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Panels NYASA 2015 Conference
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NEW YORK AFRICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION 2015 CONFERENCE
3 - 4 April 2015
Hosted by Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany, New
York.
Albany Law School, Albany, New York
and
Union College, Schenectady, New York
The conference will be held on two campuses:
Friday 03 April at Union College
Saturday 04 April on the Joint Campus of Albany College of Pharmacy
and Health Sciences and Albany Law School in Albany, New York.
FRIDAY 3 APRIL 2015 at Union College
9:00 AM-5:00 PM
Registration at College Park Building, Union College
9:00 AM-9:50 AM
NYASA E-Board meeting
10:00 AM-10:50 AM
NYASA Business Meeting
11:00 AM-12:15 PM
Session I Panel A
http://www.union.edu/maps/pdfs/visitors-map.pdf
Session I
(75 minutes)
Roundtable: The State of Africana Studies in
CUNY/SUNY and Private Colleges and Universities
in New York State
Deidre Hill Butler, Union College, Director Africana Studies Program
Cheryl Sterling, City College, CUNY Chair, Black Studies
Kwame Akonor, SHU, Political Science and International Studies
Jerry Persaud, SUNY New Paltz, Chair, Media and Communications Department
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Abdul Nanji, Columbia University, Middle East, South Asia, African Studies Department
Session I Panel B
Roundtable: Students Leadership
Chair:
Bisiayo Fashemi. Union College (African Studies Association)
Natasha Scott. Union College (Black Students Union. Co-President)
Victor Murphy. Union College (African Latin American HIll Student Association, CoPresident)
Kim Ferguson. Union College (Black Students Union. Co-President)
Adrian Morgan. Union College (African Studies Association)
Session I Panel C
Performing Art in Africa and Beyond
Chair:
*Contesting the “Just Improvise” Discourse in Ghanaian Drum Music. Samuel Elikem
Kwame Nyamuame at SUNY Binghamton.
“The Community, Our Strength.” “A presentation on Community Reorientation in an
attempt to be part of the conversation this conference seeks to provide on Social Laws. It
is a 2 part presentation that can be presented together or apart. The spoken word part
comes from Mr. Darian Gooden and the interactive presentation from myself. Agnes
Pala Bukhala.” Darian Gooden and Agnes Pala Bukahala, independent scholars
*A song by Ugandan artist Halima Namakula, Zimba Youth Africa. Full Name:
Mwesigwa Nuha Akiiki. Makerere University
Session I Panel D
Media and Africa
Chair:
“Leading Black Europeans female bloggers (London, Madrid and Paris) and the online
promotion of Afropolitan beauty.” (Christelle KEDI. Independent researcher. MA
Fashion imaging and promotion, University for the Creative Arts (UK)
“Transformation in Political Reporting and News Coverage in Kenya:
Retrospection” Authors: Dr. Joyce Omwoha & Miss Anne Cheboi. Dr. Joyce
Omwoha is a Lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK). Department of
Journalism & Media Studies.
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“From Street Sentiments to Online Sentiments: Ethnic Forums on Social Media
Platforms during Election Campaigns in Kenya.” Dr. Joyce Omwoha & Miss Anne
Cheboi. Dr. Joyce Omwoha is a Lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya
(TUK), Department of Journalism & Media Studies.
Session 1 Panel E
Chair:
Children and Africa
“Structural Adjustment and Children’s Health In Zimbabwe.” Ryan Peters, SUNY,
Oswego, NY 13126
“Child Soldiers In Africa: Recruitment, Growth And Effects.” Sonia Agokeng, SUNY,
Oswego, NY.
“Beyond Boko Haram: International Law and the Trafficking of Nigerian Girls.” Gabriel
Atchison, Independent Scholar, New Haven CT.
