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AFRICAN STUDIES PROGRAM

FRIDAY BULLETIN

APRIL 18, 2007

Contents

1.       Upcoming Events

2.       Announcements of Interest

3.       Jobs, Fellowships and other Opportunities

4.       Conferences

5.       Noontalks schedule

6.       Seminar schedule

NOTE:  If you have announcements or information appropriate for the Bulletin, please send it to us by 5:00 p.m. on Thursdays.

1. Upcoming Events

2 SPECIAL EVENTS
Co-sponsored by African Studies, IU English Department, IU Comparative Literature Department, and the Project on African Expressive Traditions (POAET)

Adewale Maja-Pearce, Nigerian writer/publisher, author of numerous books and former editor of the Heinemann African Writers’ Series (1986-94) and Africa editor of “Index on Censorship” (1986-97). He lives in Lagos, where he runs YEMAJA, an editorial services agency. His most recent book is “Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa & Other Essays, (2005).

Sunday, April 20
2:30 p.m., Monroe County Public Library
            Reading and Discussion: “How Pinkie Killed a Man” and other pieces from, “Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and Other Essays (2005).

Monday, April 21
2:30 p.m., Woodburn 218
            Lecture and Discussion: “Exile, Foreign Publishing, and Literary Culture in Nigeria”

Wednesday Seminar
“Fieldnotes in African Research”
Wednesday, April 23
5:30-7:30 p.m., Woodburn 218

Salwa El-Shawan Castello Branco, Ethnomusicology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
            “Ethnography at Home: Revisiting the Past, (Re)Constructing Self and Others through Fieldnotes”
            Please join us for light refreshments before the talk at 5:00 p.m. in WH 221.
           
African Music and Dance Ensemble
Every Friday!!
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Neal Marshall Black Culture Center – Room A219

The African Studies Outreach Program and the Neal Marshall Black Culture Center are organizers of this event, taking place each Friday evening during the semester.  The music/dance instructor is Kwesi Brown (kwebrown@indiana.edu).

Swahili Conversation Hour
Monday, April 18
1:15 p.m. -  Woodburn 221

Bamana Conversation Hour
Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
The Pour House (www.thepourhousecafe.com)         
Contact Abbie Hantgan (ahantgan@indiana.edu) to sign up for the group.

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2.  Announcements of Interest

Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis
Colloquium – V691
Monday, April 21, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Workshop Seminar Room, 513 N. Park
Pamela Jagger, Joint Ph.D. Candidate (SPEA/Political Science)
            “Livelihood and Sustainability Outcomes after Uganda’s Forest Sector Government Reform”

FULBRIGHT Workshops

1. Friday, April 25, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
2.  Friday, April 25, 3:00-4:30 p.m. (Workshop for Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Grants)

Fine Arts 102

Representatives from IU’s Graduate Grants Center and IU’s Fulbright Program Office will give an in-depth orientation to the Fulbright process – from submission of the application, through campus interviews, to national screening and will answer questions from the audience.  

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3. Jobs, Fellowships and Other Opportunities

IU Consortium of National Resource Centers
Project Coordinator Position

The IU Consortium of National Resource Centers seeks a Project Coordinator for a year-long series of public scholarship programming that aims to enhance public awareness of Islamic issues, reveal the diversity within Muslim communities, and provide applicable skills that will promote more successful, responsive, and engaging interactions with Muslims and Islam in a variety of contexts. This project, “Voices and Visions,” is funded by the Academia in the Public Sphere: Islam and Muslims in World Contexts” through the Social Science Research Council. It will consist of four community events, with audiences and constituents from media, business, and the general public, and the development of a series of audio podcasts to be made available on the National Public Radio (npr.org) website and elsewhere. The Project Coordinator will organize and communicate with faculty, experts (local, domestic, and international), and campus and community units, and will be guided by the Voices and Visions advisory board, to coordinate the four events and the development of sixty podcasts. This hourly position ($14/hr. @ 20 hrs./wk.) has an immediate start date of May 5, 2008. 

Qualifications include experience with event coordination, community outreach, public scholarship, writing skills, and an understanding of communications and media. The ideal candidate will be responsible, organized, and able to work on simultaneous projects while coordinating, responding to, and acting as a liaison among various units and individuals. Cross-cultural and international understanding, foreign language abilities, and experience with organizing international travel are considered advantages.

Applicants should sent a letter of interest, c.v., and names and contact information of three references to Hilary E. Kahn, Center for the Study of Global Change, 201 N. Indiana, Bloomington, IN (electronically to hkahn@indiana.edu).  Due to the immediate start date, please send materials as soon as possible, with a deadline of April 22.

