professional Dilemma of Instructors of African Languages in the U.S." on the panel, "Professionalizing the Teaching of African Languages"; John Peck, IES, presented "From Royal Game to Popular Heritage--Wildlife Policy and Resource Tenure Under Colonial and Independent Rule in Zimbabwe" on the panel "Ecology and History in Africa"; Andrea E. Frohne, Art History, presented "Synchronic Arts Within the Sogoni Koun Performance of the Bamama (Mali)"; Heidi Glaesel, Geography, presented "Human Impact on the Malindi-Watamu Biosphere Reserve, Kenya: Local and Extra-Local Forces"; Tim Longman, Political Science, presented "The Christian Churches and Class Formation in Rwanda" on the panel, "New Research/New Scholars." Jeffrey Cochrane, Ag Econ, presented "Do Economic Models Keep Us from Asking the Right Questions: One Economist's View of a Popular Reciprocity Model" on the panel, "Labor Markets"; Peter A. Rogers, History, presented "Heavy Metal in Hausaland: Technology and Trade in the Indigenous Iron Smelting Industries in Katagum Emirate, 1900-40" on the panel, "Old Paradigms and New Trends in Northern Nigerian Research"; Annmarie M. Terraciano, Geography, "Gender, Ecology and the Transformation of Livestock Production in Western Nigeria" on the panel, "Studying Women in Islamic Africa"; John David Leaver, History, "African Education in Zimbabwe, 1927 to 1965: Colonial Liberals, African Nationalists and Historiography" on the panel, "Intellectual Hegemony and Educational Struggle in East and Southern Africa"; Cathy Skidmore- Hess, History, "Culture and Disease: The Role of Smallpox in the 1626 Campaign of the Guerra Preta" on the panel,"Politics and Ideology in West Central Africa"; Rebecca McLain, "Tenure Constraints to Agroforestry in Central Mali" on a panel, "Agroforestry Development in Africa."
AFRICAN STUDIES STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS
Concentration in African Studies Amy Anderson, English Aidarina Basarudin, Soc., Poli Sci Jennifer Rose Browne, Sociology Helen M.C. Hilliker, History Marcia Laing, French Klass H. Luiting, History Rebekah Morin, Art History Christina Sullivan, French Nasra Wehelie, International Relations Joy Wrolson, History Certificate in African Studies Heidi Glaesel, Geography Carolyn Keyes, History Ph.D. Minor in African Studies Joe Alie, History Christopher Barrett, Ag Econ & Econ FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) Scott Kloeck-Jenson, Political Science, to study Portuguese Summer 1993 and Academic Year 1993-94 Third African Studies Travel Award Susan O'Brien, graduate student in History, is the recipient of the 1993-94 Travel Award. She will travel to Benin to conduct research on her topic "Spirit Possession as Historical Lens: A Social History of Possession Practice in Northern Benin."
AFRICANIST EXPERTS ENCOMPASS VARIOUS TOPICS September- December
Enid Schildkrout, American Museum of Natural History, "From Expedition to Exhibition: The Creation of African Reflections
Robert Farris Thompson, Art History, Yale University, "The Medicines of God: Congo Art and Atlantic Contacts"
Momar Gueye, Economics, Universite de St. Louis, Senegal, USIA Exchange, "Labor Markets in Senegal: Analysis & Functions"
Baydallaye Kane, Literature, Universite de St. Louis, Senegal, USIA Exchange,"National Languages & Development in Africa; The Example of Pulaar in the Senegal River Valley"
Mary Lou Daniel, UW-Madison, Spanish & Portuguese, "A Woman for All Seasons: Mother in Modern Lusophone African Poetry"
Kasiya Banda, UW-Madison, African Languages & Literature "Storytelling for Children, KUKU NA NJIWA: Custodian of the Stories"
Jan Vansina, UW-Madison, History, "Pre-colonial African History Today: The State of the Question"
Yash Ghai, Law, University of Hong Kong, "Traditional Attitudes Towards Human Rights in Kenya"
Ramona Austin, Art Institute Chicago, "Power, Cosmos, and Legitimacy: The Regalia of Bakongo Chieftainship"
Timothy Longman, UW-Madison, Political Science, "Christianity and Democratization in Rwanda"
Jeffrey Cochrane, UW-Madison, Ag Econ, "Do Economic Models Keep Us From Asking the Right Questions? One Economist's View"
Luis Madureira, UW-Madison, Comparative Literature, "Literary Theory and the Questions of Africa's Future"
Mabel Enwemnwa, UW-Madison, Educational Policy Studies, "The Politics of Educational Policymaking in Nigeria and Women's Access"
Gretchen Bauer, UW-Madison, Political Science, "The Labor Movement in Namibia"
Patricia Darish, University of Kansas, "This is Our Wealth: Kuba Textiles of South-Central Zaire"
Kanchana Ugbabe, University of Jos; International Writing Program, University of Iowa, "Insider and Outsider - Perspectives on African Women Writers and Multi-Cultural Writing in Africa"
David Henige, UW-Madison, African bibliographer, "Africa Through the Pages"
Victor Machingaidze, University of Zimbabwe, Economic History, Fulbright Lake Forest College, IL "Structural Adjustment and the Zimbabwean Economy in Historical Perspectives"
Freida Tesfagiorgis, Moyo Okediji, Henry Drewal, "Contemporary African Art"
Henry Drewal, UW-Madison, Art History, "Transformation Through Cloth: Ancestral Devotion through the Egungun Costume of the Yoruba"
Robin Law, University of Stirling, UK, History, "The Slave Trade in Seventeenth Century Allada"
Alain Ricard, CNRS, UniversitC de Bordeaux, France, "Conscience linguistique et littCratures de l'Afrique" and "Performance and Politics in Togo, 1930-92."