12:30 - 2:00 PM
Conference Opening Plenary Session:
Welcoming Remarks and Introductions
Chair Cheikh Ndiaye
1:00pm - 1:20pm: Cheryl Sterling, NYASA President
Stephen Ainlay, Union College President
Kevin Hickey, Conference Coordinator
Cheikh Ndiaye, Union, Conference Coordinator
Deidre Butler, Union, Coordinator
Penny Andrews
Peter Halewood Albany Law, Conf. Coordinator
Bisiayo Fashemi, African Student Association, Union
1:20pm - 1:50pm: Keynote Address Professor Makau W. Mutua, SUNY Distinguished
Professor Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty Scholar 1:50pm - 2:00pm Q and A
2:15 PM – 3:30 PM
Session II Panel A
Panel Session II (75 minutes)
Gender and Ethnic Identities in Africa
Chair:
“Gender and Ethnicity in Nigeria: Post-Colonial Societal Constructs on Culture and
Class.”(Remi Alapo. University of Phoenix, Arizona)
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“Ethnicity in the Senegambian Area.” Alphousseyni Kouyate at SIT (School for
International Training. Senegal)
“The Impact of Religion on African Society: Senegambia.” Momodou Bah, Cheikh Anta
Diop University
“The State, Culture, and the Crisis of Governance in Africa.” Mojibayo Fadikinte,
University of Lagos
Session II Panel B
Land, Development, and Identity in Africa
Chair
“Structural Adjustment Programs: New Age Colonialism.” Amir Asim Gilmore.
University at Albany.
“Sustainable Solutions for Development of Rural Areas in West Africa: Benin Case
Study” Flavia Vaccher, Temporary Research Fellow, University IUAV, Venice, Italy
“Indigenous Community Identity, Existence and Land Rights Issues in Africa”
Alexandra Harrington. UAlbany. The Global Institute for Health and Human Rights.
Session II Panel C
City College Students Panel
Chair: Cheryl Sterling
“From Baldwin’s ‘Dark Room’ to Mabanckou’s Black Bazaar: Redefining the African
Diaspora.” Imani Cooper at CUNY
“Madness: A Form of Suppression.” Orubba Almansouri at CUNY
“Shattered Mirrors, Shards of Self: Las Dominicanas-Americans in Julia Alvarez’s How
the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.” Sophia Monegro at CUNY
“The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao: Junot Diaz Towards a Creole Aesthetic.”
Wendyliz Martinez at CUNY
Session II Panel D
Union College Student Research Panel
Chair:
“Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité: The French Hand in the Rise of Hutu Extremism and the
Rwandan Genocide.” Rachel Refkin. (Union College)
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“The Land of a Thousand Graves’: the Transformation of Burial Rites in Rwanda” Erika
Steuer (Union College)
Victor Murphy “The Missing Link: The Lack of Black History Taught in Boston Public
High Schools.” (Union College)
Alexandra Walters title Pending (Union College)
Session II Panel E
Chair
Education and the African Diaspora
“The Myth of the Academic Achievement Gap.” Janice Mwapaga. Mathematics Content
Specialist. New York State Education Department
“Lingering Dilemmas in the Teaching of Africana Studies.” Daniel Mosquera. Union
College
"Interrupting and De-Colonizing Education Pedagogy: Introducing Indigenous
Perspectives on 'child development' to Pre-service Teachers.” Deborah LaFond.
UAlbany, Albany, NY.
3:30 PM- 3:55 PM
4:00 PM- 5:15 PM
Session III Panel A:
Coffee and Refreshment Break
Panel Session III (75 minutes)
Natural Resources and Politics in Africa
Chair:
“An Objective Vision For Water Resources Distribution In The River Nile Basin” Ashraf
Ghaly (Union College)
“Why is it taking so long? Solving the oil extraction equation in Uganda” Andrzej Polus
and Wojciech Tycholiz, University of Wroclaw, Institute of International Studies
“The Oil Resource as a competitive opportunity for (Uganda/Sub-Saharan Africa) in the
global arena: A proactive Policy and Systems approach.” (The synthesis by Senator,
Nuha Mwesigwa Makerere University and Secretary General, Ali Mazrui Foundation
Inc.)
Session III Panel B:
Chair:
Gender and Sexuality in Africa
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“Unpacking the lingering gaze of patriarchy: Educating the Girl-Child in Nigeria”
(joan.Osa Oviawe, PhD. Cornell University)
“Roxane Gay's Untamed State: The Liminality of Haiti's Trauma.” Rachelann Lopp
Copland SUNY Cortland.
“How the US is not Evolving Toward Africa: Critical Estrangement in USAID New
Global LGBT Development Public-Private Partnerships.” (S.N. Nyeck, PhD. Clarkson
University, NY.)
Session III Panel C:
African Identities
Chair:
A Review Of The Confusion In The Early Benin-Edo Translations Of The Words
“History” And “Proverbs” by Jacob Egharevba And Other Early Benin Writers. Uyilawa
Usuanlele, State University of New York, Oswego.