IU Summer Residence Hall Coordinator / Head Resident Assistant
The Summer Residence Hall Coordinator/Head R.A. is a live-in position responsible for supervising all the Resident Assistants, maintaining discipline and adherence to Upward Bound rules and regulations, resolving conflicts between the students, and being a role model for the participants. This position works closely with the Summer Coordinator in implementing the non-academic activities.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: 30% Serve as counselor and role model to the program participants; 30% Ensure that the participants observe the residential hall rules laid out by Upward Bound, including the restrictions on fraternization, fighting, etc.;  20% Supervise all Resident Assistant staff; 20%Supervise the organization of dynamic, enjoyable and constructive social activities and workshops for the participants.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Bachelor’s degree required, enrollment in Master’s degree program required, enrollment in Ph.D. program preferred;  Grade point average of 3.0 or better required; Prior experience as a Resident Assistant strongly preferred; Experience in TRIO/EOP preferred; Preference given to individuals who have succeeded in overcoming disadvantages or circumstances similar to those of the target population.

PHYSICAL/MENTAL EFFORT:  Physical - Substantial. Physical activity required for the major part of each day. Requires frequent night and weekend work; Concentration - Substantial. Must be able to pay attention to detail and deal with many issues simultaneously; Visual Strain - Minimal. A computer will be used 5% of the time minimum

Upward Bound Project of Indiana University-Bloomington is looking for qualified faculty and students for several positions.
Summer Resident Assistant
The Summer Resident Assistant is responsible for living with the students participating in the summer session, maintaining discipline and adherence to Upward Bound rules and regulations, resolving conflicts between the students, and being a role model for the participants.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:  40% Serve as counselor and role model to the program participants;  25% Ensure that the participants observe the residential hall rules laid out by Upward Bound, including the restrictions on fraternization, fighting, etc.; 20% Organize dynamic, enjoyable and constructive social activities and workshops for the participants; 10% Serve as a liaison between the participants and Indiana University; 5% Work the night shift for one week during the summer academic program.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE: Junior status and beyond at Indiana University required, senior status or Bachelor’s degree preferred;  Grade point average of 3.0 or better required; Prior experience as a Resident Assistant preferred; Prior experience working with disadvantaged youth strongly preferred;    Experience in TRIO/EOP preferred; Preference given to individuals who have succeeded in overcoming disadvantages or circumstances similar to those of the target population.

PHYSICAL/MENTAL EFFORT: Physical - Substantial. Physical activity required for the major part of each day. Long hours and frequent night and weekend work required; Concentration - Substantial. Must be able to pay attention to detail and deal with many issues simultaneously; Visual Strain - Moderate. A computer will be used 50% of the time minimum.

Please send all inquiries to: Flo Oluka, Upward Bound Project, Smith Research Center, Suite 100, (812) 856-5203, FAX: (812) 855-4865
www.indiana.edu/~upbound<https://www.exchange.iu.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.indiana.edu/~upbound>
upbound@indiana.edu<mailto:upbound@indiana.edu>

Publication “Youth and Democracy” African Special Edition
CALL FOR PAPERS – “Focus on Africa”
To coincide with the launch of Agora Group, a newly established “think tank” dedicated to providing students with a forum for discussion on political issues and the chance to publish their work at a young stage of their academic careers, the next issue of “Youth and Democracy” will be an African Special Edition that focuses on issues of development, education and politics. As a themed issue, “Focus on Africa” provides the opportunity for discussion in the areas of democratic development, economic reform, developmental issues, education and society. There is no restriction based upon geographical constraints, rather the aim is to generate debate on issues of relevance in African nations and to highlight events and development on a wider scale.

This  journal provides the opportunity to publish and influence the debate on an international level.  Submissions are welcome on a variety of areas and, as a journal dedicated to providing a platform for student publication, “Youth and Democracy” can therefore guarantee that all accepted submissions will not be left out for lack of space.

