MSU Tuesday Bulletin, 08/29/06
Issue No. 1 Fall 2006
August 29, 2006
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
EVENTS
August 31, Thursday
"Nigerian Universities Today: Structural Reform, Information Revolution: Problems and
Prospects," African Studies Center Brown Bag Panel discussion with Nwando Achebe (MSU,
Dept. of History), Justina Ekere (Univ. of Nigeria, Nsukka), Folu Ogundimu (MSU, Dept. of
Journalism), and Isaac Ohaji (Univ. of Nigeria, Enugu campus), 12:00 - 1:15 p.m., Room
201, International Center.
August 31, Thursday
"Writing Proposals to Fund International Dissertation and Pre-Dissertation Research,"
an open two-hour workshop for all MSU graduate students (US and International) planning to
write proposals to seek funding for dissertation or pre-dissertation research abroad for
2006-2007 deadlines. This is the first session of the semester-long, 1-3 credit seminar
"International Social Science Research (ISSR) in Africa, Asia, and Latin America: Concept,
Design, and Praxis, 5:00 - 7:30 p.m., third floor, International Center.
September 2, Saturday
International Friendship Festival, 2:00 - 7:00 p.m., Trinity Church, 3355 Dunckel Road,
Lansing, MI., sponsored by the Fellowship Christian Internationals. FREE Transportation,
free food, meet new friends from other countries, games and a fun time. Contact John and
Inge Diehl at 332-1935; or Rex and Vangie Alocilja at 333-4504 for a ride or more
information.
September 6, Wednesday
"Economic Climate in South Africa Today," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with
Yusuf Omar, Consul General (South Africa), 12:00 noon, Room 303 International Center.
September 7, Thursday
"Building African Scientific Capacity in Food and Agriculture: A Report Commissioned by
the World Bank," African Studies Center Brown Bag talk with Carl Eicher, Distinguished MSU
Emeritus Professor (Agricultural Economics, MSU), 12:00 noon, Room 201 International
Center.
MSU ANNOUNCEMENTS
Letter from David Wiley, Director
Terrible Tragedy: Death of Kimberly Perez
Dear MSU Colleagues,
I write to tell you of a terrible tragedy - that Kimberly Rosario
Perez, MSU Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and African Studies,
died in a vehicle accident in Accra, Ghana, Monday afternoon,
August 14. Kim was in Ghana on a short break from her
intensive research in Kano in northern Nigeria.
Arrangements are being made for the return of her body from
Accra to her family in San Diego, California. She was the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alberto and Estrella Perez and is
survived by two brothers, Kenneth Perez and Kevin Perez. She
was 30.
After completing her BA at University of California-Santa
Cruz, Kim served in the Peace Corps in Phokoane, South
Africa, north of Johannesburg, on HIV/AIDS awareness and
community development. She then completed an M.A. in
Public Diplomacy and International Affairs at the Fletcher
School at Tufts University in Boston - and in 2003 enrolled in
a Ph.D. program at Michigan State.
In 2005, she completed all requirements of the Ph.D. in
Sociology except for her dissertation -- completing her
comprehensive exams faster than any of my graduate students
that I can remember. After receiving several Title VI African
Language and Area Studies Fellowships and reaching
advanced proficiency in Hausa language, in a national
competition in 2005 she was awarded a prestigious Fulbright
Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship from the
U.S. Department of Education. In 2006, the U.S. National
Science Foundation granted her a Doctoral Dissertation
Enhancement Award in Sociology.
Since January 2006, Kim has been living in Kano, Nigeria
where she was consulting with faculty at Bayero University
and conducting field research on "Decentralization and
Representation in Nigerian Local Government: Bridging
Ethnic, Religious, and Gender Cleavages in Kaduna, Nigeria,"
a topic she had developed at MSU from her extended travels
in West Africa in 2004-05.
In Accra, visiting on holiday, Kim was riding a "passenger
lorry" near the center of the city. The driver swerved to avoid
a vendor's pushcart in the road, and the vehicle flipped over.
The vendor was hit and killed, and Kim also died immediately.
Several other passengers were badly injured, and she and they
were rushed to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the premier
national referral hospital in Ghana.