“African Philosophy Today: Communal Values Meet Individualism!” Jean Richard
Severin, Union Institute and University, New York.
“Human Rights And Women Abuse In Nigeria : A Study Of Widowhood Traditional
Practices Amongst The Ikwerre Ethnic Group Of Rivers State” Chioma Joseph-Obi at
Social Sciences University Of Portharcourt, Nigeria
Session III Panel D
Term Programs
Students Global Awareness: Union College Mini
Chair: Cheikh Ndiaye, Union College
Rachel Refkin ( Mini term in Senegal )
Dioni Daley (Civil Rights Union College mini term)
Nazhonni Brown (Ethiopia Union College mini term )
Stephanie Delorenzo (Egypt Union College mini term)
Session III Panel E
Chair
Ali Mazrui
“Ali Mazrui’s Creative Imagination: Politics and Pan-Africanism in The Trial of
Christopher Okigbo” Joseph McLaren. English Dept. Hofstra University
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“Ali A. Mazrui and the Study of Sino-African Relations” Seifudein Adem, Associate
Director and Associate Research Professor, Institute of Global Cultural Studies,
Binghamton University.
Session III Panel F
Chair:
Thomas Udimal
Adeline Nyabu
Simon Akena
Dick Arimumikonoye
Agnes Aguti
Salah Benhomau
Mohamed Belbacha
Teaching in Africa--Roundtable
Ghana (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
Ghana (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
Uganda (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
Uganda (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
Uganda (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
Morocco (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
Morocco (currently College of St. Rose, Albany, NY)
5:30 PM- 7:00 PM
Africa-themed exhibit at the Nott
(walk from College Park. Refreshment + with Kora player or other entertainment).
Announcements regarding recommended restaurants, bus services, Saturday schedule
and logistics, etc.
SATURDAY 4 APRIL at ALBANY LAW SCHOOL & ACPHS
7:00 AM: Participants depart from hotels in Schenectady to go to Albany Law School.
8:00 AM-1:00 PM
Registration--1928 Building (Main Building) Albany Law
School
8:00 AM - 8:55 AM
Continental breakfast at Albany Law School
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM
Panel Session IV (75 minutes)
Session IV Panel A
of African Diaspora
Dynamics of Health, Identity, and the Practice
Chair:
« (Re) writing Identity: Devoir de Mémoire envers Ahmadou Bamba » (Cheikh M.
Ndiaye, Associate Prof., French and Francophone Studies Department of Modern
Languages and Literatures, Union College”
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"African Literatures in Diaspora: Of Order and Adventure" (Kanaté Dahouda. Associate
Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Hobart and William Smith Colleges)
“The Missing Link.” (Marc A. Pape, Associate Professor, Modern Languages and
Cultures, Saint John Fisher College)
Session IV Panel B
Coming to America: Borders and Identity
Chair:
“Rethinking the African Immigrant Experience in North America: Some Preliminary
Insights from the Ghanaian Community.” Thomas Owusu, William Paterson University
of New Jersey
“Nigerian immigrants and U.S. immigration law” Mary Dillard, Sarah Lawrence
College.
“Strategies and Patterns of Settlement of African Migrants in Industrial Countries:
Experiences of Clusters and Dispersions in North America.” N'Dri T. Assié-Lumumba,
Professor, Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell University
Session IV Panel C
World
Africa: Education and Business in a Globalized
Chair:
“Bridging the Higher Education –Industry divide in Africa” (The synthesis by Senator,
Nuha Mwesigwa. Makerere University and Secretary General, Ali Mazrui Foundation
Inc.)
“Africanizing education and developing the continent: Culture, Human Capital, and the
Education of women in Ghana” Adeline Nyabu University of Education Winneba Ghana
“Africa and the Consequences of Business as Usual.” Kelly Ndubuka, Nigeria.
Intellectual Property Consultant, New York, NY.
Session IV Panel D
Pan African, Global Africa
Chair:
“Kwame Nkrumah and Speak of Freedom.” Henry Appiah, ACPHS
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“El Anatsui.” Elisabeth Vines, ACPHS.
“Osiris Rising Revisited,” Tsegaye Wodajo, Bronx Community College/CUNY
Session IV Panel E
Africa and Approaches to Justice
Chair:
“Leadership and Death: Martyrdom in Call Me Kuchu and God Loves Uganda.”
Matthew Durkin Ph.D. candidate at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.
