ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Dr. Robin J. Hayes is a Yale alumnus who studied at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. At Yale, Robin was the first person to earn a PhD in African-American studies and political science. She has worked with acclaimed critical race theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw at Columbia Law School's African American Policy Forum, taught courses about race and social movements at Williams College, Northwestern, and UC Riverside, among others. In addition to winning scholarly awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), New York Public Library, and Ford Foundation. She wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary BLACK AND CUBA, wrote essays for THE ATLANTIC and produced the prize-winning play 9 GRAMS. Dr. Hayes recently participated in The Black List/Women in Film Episodic Lab and is a fellow in the Women in Film Mentoring Program. Her new book, Love for Liberation: African Independence, Black Power and Diaspora Underground, came out in 2021 and is published by the University of Washington Press.

ABOUT THE TALK

During the height of the Cold War, frustrated Black power activists became enamored by the possibility of African independence. New nations such as Ghana, Algeria, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire) were hailed by the African American press and HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) as role models for racial justice. Leaders including Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Kathleen Neal Cleaver followed these beacons of liberation, engaged with heads of state and guerrilla movements on the continent, then became entangled in hijacking, romance, and murder. Featuring interviews with activists, extensive archival research, and media analysis, Robin J. Hayes reveals in this narrative history how Black Power and African independence activists created a diaspora underground, which redefined racial discrimination as an international human rights issue. Through advancing education, sustained collective action, and global solidarity, this coalition laid the groundwork for Black Lives Matter.

REGISTER >

ABOUT THIS PROGRAM

Business students are invited to spend a semester or year abroad in Namur, Belgium studying a mix of business and French curriculum.

Progam brochure: https://msueducationabroad.via-trm.com/visitor/programs/11064

Information meetings typically cover the specific aspects of an education abroad program such as coursework, location, excursions, costs, and more. Students will also get to meet the program directors and/or advisers and many times, students who have already participated in the program.

Questions about the application process or funding options should be directed to the Education Abroad Advising Center (108 International Center).

Want to learn more about the Japan Center for Michigan Universities (JCMU)? This Zoom webinar information session will provide an introduction to JCMU geared toward potential students and will cover JCMU's history, facilities, and upcoming programs/courses. Q&A will follow.

This info session will focus on the Japanese Language and Culture program for spring 2022, summer 2022, and fall 2022 / academic year 2023.

To register for this (or another upcoming info session), visit the JCMU Info Session Registration Page.

Unable to join this info session? Consider signing up for an individual JCMU advising appointment.

Welcome to the third Sikh & Punjab Studies Webinar of 2021 organized by the Sikh Formations editorial team. The topics explored in this webinar range from study of Sikh schools in Delhi, to identity but will all find root in Sikh and Punjab studies.
Moderators:
Dr. Arvind-Pal S. Mandair (University of Michigan)
Dr. Anneeth Kaur Hundle  (University of California – Irvine)
Dr. Harjeet Grewal  (University of Calgary)
Session 1
Time: 11:05 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST
Speaker: Dr. Yamini Aggarwal (Research Associate, Max Weber Forum for South Asian Studies, New Delhi)
Title: SIKH SCHOOLS IN DELHI, IDENTITY & ASPRIRATIONS: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
Abstract: This presentation explores the rise in the number of schools run by Sikh managements in Delhi, India, post 1984 anti-Sikh violence and the quest of the community to encourage young Sikhs to maintain their religious and cultural identity. For next two decades, culture and identity were key reasons why even upper middle class Sikh parents accessed these schools but started to leave the institutions for other popular private and international schools around mid-2000. Based on an ethnography of two Sikh schools in Delhi in contrasting neighborhoods, I show that aspirations and opportunities for national and global mobility are leading to changing patterns of enrolment in what were Sikh-dominated institutions. I also dwell on the implications of the growing number of Hindus and Muslim children in these schools, and challenges that have emerged for school managements and teachers to maintain diversity and yet promote them as Sikh institutions.
Session 2
Time: 12:00 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Speaker: Prof. Radhika Chopra (University of Delhi)
Title: CURATING DIVINITY
Abstract: I will explore the universe of souvenirs of Sikh Gurus and martyrs sold in bazaars of Amritsar. I analyse the shop window displays of two modern martyrs, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the militant leader of the movement for Khalistan, and Bhagat Singh, the nationalist hero. Shopkeepers understand martyr souvenirs as affective objects, of ritual and political value, and 'curate' their displays to create a conscious, purposive aura around modern Sikh martyrdom.
Session 3
Time: 12:55 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. EST
Speaker: Prof. Jyotsna Singh (Michigan State University)
Title: CHANDIGARH A CITY IN SEARCH OF AN IDENTITY: DREAMS AND VISIONS OF EARLY SETTLERS
Abstract: As heated debates about nationalism, citizenship, and identity are raging in India, it is perhaps an opportune moment to reflect on the genesis, vision, and reality of a truly unique Indian city: CHANDIGARH.
Chandigarh was built by Prime Minister Nehru in the aftermath of the tragic partition of India as the new capital of the province of Punjab, which was divided, and the old capital of Lahore (a great cultural center) was awarded to Pakistan.
Designed by the French modern architect, Le Corbusier, the city's radical modernist aesthetics broke free from both India's colonial architecture as well as its traditional Indian heritage designs. Many of the early settlers (1960s-1970s-80s) were imbued with a deep nostalgia for Lahore, but the modernist emphasis of Chandigarh buildings on form over ornament and of raw materials and structure instead of idyllic revivals, also helped them to embrace a new world.
In recent years, India's social and cultural critics have reductively shrugged off the distinct identity of Chandigarh. Sunil Khilnani wrongly observed in 1997: "This supremely conceptual city could not generate any shared understanding of its meanings among its inhabitants" (The Idea of India, 13). I will argue that the vision of the early settlers (many partition migrants) reflected the modernist aesthetics of the city, drawing on memories and materials of the lost, cosmopolitan Punjab, but creating new principles that balanced modernity and secularism with traditional cultures. It was city of an inclusive Punjabiat, synthesizing Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim elements into a new Punjab.

