MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 02/06/07
THE TUESDAY BULLETIN
Issue No. 4 Spring 2007
February 6, 2007
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
CONFERENCES
EVENTS
February 8, Thursday
"Future Directions in MSU Focus on Africa: Social Science Faculty
Perspectives - I," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with MSU African
Studies Center Faculty, 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.
February 14, Wednesday
"The Neuropsychological Effects of Cerebral Malaria in Ugandan Children:
Missions of Healing and Broken Brains," Center for Ethics & Humanities in
the Life Sciences Brown Bag with Michael Boivin, Faculty (Int'l Neurologic
& Psychiatric Epidemiology Program, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room C-102 East Fee Hall.
February 15, Thursday
"Future Directions in the MSU Focus on Africa: Arts and Humanities Faculty
Perspectives -II," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with MSU African
Studies Center Faculty, 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.
February 16, Friday
"Tourism Development in Niger," CASID/WID Forum with Boulou Akano, (Hubert
H. Humphrey Fellow), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International Center.
February 22, Thursday
"Workers Culture in Two Nations: South Africa and the United States,"
African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with John Beck and Yvonne Lockwood,
MSU Faculty (respectively Labor & Industrial Relations and Traditional Arts
Program), 12:00 noon, MSU Museum Auditorium.
March 1, Thursday
"Recycling Traditions: Cooking Pots, Aluminum Casters, and the Making of a
Modern African Diaspora, 1946-2006," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk
with Emily Osborne, Faculty (University of Notre Dame), 12:00 noon, Room
201 International Center.
March 8, Thursday
Spring Break
March 13-17, Tuesday - Saturday
African Culture Week and Gala. More details coming at a later date. MARK
YOUR CALENDAR for the Gala which will be on Saturday, March 17, 2007 at
5:00 p.m. in the Pasant Theatre of the Wharton Center. Costs are: Gala
only $10.00, (free for MSU Students), Dinner only is $7.00 (for everyone,
including MSU students), Dinner + Gala is $15.00.
MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
African Studies Center Application for Foreign
Language and Area Studies (FLAS) for 2007-08 AY
The African Studies Center at MSU is now accepting
on-line applications for FLAS fellowships for academic
year 2007-08 and for the 2007 Summer Cooperative
African Language Institute (SCALI). The FLAS
fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of
Education Title VI program for the study of African
languages and non-language courses on Africa. Up to
date information and on-line application forms are
available at: http://africa.msu.edu/FLAS/FLAS.htm.
Candidates must have completed application procedures
by February 15, 2007. Related application materials
are to be mailed to the Assistant Director of the African
Studies Center, 100 International Center, Michigan State
University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1035; Phone: (517)
353-1700; Fax: (517) 432-1209; e-mail:
fisseha@msu.edu. In accordance with the Title VI
centers' agreement of rotating summer course offerings
under SCALI, African languages study in summer 2007
will be hosted by the University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign. For details, please visit:
http://www.afrst.uiuc.edu/SCALI07.htm for details.
2007 Compton Africa Peace Fellowships
Michigan State University's African Studies Center
(ASC) and Women and International Development
(WID) Program are offering Compton Africa Peace
Fellowships to graduate students from Sub-Saharan
Africa to support their dissertation field research in
Africa. This program is an element of the MSU African
Higher Education Partnerships Initiative (AHEPI).
These dissertation fellowship awards are made possible
by a grant from the Compton Foundation through its
Peace Fellowship Program for addressing peace,
conflict resolution, and security in Africa.
For Information on eligible research topics, eligibility
requirements, and application forms please visit:
http://www.wid.msu.edu/forstudents/opportunities.htm
or http://africa.msu.edu/compton.php. Completed
application forms must be submitted by mail and e-mail
to: MSU-Compton Fellowship Committee, c/o David
Wiley, African Studies Center, 100 International Center,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
48824-1035; Tel: 517-353-1700; Fax: 517-432-1209; e-
mail: wiley@msu.edu. The application deadline is
March 16, 2007.