“African Child-Soldier Narratives Rhetorical strategies as Human Rights Discourse in
Novels and Memoirs.” Parfait Kouacou at Graduate Center CUNY.
“From the United States to Ghana: What is The Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR) in Access to Justice?” Phyllis Williams Kotey, Florida International University
College of Law
10:30 AM - 11:45 AM
Session V Panel A
Chair:
Panel Session V (75 minutes)
African Diaspora: Identity in a Globalized World
“The Religion of the Enslaved in the Americas and Pan-Africanism: The
Interconnections.” Aminah Wallace. University at Albany. New York
“Globalization, Knowledge Transfer, and Remittance Flows.” (Assefaw Bariagaber.
Seton Hall University)
“Transforming the African Mind: Presenting the Emotional Emancipation Circles.” J.C.
William ED.M
Session V Panel B
Culture and Health in Africa
Chair:
“Ebola and Medical Apartheid” (Fadhilika Atiba-Weza. Department of Africana
Studies. University at Albany)
“Facing Ebola and Community Concerns: The Arts, Healing and the Pan-African
Aesthetics of Necessity.” (Guillaume Yoboué, Ph. D, Candidate, University at Buffalo)
“HIV and Social Capital in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Kpoti Kitissou at Skidmore College.
Panels NYASA 2015 Conference
Session V Panel C:
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African migration: survival and resilience
“Resilience in the face of Adversity: African Immigrants and the American Shock!”
Adeyinka M. Akinsulure-Smith, Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership
The City College of New York and The Graduate Center, CUNY
“We Are Refugees”: Analyzing Experiences of Eritrean Transnational Migrants by Ibipo
Johnston-Anumonwo and Adiam Zerisenai Geography Department, State University of
New York, College at Cortland
“Does the Survival of People in the Diaspora Depend on their Characteristics and
Integration Strategies or External Variables at Place of Destination? Owino Ndede of
East African Community Organization - USA
Session V Panel D
African Nations and Laws
Chair:
“National Security, Insurgencies and Good Governance: Boko Haram In Nigeria since
2008” Ahmed Adam Okene, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
“The Adjudication of Homicide in Colonial Ghana and its Legacy” Roger Gocking,
Emeritus, Mercy College.
“Regime Type, Human Rights Violation and Conflict Escalation in the Niger Delta of
Nigeria,” Nathaniel Umukoro, Delta State University, Nigeria
Session V Panel E
Conflict Resolution and Human Rights: Africa and
its Diaspora
Chair: Daniel d’Oney ACPHS
“The Underground Railroad in Western New York.” Michael Boston SUNY Brockport.
From the United States to Ghana: What is The Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR) in Access to Justice?” Phyllis Williams Kotey. Clinical Professor of Law.
Director, Externships and Pro Bono Programs. Florida International University College of Law
“Assault on Black Bodies: Women and Forced Sterilization in California Prisons”
Arcadia LeVias (SUNY/Albany)
Panels NYASA 2015 Conference
11:45 AM - 12:10 PM
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Coffee and food break at Albany Law
12:15 PM- 1:30PM Panel Session VI (75 minutes)
Session VI Panel A
African Languages in African and Africana
Studies Curriculum in SUNY, CUNY, and Private Colleges and Universities
in New York State—Roundtable Discussion
Chair: Abdul Nanji
Marriame Sy, Columbia University, Middle East, South Asia, African Studies
Department
Njeri Clayton, Columbia University, Middle East, South Asia, African Studies
Department
A. Ademoyo, Cornell University, Africana Studies and Research Center
A. Nanji, Columbia University, Middle East, South Asia, African Studies Department.
Session VI Panel B
African Identities in the Western Tradition
Chair:
“Views on Africa and Africans in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” John Karefah
Marah SUNY, College at Brockport
“Hegel’s Master-Slave Dialectic and the Construction of Narratives of Identity in a
Colonial Situation” (Mũmbi Ngũgĩ. Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida
Atlantic University)
“Lucie Coustuer: Precursor of Negritude?” Eloise Briere. SUNY/Albany
The “Talented Tenth Searches for its Place in the Atlantic World: The “Black Niagara”
Confronts the “White Problem” Kenneth Blume, ACPHS
Session VI Panel C
Justice and Gender in Africa and Beyond
Chair
“Laws And Marriages Among The Konkomba Of Northern Ghana.” Thomas Bilaliib
Udimal of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana (currently at
the College of Saint Rose on a Fellowship).