Description: In this session, graduate students from across the College will share their experience and advice when it comes to planning for and engaging in globally-oriented work during their graduate studies. Panelists will introduce their relevant work, sharing the benefits and challenges of engaging in such work, as well as exploring the various resources across departments, the College, the University, and beyond that enabled their global pursuits. The audience is encouraged to come with questions and engage in open discussion.
Rachel Lockart is a PhD candidate in Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education. Her work draws on and contributes to the fields of comparative and international education, decolonial theories, and critical policy analysis, and her dissertation focuses on teacher education and employment policies in Senegal. Educated primarily in the U.S., she has also studied, taught, or conducted research in Mali, Cameroon, and Senegal.
Jainisha Chavda is a 5th year PhD Candidate in Educational Policy. Prior to MSU, she worked with non-profit and government organizations in India on different development projects. She was also a lecturer of international studies at Pandit Deendayal Energy University. She is currently pursuing her dissertation on Datafication and Educational Governance in India.
Yujin Oh is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate in K-12 Educational Administration at MSU. She had worked as a public elementary school teacher, serving grades 1 to 6, for over ten years in Seoul, South Korea. Her research interests include school leadership for teacher learning, the policy implementation process, and comparative perspectives on school change.

MSU offers more than 275 programs in over 60 countries around the world, allowing business students the opportunity to bring a global perspective to their bachelor's degree.

This information meeting is sponsored by the Eli Broad College of Business and will explore the many options business students have when choosing a program that fits with their course of study and major. It will particularly highlight programs sponsored by the Broad College.

Visit https://broad.msu.edu/education-abroad/  to see what Broad-sponsored programs are available.

Join us for African Alumni and students homecoming town hall hosted by the African Alumni & Friends Network! The event will be part of MSU's Homecoming celebration and an opportunity for the African alumni community to meet and interact with current students at MSU. Alumni will share their Spartan experiences and career journeys and respond to questions from students. Plan to register and join this invigorating discussion, and feel free to share the invitation with students and alumni in your network.

If you are interested in becoming involved with the African Alumni and Friends Network, please contact Damaris Choti, student and alumni engagement coordinator, at MSU's African Studies Center.

REGISTER >

Arabic language practice and culture presentations.

Join us for a Zoom webinar to learn about the Art, Food and Society program in Rome. 

This semester program satisfies IAH and ISS requirements through a series of courses specially designed to use the city of Rome as a classroom to understand Italian history, culture and society. All the courses include site visits in Rome (and beyond) that bring each subject to life. Expert local professors teach in the city's piazzas, churches, and museums, exploring many of Rome's most interesting neighborhoods.

Visit the September 30 Zoom Link to join the webinar for this program.

On Clientelism and Nationality in the Early Soviet Periphery

This talk will be based on some of the key aspects of the intersection of patron-client relations and Soviet nationality policy in the Abkhazian SSR in the 1920s and 1930s, drawn from the speaker's recent book Clientelism and Nationality in an Early Soviet Fiefdom: The Trials of Nestor Lakoba (Routledge, 2021). 

Timothy K. Blauvelt is Professor of Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies at Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia, and is also Regional Director for the South Caucasus for American Councils for International Education. He has a PhD in Political Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and has lived and worked in Georgia (and also in Russia and Ukraine) for the past two decades.  He has published several dozen peer reviewed articles and book chapters on Soviet, Russian and Caucasus history and politics, and is the co-editor (with Jeremy Smith) of Georgia after Stalin: Nationalism and Soviet Power published by Routledge in 2016, and (with Adrian Brisku) of The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic of 1918: Federal Aspirations, Geopolitics and National Projects, published by Routledge in 2021.