Visiting Scholars
Visiting scholars, 2007 - 2008
Adérónké Adésànyà was a scholar in
residence from November 4-December 2, 2007. Dr.
Adésànyà is a Research Fellow/Lecturer in African
Art History, Institute of African Studies, University
of Ibadan, as well as an accomplished cartoon artist.
Her current book project, Carving Woods, Making
History: Tradition, Modernity and Yoruba
Woodcarvings is the first comprehensive work on
the woodcarving tradition in the Yoruba town of Ila-
Orangun. During her residency at the Institute,
Adésànyà met with art history graduate students,
visited classes, and consulted with colleagues in
several departments. She also gave a public lecture
on the Indianapolis campus and another in IU
Bloomington’s Neal Marshall Black Culture Center
entitled “Contemporary Nigerian Artist:
Confrontations, Contestations and Conversations
with Modernity.”
Christiane Owusu-Sarpong was hosted by the Department of Anthropology for a lecture entitled
“The ‘Writing’ of History Among the Akan of
Ghana” on October 10 and a screening of her DVD
on Akan funeral rites on October 11, 2007. Dr.
Owusu-Sarpong has a doctorate from the Université
de Franche- Comté, Besançon, and taught at Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in
Kumasi, Ghana, until 2001. She has edited two
volumes of A Trilingual Anthology of African
Folktalkes and published La Mort Akan – Etude
Ethno-Semiotique Des Textes Funéraires Akan in
addition to numerous other works.
Abdoul Sow, Dean of the Université Cheikh
Anta Diop School of Education in Dakar (Senegal),
visited IU from May 3-9, 2008, to explore new
possibilities for collaboration. The School of
Education hosts the ASP’s summer study abroad
program in Dakar.
Monica Blackmun Visonà, of the Department of Art History,
University of Kentucky, offered this year’s Robert
and Avis Burke Lecture in Art History on
“Constructing African Art Histories for the Lagoons
Peoples of Côte d'Ivoire.” Dr. Blackmun Visonà is
the principal author of the critically acclaimed survey A History of Art in Africa (Abrams/Prentice
Hall 2000; Pierson 2007). She is currently
completing a manuscript on the methodologies and
critical issues encountered by art historians engaged
in research in African communities.
Visiting scholars, 2006 - 2007
Simi Afonja, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria), was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study during the month of October. Well-known for her work on gender and development issues, she gave a public lecture entitled “Gender and Feminism in African Development Discourse” on October 27, 2005.
Shittu Akinola of the Department of Public Administration at Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria) was a WARA Fellow-in-Residence from March – June 2006. Housed at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Dr. Akinola completed several chapters for his book on the roots of collective action in communities in southwestern Nigeria. He made presentations on his work at several venues, including the March Working Conference on democratic governance. Dr. Akinola also laid the groundwork for future collaboration.
Getie Gelaye, ...
Maxi Shoeman, ...
Herman Wasserman, ...
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Visiting scholars, 2005 - 2006
Simi Afonja, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria), was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study during the month of October. Well-known for her work on gender and development issues, she gave a public lecture entitled “Gender and Feminism in African Development Discourse” on October 27, 2005.
Shittu Akinola of the Department of Public Administration at Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria) was a WARA Fellow-in-Residence from March – June 2006. Housed at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Dr. Akinola completed several chapters for his book on the roots of collective action in communities in southwestern Nigeria. He made presentations on his work at several venues, including the March Working Conference on democratic governance. Dr. Akinola also laid the groundwork for future collaboration.
Fekade Azeze, Professor of Folklore at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), spent a productive year with us as a Senior Fulbright Scholar (August 2005-August 2006). His major project consisted of updating and expanding his Introduction to Oral Literature by writing Introduction to Folklore (both in Amharic). The associated literature search also assisted him in identifying new materials for his folklore courses. In addition to his primary activities, Dr. Azeze actively participated in African Studies events, presented an ASP Tuesday Noon Talk (October 25) on “Forms of Poetry: The Amharic Couplet,” and made presentations at the Tsehai Conferences in Los Angeles. An accomplished poet, he also reached out to the local community by sharing his English poems on several occasions with listeners of Bloomington community radio station WFHB and his Amharic poems with Ethiopian expatriate communities in Oakland and Los Angeles, CA, and in Washington, D.C. Finally, he prepared and posted his Amharic research articles and lectures on a friend’s web site along with the poems of the late poet and painter Gebre Kirestos Desta and the late economist-poet Dr. Eshetu Chole.