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“Witchcraft trials in South Africa, old and new, with suggestions for investigation of
police killings in the U.S.” Connie M Anderson, Hartwick College
“Colonialism, Gender Norms, and Marital Rape under Jamaican Law,” Casandra
Stephenson. Albany Law School
Session VI Panel D
Apartheid Law
Identity Politics in South African Art: Visual Effects of
Chair:
“The Documentary Function of Photography for South African Populations,” David
Brett, Stony Brook University
“Black Body vs. Black Body,” Luíza Teixeira-Vesey, Stony Brook University
“Brutalized, Feral, Fragmented: Treatment of the Body in (Post)Apartheid Art,”
Joseph Underwood, Stony Brook University
Session VI Panel E
Laws and the State of South Africa
Roundtable Discussion
Chair: Penny Andrews
Penny Andrews, Albany Law School
Locksley Edmondson, Cornell University
Neville Choonoo, State University of New York at Oneonta
1:45 - 3:15 PM
Closing Award Luncheon at ACPHS
Greetings from Albany Law President Penny Andrews
Greetings from ACPHS President Gregory Dewey
Acknowledgement of supporting groups and individuals at Albany Law and
ACPHS including clubs such as ACPHS Multicultural Club, Patricia DiMuria,
Provost John Denio,
Acknowledgement of Local Organizing Committee
Announcement of NYASA 2016 Conference location
NYASA Elections
Awards:
Panels NYASA 2015 Conference
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1. The NYASA Distinguished Africanist Scholar (2015): Makau W. Mutua
Dean, SUNY Distinguished Professor Floyd H. and Hilda L. Hurst Faculty
Scholar. Given by NYASA E-Board.
2. The Ali A. Mazrui Award for Scholarship: TBD. Given by the NYASA
Publication Committee.
3. The NYASA Book Award and Honorary Mentioned Book(s): TBD.
Given by the NYASA Publication Committee.
4. The Roger Gocking Student Scholar Award: TBD. Given by the NYASA
Publication Committee
5. The Thomas and Corrine Nyquist NYASA Service Award: Underground
Railroad History Project of the Capital Region.
6. NYASA K-12 Distinguished Teacher Award: Patricia Mackey.
7. Local Organizing Committee Philanthropist Award: The Touhey Family
Foundation.
Mention of any NYASA members who have passed
Election Results
Reminder on how to get to train stations and time needed (include phone numbers of
taxi services in the program)
3:30 - 4:45 PM
Special Plenary Session and Memorial on the Life and
Importance of Ali A. Mazrui to Africana Studies and NYASA
Chair:
Ali Mazrui: A Walking Triple Heritage--partial screening of film by Ndirangu
Wachanga, Wisconsin University followed by comments and discussion by the
filmmaker and the following:
Seifudein Adem Associate Director and Associate Research Professor, Institute of Global
Cultural Studies, Binghamton
Nuha Mwesigwa, Makerere University and Secretary General, Ali Mazrui Foundation
Inc.
N'Dri T. Assié-Lumumba, Professor, Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell
University
Roger Gocking, Co-editor NYASA Newsletter
Tom Nyquist, Co-editor NYASA Newsletter
4:45 PM
End of Conference
Panels NYASA 2015 Conference
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NYASA E-Board Meeting #2.
NYASA TEACHER WORKSHOPS
Saturday April 4th 2015
at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and Albany Law School
Program
8:00am – 8:50:
Registration and Refreshments
9:00am – 10:15am
Session I:
Thinking and Teaching About Africa
Professor Locksley Edmondson, Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell
University
Teaching African Culture through African Literature
Professor John Marah, Department of African and African American Studies, SUNY
College at Brockport
10:30am – 11:55am
Session II: Writing Across Content Areas
Richard Severin, New York City Department of Education
Katianna Louissaint, Assistant Principal
Betina Severin, New York Department of Education
Allison Taitt, New York Department of Education
12:00pm – 1:10pm
Session III:
Teaching Gender in Africana Studies
Professor N’Dri Assie-Lumumba, Africana Studies and Research Center, Cornell
Univerity
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Professor Ibipo Jonston-Anumonwo, Department of Geography and Africana Studies,
SUNY College at Cortland
1:15pm – 1:50pm
Session IV:
The Use of Key Africana Studies Online Resources for Teaching and
and Research
Eric Acree, Director of John Henrik Clarke Africana Library at The African Center,
Cornell University