Explore Africa at MSU, June 17-23, 2007
Explore Africa at MSU is a residential program
designed for academically talented high school students
(entering grades 10, 11, and 12) who would like to
become immersed in learning about the tremendous
diversity found within the continent of Africa. This
program is a cooperative venture by the African Studies
Center and the Office of Gifted and Talented Education
at MSU.
Participants will attend daily language classes in
Swahili; participate in sessions on African literature;
develop self-selected projects on African topics;
participate in African music and dance, as well as assist
an African chef in making a traditional dinner.
For registration or other information, contact John
Metzler, (517) 353-1700; e-mail: metzler@msu.edu, url:
http://www.msu.edu/gifted/exploreafrica/exploreafrica.htm.
The application deadline is March 30, 2007.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Time and History
- Wole Soyinka and the Drama of Existence
- Request for articles for a special issue
For its special issue on the philosophical significance of
Wole Soyinka's writing, the journal Philosophia
Africana solicits relevant articles on any aspects of his
versatile work.
Contributors may examine Soyinka's work in any genre -
drama, poetry, fiction, occasional essays, or criticism -
but analysis must focus on those themes with special
appeal to an audience interested in philosophy. Relevant
topics may address issues in one branch or several
branches of the discipline, such as: aesthetic theories,
philosophy of culture, ethics and morality, epistemology
and metaphysics, or philosophy of religion. Other topics
may address matters in Soyinka's cultural and social
thought from the perspective of existentialism, political
theory or activism, theories of tradition and change, or
philosophy of history.
Send a title and an abstract (200 words or less) by
March 30, 2007. Completed articles (7,000 words or
less) are due by November 30, 2007. Submissions and
inquiries can be sent by e-mail to: Dr. Peter Gratton,
africana@condor.depaul.edu or posted to: The Editors,
Philosophia Africana, Department of Philosophy,
DePaul University, 2352 N. Clifton Ave, Suite 150,
Chicago, IL 60614.
For detailed "Notes for Contributors" visit:
http://condor.depaul.edu/africana/html/notes.html.
CONFERENCES
Int'l Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies (4th ICEDS)
August 3-5, 2007, Western Michigan University
The WMU Center for African Development Policy
Research (CADPR) announces the 4th International
Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies (ICEDS)
on the theme: "Challenges and Opportunities: Peace,
Democracy, and Development in Ethiopia and the Horn
of Africa."
The Symposium is intended for academics, policy
makers, investors and donors, and others interested in
contemporary issues in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.
Each contributor is invited to submit the participation
form, found at: http://homepages.wmich.edu/asefa/
(click on the 4th ICEDS Conference Announcement) and
a one-page typed double-spaced copy of the proposal.
Abstracts that do not include a completed "Participation
Form" will be regarded as incomplete and will not be
accepted.
Proposals on the following are invited: 1) Agriculture,
Food Security, and Rural Development; 2) Education for
Sustainable Development; 3) Regional Integration for
Development; 4) Building Democratic Institutions of
governance and civil society; 5) Health and HIV/AIDS
Issues; 6) Private Sector, Entrepreneurship and Markets;
7) Science and Technology for Development; 8) US
Policy on Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa; 9) Managing
Ethnic, Clan, and Religious conflicts; 10) Peace building
and Conflict Resolution; 11) Women and Development;
12) The Role of the Diaspora in Development; and 13)
An open forum for political parties. Please send all
abstracts or proposals by March 1, 2007, and
completed papers by April 1, 2007 to: 4th International
Conference on Ethiopian Development Studies (4th
ICEDS), Attn: Professor Sisay Asefa, Center for African
Development Policy Research (CADPR), Western
Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008,
USA; Fax: (616) 387-0630 e-mail:
SISAY.ASEFA@WMICH.EDU.
Int'l Congress of the Somali Studies Association
The Somali Studies International Association (SSIA)
will be holding its tenth international conference on the
title, Somali Studies in the 21st Century: Local and
Global Perspectives. The conference will be held in two
parts. The first part will take place in Columbus, Ohio,
and will be cosponsored by the Ohio State University
Center for African Studies, Ohio University's Institute
for the African Child and the Somali Studies
International Association, August 16-18, 2007. The
second part will be held in Djibouti, December 13-15,
2007. The Congress of the SSIA will be held on the
campus of the Ohio State University. Participants will
deliver scholarly papers; take part on discussion panels,
in community fora and in activities celebrating Somali
culture and tradition.