Chéibane Coulibaly, President of the Centre Universitaire Mande Bukari in Bamako, Mali, was a Visiting Scholar at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis during September 2005. Dr. Coulibaly, whose work focuses on rural development, gave a colloquium presentation on “Land Tenure Politics in West Africa: The Challenges for the 21st Century,” September 29.
Andreas Eckert, Professor of African History at the University of Hamburg (Germany), was in Bloomington during September-October 2005 under the auspices of the IU Hamburg Short-Term Faculty Exchange Program. Professor Eckert has published extensively on his research in Cameroon. He presented “Cultural Commuters: African Employees in Late Colonial Tanzania,” based on his recent research in Tanzania, in the ASP Tuesday Noon Talk series on October 4.
Mahmoud Lawan, Bayero University, Kano (Nigeria), was a Fulbright IIE Fellow at IU from August 2005-March 2006. Mr. Lawan conducted library research and analyzed data for his Ph.D. dissertation on human rights, democratization, and the private sector in Nigeria. He presented “The State of Human Rights and the Challenge of Democratic Self-Governance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic: An Overview” in the ASP Tuesday Noon Talk series on February 21, 2006.
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Visiting scholars, 2004-2005
Samuel Atindanbila, Psychology Department, University of Ghana, Legon, is spending the 2004-05 academic year at Indiana University under the auspices of the student-faculty exchange between Indiana University and the University of Ghana. He is reviewing the theoretical literature and consulting with local faculty in preparation for his research project on "Stress and Coping Strategies among Senior Members in the Universities of Ghana." satindan@indiana.edu
Paul Diakite, English Section, Department of Languages, University of Bamako, Mali. Fulbright scholar, Sept. 2004-June 2005. Project: "Research in African and African American Literatures: Black People's Quest for Cultural Identity in the Contexts of Domination and Dependence." pdiakite@indiana.edu
Haseenah Ebrahim, Dramatic Art, School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. Dr. Ebrahim, a film scholar, is spending November 2004 in residence at Indiana University under the auspices of the faculty exchange between the African Studies Program and the University of the Witwatersrand School of Art.
Yekutiel Gershoni, Department of Middle Eastern and African History and School of History, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Dr. Gershoni is spending his 2004-05 sabbatical leave at IU to research the political history of Liberia from 1980-1990. ygershon@indiana.edu
Ayo Joseph Opefeyitimi, Department of African Languages and Literatures, Obafemi Awolowo University, is spending the 2004-05 academic year at IU with the support of a Fulbright IIE fellowship. His research and writing focuses on Yoruba oral tradition and praise poetry. aopefeyi@indiana.edu
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Visiting scholars, 2003-2004
Shitti R. Akinola, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria, is in residence at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, working on a book project focused on self-governing institutions in Nigeria.
Agordoh, Alexander Akorlie visited IU in the Fall of 2003 as a Laura Boulton Senior Fellow. Dr. Alexander Agordoh is a Research Fellow in Ethnomusicology, Institute for African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon. As a Boulton Fellow, Dr. Agordoh's research explores the influences of African American sacred music on the musical practices of Christian churches in Ghana. aagordoh@indiana.edu
Eckhard Breitinger, African Literature, University of Bayreuth, Germany, is in residence during the month of October under the auspices of the IU-Bayreuth short-term exchange program. He is guest-lecturing at the opening of his Exhibition of African Theater Photographs -- on display at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center from October 2003-January 2004 – and in the Wednesday Evening Graduate Seminar.
Peter Davis, Independent Filmmaker, is spending the month of April at the Black Film Center / Archive. He has produced a number of documentaries on southern Africa, including the widely acclaimed Generations of Resistance (1979).
Paul Haupt, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Cape Town, South Africa, is a visiting scholar at the IU Institute for Advanced Study in March 2004. Trained as a clinical psychologist, he worked for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission preparing and supporting victims and perpetrators during the public hearings. Based on this work, he was invited to direct two major initiatives at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation: “Political Perpetrator Studies” and “Educating for Reconciliation.”
Verwey, Sonja Department of Telecommunications, September 2003. Dr. Sonya Verwey is the Chair of the Department of Communication, Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa. Dr. Verway specializes in the field of organizational communication and media management. She is teaching a short course entitled "Communication Perspectives on the African Renaissance." She will also give several guest lectures relating to the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Media. sverwey@indiana.edu
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