The African continent is home to the largest number of young people in the world—a "youth bulge" that is expected to grow in the coming decades. This interdisciplinary symposium features talks by researchers and by African youth and is designed to foster new conversations among faculty, students, and community members about issues related to youth in Africa.

Please contact Prof. Wilinski at: bethanvw(at)msu.edu for further information.

Are you interested in studying abroad? Are you eligible for Federal Pell Grants? If yes, plan to attend this meeting!  The Gilman is a national scholarship that provides winners up to $5,000 to participate in study abroad programs worldwide (up to $8,000 if you are studying a "critical needs" language).  For more information visit the Gilman webpage. 

Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, the Vice Chancellor of University of Cape Town (UCT), will visit MSU on September 16th and 17th, 2019. Prof. Phakeng's visit will focus on research collaboration opportunities in Africa and the role of data curation and repositories therein. She will engage MSU leadership on the broader question of a coordination framework for collaborative research between scholars from MSU and UCT.

All are welcome to her broad-audience lecture open to the public, on "Mobilizing data in the Transformation to a Knowledge Society".

* Venue: Radiology Building Auditorium and Atrium

* Date: Monday, Sept. 16th, 2019

* Gathering: 3:15pm-4:00pm

* Lecture: 4:00pm-5:00pm

* Reception: 5:00pm-6:30pm

* RSVP: staff(at)stt.msu.edu

"Building Community: Resisting Hate" Faculty panel

(a teach-in about white nationalism)
Monday, Sept. 16th 
Club Spartan in Case Hall, James Madison College

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Todd Cleveland holds a Ph.D. in African History from the University of Minnesota.  His research interests are broadly concentrated around the interactions between Europeans and sub-Saharan Africans during the colonial period and, in particular, labor and social relations between the Portuguese and the indigenous populations in the former's assortment of African territories. Todd's research has been focused on the history of diamond mining in Africa and on the history of soccer on the continent, and features in three books: Stones of Contention: A History of Africa's Diamonds (Ohio University Press, 2014); Diamonds in the Rough: Corporate Paternalism and African Professionalism on the Mines of Colonial Angola, 1917-1975(Ohio University Press, 2015); and Following the Ball: The Migration of African Soccer Players across the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1949-1975 (Ohio University Press, 2017).  He is currently working on two book projects that examine the history of tourism in Africa.

ABOUT THE TALK:
This paper examines the lives of African laborers in the tourism industry in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique.  In particular, I consider the indigenous guides of both hunting and "camera" safaris and the African staff who serviced the hundreds of thousands of tourists who annually descended upon the colony at an array of hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs in Mozambique's urban centers.  It was on the backs of these workers that the tourist industry in the colony was developed, a sector that as early as the 1920s had become an important source of foreign exchange for Portugal.  The study upon which this paper is based is the first to consider the daily, gendered experiences of local tourism workers in the genesis and expansion of this vital industry.  Via an examination of this sector from its origins to the conclusion of the colonial period in 1975, I argue that just as tourists exercised geographic mobility by traveling to various African stops, many indigenous laborers in the tourism industry in colonial Mozambique realized social mobility via both the steady wages that they earned and their daily interactions with sojourning clientele.  This paper explores these "mobilities" through a reconstruction of the lives of these workers and the critical contributions they made to the development of tourism in Mozambique, the "gem" of Portugal's African empire.  Ultimately, by exploring the ways that these laborers creatively exploited opportunities generated by the burgeoning industry, this project strives to prompt reconsiderations of indigenous labor and social mobility in colonial Africa, while also opening up new ways of thinking, more broadly, about tourism, cultural fluidity, and power.

This research explores how empowerment programs impact gender based violence and the social structures that lead to such violence in the first place. Drawing from interviews with former participants in empowerment programs that focus on building community leaders, the study examines how grassroots women lead interventions and the resulting effects on leaders' and survivors' lives. Findings suggest that although most survivors had displayed some agency in independently resisting violence, their efforts are effective when coupled with a support network and access to resources. With the intervention of leaders, the survivors were able to better negotiate for justice with a renewed sense of agency. For the leaders, participation in programs gave them an identity independent from their status within the family. They promoted change by developing independent innovative intervention strategies that worked despite the tight structural constraints of gendered norms.

Do you want to participate in an education abroad program but are not sure how to pay for it? The Office for Education Abroad and the Office of Financial Aid have teamed up to off­er you a workshop on finding funding for education abroad. Come learn about scholarships, financial aid and creative ways of financing! For more information visit the EA funding webpage.

Join us for OISS Weekly Coffee Hour! It's a great place to make friends, network, be involved and start the weekend. And free coffee and tea are always provided!

Students, faculty, visitors and members of the community from and with interest in Africa are invited to this fun-filled event to welcome new students, faculty and visitors to the MSU community.

Plan to come and connect with new and old friends; enjoy African food, fun games & activities for adults and children and African music by DJ Mussa Maingu

*Cherry Lane South Field (West of Holden Hall)

"From Gandhi to Savarkar:
The 2019 Elections and the Changing Idea of India"
Mohammed Ayoob
University Distinguished Professor Emeritus
International Relations

September 24, 4:00 pm, 303 International Center.

Dr. Ayoob holds a joint appointment in James Madison College and the Department of Political Science. He is also the Founder and former coordinator of the Muslim Studies Program housed in International Studies and Programs. A specialist on conflict and security in the Third World, his publications on the subject have included conceptual essays as well as case studies dealing with South Asia, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf, and Southeast Asia. He has also researched, taught and published on the intersection of religion and politics in the Muslim world.  He has authored, co-authored, or edited 13 books and published over 90 research papers and scholarly articles in leading journals such as World Politics, International Studies Quarterly, and International Studies Review.