Themes examined at the Ohio Congress include: *New
Directions in Somali Historiography*The Somali
Diaspora, Transnational Remittance, Business and
Commerce *Islam and Social Identities *Somali
Community Development and Capacity Building*The
Experience of Somalis within the Horn of Africa
*Global Security, Islam and Somali Society in the 21st
Century*Governance, Civil Society, and Social
Conflict *Historical and Contemporary Gender
Identities*Environmental Degradation in Somalia
Refugee Education, Cultural Barriers and Social
Integration*Education and Economy in a Stateless
Society*The Politics of the War on Terror and US.
Foreign Policy on the Horn *The Role of Frontline
States in Somali Affairs*Transnational Organizations
[UN, IGAD, EU, AL] and the Somali Peace
Process*The Role of Civil Society in the Somali
Reconciliation and Institutional Building*Somali
Language, Literature, Culture, Film and
Arts*Colonialism and its Impact on the Somali Nation-
State*Human Rights Issues *Somali Public Health:
Reconstruction and Revitalization in the Aftermath of
Warfare.
For additional information regarding the 10th SSIA-Ohio
Congress, please contact: Ms. Laura Joseph at:
cas@osu.edu; Dr. Abdinur Mohamud at:
abdulnuur@hotmail.com; or Prof. Abdi M. Kusow
Kusow@oakland.edu' or write to: Center for African
Studies, The Ohio State University, 314 Oxley Hall;
1712 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210; Tel: (614)
292-8169; Fax: (614) 292-4273; e-mail:
ssia2007@osu.edu.
There will be a community development workshop to be
held on the second day of the conference, Friday,
August17, 2007. More information about the entire
SSIA congress, including Call for Papers, may be found
at http://www.somalistudies.org. The deadline for
Abstract/Biosketch is February 28, 2007.
Sudan/ese in the Diaspora: Past and Present
The 26th Annual Sudan Studies Association Conference
on the title stated above, will be held May 25-27, 2007
at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.
Theme: Sudanese communities are currently
mushrooming in many places around the globe. The
diasporas have impacted the home country,
economically, politically and socially. Throughout
history, Sudanese have lived in different places outside
their country for various reasons. They lived as invaders
and occupiers such as in ancient Egypt; as prisoners
against their will and as material goods during the slave
trade and moved to various places in the Middle East
and beyond; as expatriates in oil-rich countries of Arabia
and North Africa; as refugees and asylum-seekers from
war-ravaged areas settling in many places in Europe,
North America, Australia, and in many African
countries; or as college students and professionals in
many foreign countries. The sheer presence of these
communities outside Sudan has raised and highlighted
several cultural issues regarding citizenship and identity
within their host countries as well as in their homeland.
With the current political events in the Sudan, the role
of the Sudanese diasporic communities should be
examined critically not merely in terms of their political
discourses and activism, but equally within the context
of the global discourse about the Sudan.
The tradition of the SSA conference is to give priority
in timing and prominence of presentation to papers that
address the theme of the conference, but papers on other
issues relating to Sudan are also welcome. Abstracts of
proposed papers (150-200 words) should be received by
April 2, 2007. Please send paper abstract to Dr. Benaiah
Yongo-Bure, 2007 SSA Panel Organizer, Economics
Department, Kettering University, 1700 Third Avenue,
Flint, MI 48504; Tel: (810)762-9622, e-mail:
byongo@kettering.edu.
Acceptance for presentation will depend on the quality
of the abstract and the judgment of the program
committee. Small stipends of $200 are available for
assistance to a limited number of graduate students, and
interested persons should contact SSA President Dr. Ali
Dinar: aadinar@sas.upenn.edu. Registration forms and
fees are available at the SSA website:
http://www.sudanstudies.org and they should be sent to
Dr. Richard Lobban, Sudan Studies Association, Rhode
Island College, 600 Mt. Pleasant Ave., Providence, RI
02908.
Tuesday Bulletin, Spring 2007, No. 4
MSU African Studies Center <fruge@msu.edu>
Fri, 02 Feb 2007 16:48:57 -0500
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.