Submission deadline:  June 30, 2008
Contact the Editor for further information: christopher.hill@agora-group.org

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4.  Conferences

Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis
April 26 and April 28

513 N. Park  -  SPRING MINI-CONFERENCE
8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. each day
            To see the schedule visit:  http://www.indiana.edu/~workshop/seminar.html

Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
“African Intellectuals and Decolonization”
October 2-4, 2008
CALL FOR PAPERS:  Deadline May 30, 2008

This is the second conference in a series at Ohio University centered on the theme “Perspectives on African Decolonization.” In 1958, Guinea chose political independence over continued association with France. The All-African Peoples Convention that same year highlighted the links between and among Africans and peoples of African descent in the Diaspora.  This year also is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the seminal journal, “Presence Africaine” by Alioune Diop. This conference will focus on all three of these events as well as examine the roles intellectuals have played and continue to play in contemporary African efforts at liberation from economic neo-colonialism. Additionally, it is an opportunity to highlight the cutting edge work of contemporary African philosophers.  Featured speakers will include:  Oyeronke Oyewumi (SUNY Stony Brook), Elizabeth Schmidt (Loyola, Baltimore), and Tsenay Serequeberhan (Morgan State University).

Abstracts for papers and panels from scholars and graduate students in any academic discipline are invited. Presentations that are interdisciplinary and/or transnational in scope will be particularly welcome. Abstracts for individual papers should be 250-300 words and accompanied by a brief CV (no more than 2 pages).  Panel proposals should include abstracts and CVs for each presenter as well as a 250-300 word overview of the panel.  Topics for discussion include, but are not limited to:  Who is African? Who is an intellectual? What do we mean by decolonization? Colonialism and decolonization in Africa; Neocolonialism and (neo)decolonization in Africa; Women and decolonization in Africa; Decolonizing the (Westernized) Academy; African philosophies and decolonization; African indigenous knowledge systems and decolonization; The arts and African decolonization; African literatures and decolonization; The Sciences and decolonization in Africa; Conservation of natural resources in Africa and decolonization.

As the conference is held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Guinea’s independence on October 2, panels and papers concerning Ahmed Sekou Toure, Guinea, and decolonization are particularly welcome.  Selected papers will be published in an edited collection of essays to commemorate these significant moments in African history and to reflect upon the legacies of fifty years of “independence” in Africa.

Please submit paper and panel proposals to:  Acacia Nikoi (nikoi@ohio.edu)

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AFRICAN STUDIES NOONTALKS

February 19     John Prendergast – Co-Founder of the “Enough Campaign”, a joint initiative
                        Of the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress.
                        “Stopping Genocide in Darfur”
                        NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE FOR THIS TALK: OAK ROOM, IMU

February 26     Summer Tritt (IU-SLIS)  “Understanding the Digital Divide in Sub-Saharan
                       Africa:  Connections between Information Access and National Development.”

March 4           Samuel Obeng, African Studies, Linguistics
                        "Ghanaian Political Criticism through Hip-Life: Textuality, Contextuality,
                        and Intertextuality”

March 11         SPRING BREAK

March 18         Richard Werbner, Manchester
                        “Ethnographic Film-making as Discovery: The Quest Trilogy”

March 24         MONDAY:  5:30-7:30 p.m.   Paul Zeleza, University of Illinois, Chicago
                        “Education in Africa”

April 1             Tristan Purvis, Linguistics Department
                        “Linguistic Features of Oral History of the Dagomba:
                        Planned Discourse, and the Differences Between Speech and Writing”

April 8             Verlon Stone, Indiana University Liberia Collections
                        “Selecting Digital Equipment for Field Work: Video, Photo & Audio”

April 15           Kathryn McHarry, University of Chicago
                       “Childcraft: The Biopolitics of Human Capital and National Development in Senegal”

Special Talk:
April 21           MONDAY:  2:30  Adewale Maja-Pearce, writer/publisher (Nigeria)
                       “Exile, Foreign Publishing, and Literary Culture in Nigeria”

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“FIELDNOTES IN AFRICAN RESEARCH”

African Studies Wednesday Seminar
Fieldnotes in African Research
(Marion Frank-Wilson and Ruth M. Stone)

Wednesdays 5:30-7:30, WH 218

Speakers:
February 20--Steven Raymer, Journalism, Indiana University
                        “The Documentary Photographer: Writing with Light”

February 27--Peter M. Chilson, English and Creative Writing, Washington State University
                        “Romancing the Archivist: A Cautionary Dispatch from West Africa”

March 19--Kate Schroeder, History/Library, and Austin Okigbo, Folklore and Ethnomusicology
                        “Recent Experiences with Fieldnotes”

March 26--Daniel Reed, Folklore and Ethnomusicology, Indiana University
                        “Fieldnotes: For Whom and What For?”

April 2--David Henige, Library, African Studies, and Anthropology, University of Wisconsin
                        “Fieldnotes Past and Present”

April 9--Anaba Anankyela Alemna, Library and Library Science, University of Ghana, Ghana
                        “Fieldnotes and the Library”

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