The funeral or memorial service for Kim will be held in San
Diego, CA where her family lives at a date yet to be
determined. Another memorial probably will be planned at
MSU early in the fall semester.
Our hearts go out to Kim's family and all who knew this very
intelligent, creative, venturesome, courageous, and industrious
woman. She was one of the good people, making many
contributions to the human community during her too few
years among us. We have been enriched by Kim's presence,
and we are lessened by her absence. We shall miss her very
much and hold dearly to our memories of her.
If you wish to send condolences to the family, you can reach
them at: Kim's brother, "Kenneth Perez"
<atzin@earthlink.net>, cell: 619-261-0411.
With sadness,
David Wiley
Academic Advisor to Kim Perez
Department of Sociology and African Studies Center
MSU Global Focus - Photography Competition
The entry deadline for the Eighth Annual International
Photography competition is Monday, October 2, 2006,
5:00 p.m. EDT. The competition is open to MSU
students, faculty, staff, retirees, alumni and Alumni
Association members.
For more information, to see the official competition
rules and entry form, or contact the MSU Office of
International Studies and Programs, visit
http://www.isp.msu.edu/photocontest/ or contact the
MSU Office of International Studies and Programs,
Michigan State University, 209 International Center,
East Lansing, MI 48824-1035; Tel: (517) 355-2350; or
e-mail riel@msu.edu..
Distinguished Rural Sociology Award
MSU's George and Nancy Axinn will receive the 2006
Distinguished Rural Sociologist Award this August,
presented by the Rural Sociology Society. This award
has always been given to an individual before, but this
time they are making an exception and giving it to a
couple. George Axinn is an Emeritus Professor in the
Department of Resource Development at MSU and an
African Studies Center Consulting Faculty member.
Fall 2006 Course Announcement
ANP 491, Sec. 012, Anthropology of the Middle East
Tu & Th 1:00-2:20 pm, Union Building (location may
change). This course provides a critical examination of
the anthropological literature of the Middle East, which
is defined here to include the Arab World, Israel, Iran,
and Turkey. Major areas of research are reviewed and
analyzed, introducing students to the variety of cultural
traditions, religions, and ethnicities in the Middle East.
Several book-length ethnographies and one novel will be
read, in addition to various articles and chapters. A
further goal of this course is to provide students with the
conceptual tools necessary to evaluate reports and news
about the region, and to understand the subjectivity and
bias that often permeates these reports. We will also
visit the Arab American National Museum and the
newly constructed Islamic Center of America in
Dearborn, watch films, and learn from guest speakers.
Seminar participants will create, through research
papers, their own accounts of the Middle East. For
details, contact Professor Mara Leichtman at 432-7048,
e-mail: mara.leichtman@ssc.msu.edu.
ENG 823/991B - Postcolonialism/Postmodernism
This is a course about the culture that is being produced
under conditions of globalization, viewed primarily from
an African and North African, Asian, and diaspora
perspective. Globalization and postmodernism appear
differently when seen from a postcolonial point of view.
The course will include a range of works of literature
and of visual cultures, including film. Contact Prof. Ken
Harrow, English Dept., e-mail: harrow@msu.edu;
Phone: 353-7243 for more information.
EAD 813 - Education and Development
This course will be offered by Professor David Plank,
Tu., 12:40-3:30p.m. Open to MA or Ph.D. students.
May be taken for Teacher Education credit as TE 813.
This course examines the role of education in the
process of economic, social, and political development.
This course will be especially valuable for students who
are planning careers in educational development,
whether in national planning agencies or in international
agencies, including the World Bank and the United
Nations, or for students who expect to conduct research
in these areas. For further details about this course,
contact: Professor David Plank at 355-3691; e-mail:
dnplank@msu.edu.
MC324b - Africa in International Affairs
This course will be offered by Professor Rita Kiki
Edozie, Tu/Thur., 12:40-2:00p.m. The course will focus
on US-Africa relations as well as normative
international relations theory by examining the theories
of realism, liberalism and the new globalisms against
Africa's contemporary 'place' in international relations.
In presenting case studies on the African Union and
NEPAD, the course content will also cover 'Africa' as
a dynamic region consisting of fifty-three diverse and
sovereign independent nations with distinctive foreign
policies that present challenges to a single continental
policy. For further details about this course contact
Professor Rita Kiki Edozie, Political Science (JMC), e-
mail: rkedozie@msu.edu; Phone: 432-5291.
