Undergraduate & Graduate Students

Who typically concentrates in undergraduate African Studies courses? As the following chart indicates, those taking at least 15 hours in the African Studies Core may be majors in one of several dozen departments and professional schools.

This category of students seriously interested in African studies, but graduating in other departments and schools across the university, is the focus of a Certificate Program in African Studies in the final stages of approval. The Certificate program highlights advising this diverse group of undergraduates with a common interest. Advisers in or affiliated with the KASC, course concentrations, capstone exercises, and emphasis on languages will broaden and strengthen the group of undergraduate students pursuing African studies.

The interests of our graduate students span many disciplines, for the 2006-2007 academic year, there were the following interests between the 13 students seeking a Masters Degree and 11 students seeking thier PhD:

M.A. & Ph.D Recipients 2006-2007

Dan C. Fullerton. Bright prospects, bleak realities: The United States Army's interwar modernization program for the coming of the Second World War. Ph.D History, Spring 2007.

Sarah Smiley. Patterns of Urban Life and Urban Segregation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. PhD Geography, 2007

Hilary Hungerford. Onitsha Market Literature and Negotiations of Modernity in Nigeria. MA Geography, 2007

M.A. & Ph.D Recipients 2005-2006

Kenneth Shelton Aikins. Local social networks and decentralization in Ghana. MA in African Studies, 2007.

Catherine Wiegand. Asparagus (Asparagaceae) nrDNA ITS phylogeny of South Africa. MA in African Studies, 2006.

Raymond Agyemang. Democracy in Africa, the Ghanaian model: A case study of the possibliites of successful democracy in Africa. MA in African Studies, 2006.

Mame Selbee Diouf. Intersections of race and gender in three black women's texts. Ph.D in English, 2006.

Farah H. Alenezi. Formal constraints on Arabic/English code-switching: A lexically-based approach. Ph.D in Linguistics, 2006.

Usibaka Efugbaike Ajayi. Identity, immigration, and religion: Young African Christians in the Midwest. MA in African Studies, 2006.

Mark D. Hersey. "My work is that of conservation": The environmental vision of George Washington Carver. Ph.D in History, 2006

Lindsay Aileen Barnes. Sayyid Qutb: "Pious hero of Islam"* or terrorist theoretician? MA in African Studies, 2006.

Kelsey Dawn Needham. The role of beer in Karimojong society. MA in African Studies, 2006.

M.A. & Ph.D Recipients 2005-2006

Craig Scandrett-Leathermann. Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus: Afro-Pentecostalism in the Church of God in Christ . PhD Anthropology, August 2005. Advisor: John Janzen.

Edward Mara. UN Peacekeeping in Rwanda . MA in International Studies. August 2005. Advisor: Garth Myers.

Irene Posh,. Girl's School, Western Kenya . Ph D Communications Studies, August 2005. Advisor: Dorthy Pennington.

M.A. & Ph.D Recipients 2004-2005

Khalid Alowain M.A., Museum Studies, August, 2004. Non-thesis digital project on "The Baggara of the Sudan " the Barbara Michael Collection at the KU Museum of Anthropology. Adviser: John M. Janzen

Alassane Fall. M.A., International Studies. August, 2004. Senegal Between France and the United States of America . Foreign Policy, Cooperatrion and Conflict. Adviser: Theodore Wilson.

Cameron K. McCormick, PhD in Geography 2004. Geography of Rural Water Development in Northern Cameroon . Advisor: Garth Myers NS /G (Studied Kiswahili, 110)

Julie Morris, MA in Geography August 2004. Colonial Ambivalence and Women's Negotiated Moralities on the Zambian Copperbelt. Advisor: Garth Myers

Nadine Semaan Abou Fayssal. The Role of Islamic fundamentalism in the Obstruction of Democracy in the Middle East : Case Studies: Turkey , Iran , and Egypt . M.A. International Studies, December 2004.

C. Drew Bednasek. B ritish Colonial Geographies of Africa in the Early Twentieth Century . M.A., Geography. May 2005.

Marianne Natabhona Mabachi. HIV/AIDS in Africa : A Discursive Perspective . M.A. Communications Studies. May 2005.

Danielle d'Aun Monty-Mara. Deconstructing the Debt Debate: Understanding the Failure of the heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa . M.A. International Studies. May 2005.

Maisoun Ismail Moh'd Abu-Joudeh. Multiple Accusative-Constructions in Modern Standard Arabic: A Minimalist Approach . PhD Linguistics. May 2005. Adviser: Sara Rosen.

Amy M. Fowler. The Visual Rhetoric of Colonization: A Historiography of Representations of the Congo Free State . PhD History of Art, May 2005. Advisor: Stephen Goddard.

Nora Moh'd Shtewi Onizan. Functions of Negation in Arabic Literary Discourse. PhD Linguistics, May 2005. Advisor: Clifton Pye.