WISCONSIN TEACHERS ENHANCE AFRICAN CURRICULUM
"African Reflections-Connecting the Curriculum" was the theme of the multi-disciplinary conference attended by more than eighty Wisconsin elementary and secondary teachers. It was held at the Elvehjem Museum of Art on November 12, 1993. The conference was sponsored by the Elvehjem, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Alliance for Arts Education, and the UW-Madison African Studies Program. Harold Scheub, African Languages & Literature, presented the keynote address on "Africa's Rich Oral Traditions." Other presentations were made by Marilyn Little, Geography, "Putting the Geography of Africa into Your Curriculum"; Linda Kreft Abdel-Khalek, Multi-cultural coordinator Milwaukee Public Schools, "Literary and Arts Activities for Children: The Royal Arts of Ghana, West Africa"; Herbert S. Lewis, Chair, African Studies Program, and Thomas Spear, History, "Ethnicity and Colonialism"; Moyosore Okediji, Afro-American Studies, "An Artist Speaks: The Contemporary Arts Amidst Changing Traditions"; Betty Wass, African Studies Program, "Bringing Africa into Your Classroom," Michael Afolayan, Outreach Coordinator, African Studies Program, "African Writers Your Students Should Know"; and Lois Anderson, Ethnomusicology, and Julie Koza, Music Education, "Introducing Students to African Music: The Xylophone in Uganda." The conference included a tour of the exhibit African Reflections: The Art of Northeastern Zaire. Coordinators of the conference were Madeleine Uraneck, Department of Public Instruction, and Michael Afolayan, African Studies Outreach.
AFRICAN LITERATURE FOUR-WEEK WORKSHOP INSPIRES K-12 TEACHERS!
Twenty K-12 schools in the Upper Midwest States enriched their curricula through the Teachers Institute on African Literature sponsored by the African Studies Outreach Program from July 17-August 13, 1993. Michael Oladejo Afolayan coordinated the workshop and Maureen N. Eke was lead instructor. Participants were Jane Bolgatz, John Bunte, Vallery Griffis, Eugene Smith, Louise Thurn, Iowa; Vickie Slaughter, and Ashantai Kenyata-Webb, Michigan; Charles Burmeister, Marcia Cooper-Lewter, and Nancy Pauley, Minnesota; Maureen Ekeland, Kris Ghallager, Terrance Killips, Jane Leahy, Sharon Rhycter, Robert Rhymes, Diane Sweger, and Francis McGuire, Wisconsin.
Four UW African literary consultants were invaluable resource persons to the highly motivated teachers: Edward Ayom (Sudan), Mabel Enwemnwa (Nigeria), Josphat Mweti (Kenya), and Joe Alie (Sierra Leone). UW- Madison professors added their expertise to the enthusiastic student group: Edris Makward, "The Theme of Colonialism in African Literature"; Harold Scheub, "The Place of Folktales in African Literature and Society"; Aliko Songolo, "Francophone Literature & Negritude"; Robert Tabachnick, "Pedagogy of African Literatures."
EDUCATORS TO DEVELOP CURRICULUM ON AFRICAN AUTOBIOGRAPY
The Second Summer Institute from July 18-August 12, 1994, will offer a workshop on the development of instructional materials about Africa for elementary, secondary and community college teachers and instructors in the Upper Midwest States. The course "Workshop in School Program Development: African Autobiography" will enable participants to develop appreciation for African written works and then offer the enrichment to their students to be more informed about other cultures of the world.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
AFRICAN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION WILL CONVENE IN GHANA
The 20th Annual ALA Conference takes place in Accra, Ghana, from March 24-31. The theme is "Beyond Survival: African Literature and the Search for New Life." For further information, contact Co-Convener Professor Abena Busia, Department of English, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903. Tel: 908/932-7349.
SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
The Summer Institute for African Agricultural Research, funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from June 12-July 1, 1994. African Ph.D. students who are studying in the U.S. in the social, biological and physical sciences working on African food and agricultural issues, and who plan to conduct their thesis research in Africa may apply. Deadline: February 1, 1994. For information, contact Sharon Baumgartner, International Agricultural Programs, 240 Agriculture Hall, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706. 608/262-3673. Fax: 608/262-8852.
LAURENT A. MAKWARD SCHOLARSHIP AWARD
The Office of International Studies & Programs announced that Lori Anne Chozen received the 1993-94 Laurent A. Makward Scholarship to help support her year abroad studies in Spain. The scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student who is participating in one of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's academic programs abroad.
The award is in memory of Laurent Makward, son of Professors Christiane Makward, Department of French, Pennsylvania State University and Edris Makward, African Languages & Literature, UW-Madison.
NEW AFRICAN EXHIBIT AT FIELD MUSEUM, CHICAGO
The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, opened a new major exhibit in November 1993: Africa. The exhibit highlights a holy day in Dakar, Senegal; the Kingdom of Benin; traveling with the Tuareg across the Sahara; Africa's Great Rift and the African influence in the Americas. The museum is open daily from 9-5.
NEW ASP PUBLICATIONS
The following publications are available from the African Studies Program:
African Economic History, Vol.21, 1993. It contains articles by O.I. Aina "Mobilizing Nigerian Women for National Development: The Role of the Female Elites"; Bartholomew Armah, UW-Milwaukee, "Trade Structures and Employment Growth in Ghana: A Historical Comparative Analysis, 1960-1989"; Barbara M. Cooper, Rutgers, "Cloth, Commodity Production and Social Capital: Women in Maradi, Niger 1890-89"; Bola Dauda, University of Leicester, "Industrial Policy and the Nigerian Bureaucracy, 1900- 1988"; Kimba A. Idrissa, UniversitC de Niamey, "L'Impit de Capitation: Les Abus du RCgime de sur Taxation et La RCsistance des Populations"; Jamie Monson, Carleton College & St. Olaf College, "From Commerce to Colonization: A History of the Rubber Trade in the Kilombero Valley of Tanzania, 1890-1914"; Tony Woods, St. John's University, "Why Not Persuade Them to Grow Tobacco: Planters, Tenants and the Political Economy of Central Malawi, 1920-1940." Cost: $15 each to individuals, $30 each to institutions.
Seeds in the Palm of My Hand, Edward Kanu Uku, 120pp. $30.00
A Witch in My Heart, Short Stories, and Poems, Hilda Kuper, $25
Pioneer, Patriot and Patriarch: Samuel Johnson and the Yoruba People, ed. Toyin Falola, 198pp. $27
Labarin Baba [Hausa version of Baba of Kano], Mary Smith, 79pp. $20.00 ($10.00, 10 copies or more)
AFRICAN SCHOLAR FUNDING
Scholars on Education Re-Entry Program offers support to African scholars who are returning from doctoral or post-doctoral studies in the U.S., Canada, or Europe and have interest in issues related to education revitalization and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Special emphasis is placed on the subject of sex differences in school participation and achievement. There are no deadlines for submission of proposals which should be addressed to: Scholars on Education Re-Entry Program, The Rockefeller Foundation, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036.
DEATH CELEBRATIONS
Mike Jindra, recipient of the 1993-94 African Studies Travel Award and graduate student in Anthropology, is currently in Cameroon researching "Death Celebrations in the Cameroon Grassfields." He is affiliated with the University of YaoundC I. Mike's interest in the celebrations began during his days as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon from 1984-86.
Mike enables us to "witness" the death celebrations through his eyes and email! The excerpts are from email messages received from September through January.
September 24: I did get back to Mbengwimy former Peace Corps post. I stayed at my friend Issac's compound where there was a traditional ritual which I duly recorded. The Fon (chief) dressed in colorful traditional gown, performed a traditional rite which now allows Isaac to make a "dancing field" where he can have big events like death celebrations (DC). It involves putting a small symbolic section of a fence in, and then a procession around the compound with one official spraying some water mixed with leaves and another one waving a chicken around....in Bamenda, the provincial capital, while walking through the market, I heard my name being shouted and saw one of my best Cameroonian friends when I was a volunteer. He's now married with three kids and named his oldest son after me! The next day I was introduced to an extroverted five year old, Jindra Fombang Fon. Everyone in the neighborhood knows the kid as "Jindra" so we all laughed at the situation and everyone greeted me warmly....His children are shy around me...I cut some of my hair off and gave each a little when I noticed they were looking at it but too shy to touch. All the family got a big kick out of it...My diet consists mostly of rice, bread, bananas, fufu and jama, plaintains and sometimes fish, meat and eggs. These main dishes at street-side "chop-houses" cost between 40 and 70 cents...The twelve miles to Mbengwi took an hour and a half.