SSC 490 -Issues in International Development,
- meets Tu/Th, 3
- 00 - 4:20p.m. This course focuses on the
dilemmas facing industrialized and developing nations
in ending severe global inequalities and poverty. We
will explore how these dilemmas are explained and the
solutions offered to solve them. Special attention will
be given to issues of the environment, external
assistance, women, and grass-roots participation within
the context of historical legacies and contemporary
globalization. This course meets the requirements of a
senior-level capstone course for the Undergraduate
Specialization in International Development. For
further information, contact: Dr. Rob Glew at 353-4818;
e-mail: glew@msu.edu for further information.
PHL 452 Ethics and Development;
meets M/W, 3:00-4:20. Taught by Prof. Stephen L. Esquith, e-mail:
esquith@msu.edu This course is about ethical issues
such as war, genocide, famine, agricultural
intensification, economic liberalization,
democratization, gender discrimination, and
environmental degradation. It talks about the ethical
questions and issues that face developing countries,
about the ethics of the very process and discourse of
development that more industrialized, as well as
developing countries have helped to shape. The overall
goal is not to answer these questions or resolve these
issues, but rather to clarify them and understand why
they are important. The class will be drawing upon
research from several different disciplines as well as
philosophy. This course is intended for a wide
audience. Students who have not taken either two
courses in philosophy or three courses in relevant social
science fields, should consult with the instructor before
enrolling in the course.
- HST 364
- South Africa and Its Neighbors: History,
Biography, and Memory, meets M/W, 10:20 - 11:40.
This course is taught by Professor Peter Alegi. It covers
South(ern) African history from the nineteenth century
to the present. It explores the region's complex past
through biographies or black and white men and
women. The central themes of race, ethnicity, class,
gender, and age are examined through the lives of black
leaders such as Shaka Zulu and Nelson Mandela, as well
domestic servants, sharecroppers, and even privileged
whites. The overall goal of the course are to a) provide
specific knowledge of Southern African people's
colonial/apartheid past and its legacy; and b) strengthen
skills of critical analysis, oral communication, and
writing. Contact Professor Alegi at: 432-8222 ext. 129;
or e-mail: alegi@msu.edu.
- HST 830
- African Spectatorship and Consumerism
in a Global Context, 1880s - Present, meets Tu, 4:10 -
7:00 p.m. This course is taught by Professor Peter
Alegi. Using the prism of leisure and popular culture,
this seminar explores aspects of the history of Africa in
an increasingly global context, from the dawn of the
colonial period to the present. Via in-depth case studies
of Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and
South Africa, this seminar adopts a flexible,
interdisciplinary approach to critically engage with the
themes of race, ethnicity, class, nation, gender, and age.
A serious exploration of public spectacles and the rise of
consumerism n Africa will enable the class to practice
the historian's craft of analyzing continuity and change
over time. It should also spark rethinking of the very
concepts of "spectatorship" and "consumerism" and, in
the process, highlight the creative power of Africans in
making their own history and shaping global popular
culture.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
African Art from a World-Wide Array of Artists
Collective Exhibition: Contemporary Art at its Best
runs September 5 - September 27, 2006 in Agora
Gallery's SoHo location at 415 West Broadway,
Chelsea, New York.
Contemporary Art at its Best showcases art by Trudie
Canwood-Kruger, Wesley Mawema and Berenice
Michelow.
The three artists present works that comment on the life
of African peoples in the United States, the Caribbean
and South Africa.
Images of Canwood-Kruger's art can be seen at:
http://www.agora-gallery.com/ArtistInvite/Trudie_Canwood__
Kruger.aspx;
Mawema's work can be seen at: http://www.agora-
gallery.com/ArtistInvite/Wesley_Mawema.aspx; and
images of Michelow's work can be seen at:
http://www.agora-gallery.com/ArtistInvite/Berenice_
Michelow.aspx.
Please contact Sam Green, Public relations department
at: (212) 226-4151, ext. 207 for additional information
or visit the Agora Gallery website at http://www.Agora-
Gallery.com.
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.