October 6: Death celebrations are one of the main social events, especially during the dry season. Death celebrations are held immediately after the burial but in many areas here a second DC is held often years later. There are a number of reasons for these, ranging from simple display of wealth and status, to a diviner's pronouncement that something is amiss in the family and a DC must be held to please the ancestors and set things aright...The one thing that is the most noticeable here is the web of relationships that one immediately involves himself in if you make any attempt to get to know people. As you develop these relationships life seems to slow down.
November 2: ...just rented a motorcycle..the walking and bush taxis served its anthropological purpose because you see things and meet people you wouldn't if you're zipping along in your own vehicle but the number of people to see and things to do was beginning to pile up. I revisited the best library in the province, at a Catholic seminary which has theses written by students on aspects of their local culture and an excellent anthro and ethnographic collection on the Grassfields. Family unity is essential to a successful DC and to health and prosperity in general (lest the ancestors be displeased and cause problems). Large contributions are required of all family members, depending on ability. School fees often go unpaid because of spending on DCs.
November 22: I'll be in Buea, the old capital of British Cameroons, which houses the colonial archives and is a must stop for any researcher wanting to delve into the past.
November 26: Bamenda town roads and roads between provincial capitals are paved and in good shape, but most other roads aren't--and as soon as you get off the asphalt, you enter a moonscape- there are craters, boulders, ravines, canyons, whatever you call them, the term "pothole" doesn't do them justice. And since taxis often go well out of their way to avoid police controls, the punishment is prolonged. Nov. 27-28 was a small/medium size DC, hosted by a friend for his mother who died in 1990. I had been told that people usually stay up all night during the first night of a DC, but I wasn't sure whether they really stayed up all night or not. Well, they do. I arrived just before noon on Saturday for the memorial church service, after which there was a procession to the grave at the compound where most of the DC would take place. I'll of course be skipping alot of details, but there was eating and dancing by various traditional and church groups. At 8pm, a man drove up with a stereo strapped to the back of his motorcycle. He took turns playing music with a "Njang" group which uses a traditional wooden xylophone. As the night wore on, family groups were gathered in various rooms of the compound buildings, and in six different surrounding compounds where there was music playing. We joined the dancing for a few minutes. Of course, they were surprised to see the "whiteman" had stayed for the night, and one old woman gleefully came up to me while I danced and gave me some kola nuts and small change, a traditional gift for those who dance well (note that, you skeptics!). Dec. 3-5 was the largest DC I have yet seen, held for a man who died in 1989, leaving behind 15 wives and over 60 children. ...I would estimate over 1,000 gunshots over the four days, many of them tremendous blasts from large, old flintlock rifles. I met people from all over the country who were there, and the current main opposition leader, John Fru Ndi, the former Prime Minister, and the Minister of Agriculture all made appearances...I'm more convinced than ever that these events are key to understanding the society...When thinking of possible topics of study, I feel as if someone has left a large plump apple for me to pick after many others had passed by. I found out two days ago about UW in the Rose Bowl. Amazing! Christmas greetings to all!
December 27: December 13 I went to the annual libation ceremony at the Fon's palace in Menadankwe. It was "tradition", with pouring of wine to the ancestors, and the rubbing of camwood and distribution of wine to the men to bless the village and make the crops and women fertile. One might wonder why they don't give wine to the women then, but it was a highly segregated ceremony with the women having to stand in an outer courtyard of the palace, only allowed to see the entrance of the chief and notables.
January 7: ... the "heart" of the DC, the family meeting, is what I am going to concentrate on...It's the day after the main part of the DC with its public dancing, gun-firing, and feasting. The family meeting is only for extended family members, at most 30 people, and libations to ancestors may be poured and blessings given, often by passing around the "father's cup," which contains the power and essence of the ancestors. Prayers may also be said, and family unity is stressed. Family disputes may be brought out and settled also, to provide the unity which the ancestors look upon favorably and bless the family with. This is why DCs may be held when there are problems in the family...Having a big DC is quite important, the crowning achievement of your life, after your life has ended, at least on this earth. I couldn't understand why, even with child mortality rates much lower and many living in cities, people still have as many children as possible. I knew it had to do with cultural notions of ancestorhood, and I now see the big role that DCs play in that.
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
| Previous Menu | Home Page | What's New | Search | Country Specific |