M.A. & Ph.D Recipients 2003-2004

Roy Alan Dietzman, Jr. M.A. International Studies, August 2003. Forty-Two Years of Peacekeeping: A Review of Senegalese Participation in Peacekeeping Missions.

Matthew Tyler Gillett. M.A. Religious Studies, August 2003. Coptic Christian Papyri: Three Case Studies. Adviser: Paul Mirecki

Elizabeth Wairimu Gitau. M.A., Economics. August 2003. Non-thesis.

Angela M. Gray. M.A., Geography. August 2003. Critical Geopolitics of African Displacement. Adviser: Garth Myers.

Jeffrey W. Stansfield. M.A. International Studies, December 2003. Military Operations in Somalia 1992-1994: Did Subjective Control Cross the " Mogadishu Line?" Testing Huntington 's Theory of Civil-Military Relations. Adviser: Theodore A. Wilson.

Osama Abdel-Ghafer. Ph.D Linguistics. December 2003. Copular Constructions in Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Hebrew and English. Adviser: Sara Rosen.

Mohamed Adam Mohamed Dosi. Ph.D Geography, December 2003. Urban Growth Through Time and Space: A Study of the Role of Planners in Dealing with Urban Sprawl in Zanzibar , Tanzania . Adviser: Garth Myers.

Sarah L. Smiley, MA in Geography 2003. Differences between International Financial Institution, Non-Governmental Organization, and Ugandan Perspectives Toward the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Relief Initiative . Advisor: Garth Myers

M.A. & Ph.D Recipients 2002-2003

Olivia Ceesay, Ph.D Philosophy, August 2002. Moral Conflict, Irrational Behavior, and African Women. Adviser, John Bricke.

Nicole Ann Moeller. M.S., School of Allied Health, Dietetics & Nutrition. August 2002. The Study of the Perceived Role of Nutrition in the Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome by People in Kenya .

Mary Beth Sundal. M.A., Anthropology, December 2002. Mortality and Cause of Death among Karimojong Agropastoralists of Northeast Uganda , 1940-1999. Adviser, Sandra Gray.

Brandi Lynn Wiebusch. M.A., Anthropology, December 2002. Environmental Effects on Mixed-Longitudinal Growth in Weight of Immunized Karimojong Children . Adviser: Sandra Gray.

Michelle Edwards, M.A. Museum Studies, May 2003. Non-thesis Project on Chokwe collection Museum of Anthropology. Adviser J.M.Janzen

Abdourahmane Idrissa, M.A. Political Science, May 2003. Modern Utopia and the Colony: Controlling Maradi [ Niger ]. Adviser: Deborah Gerner

Massissou Nadab Hathoura. PhD Educational Policy & Leadership, School of Education . August, 2003. Teachers' Perspectives on Leadership Styles of Chadian Secondary School Principals. Adviser: Michael Imber.

Bob Owens. M.A., Religious Studies, May, 2003. Non-Thesis [ Religion in Middle East & North Africa ], Adviser: Margaret Rausch.

Andrea N. Hacker, "Infant Growth Patterns in Kenya." M.S., School of Allied Health, Dec. 2001.

Melissa Filippi-Franz, " Trauma as a Result of War Violence in Somali Refugees." M.A., May 2002. Adviser, John Janzen.

Nicole Ann Moeller, "The Study of the Perceived Role of Nutrition in the Treatment of HIV/AIDS by people in Kenya." M.S., School of Allied health, August 2002.

Peter Sam, "Indoor Air Pollution Assessment Within Selected Residential Areas in the Greater Accra-Tema Metropolitan Region, Ghana, West Africa." Ph.D., May 2002, Geography. Adviser, Garth Myers..

Olivia Ceesay, Moral Conflict, Irrational Behavior, and African Women. Ph.D., August, 2002. Philosophy. Adviser, John Bricke.

Karen Renee Gage, M.S., Nursing, December 2000.
An Ethnographic Study of Kenyan Female Adolescent' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Regarding HIV and AIDS.

Jill Brush, M.A., Anthropology, May 2001.
The Role of Exchange in the Formation of an Ewe Gorovodu Shrine in Southern Ghana.

Lolen Bivirka Ngong, MPH, Preventive Medicine. May 2001.
HIV/AIDS related Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Sexual Practices among Cameroonian Youth: A Pilot Study.

Pia Thielmann, Ph.D., American Studies. December 2000.
Hotbeds: Black-White Love and its Representation in Selected Contemporary Novels from U.S., Africa, and the Caribbean.

Peter Gitau, Ph.D., Educational Policy and Administration. December 2000.
Exploring the Relationships between African and African-American Undergrduates in a Midwestern University.

Sue Schuessler, Ph.D., Anthropology. May 2001.
The Children of the Crocodile: Grieving and Healing in Southwestern Zimbabwe.

Moussa Sissoko, Ph.D., American Studies. May 2001.
The Impact of the Peace Corps Experience in Returned Volunteers: A Case Study of Peace Corps Mali Returned Volunteers.

Pelle Darota Danabo, M.A., Philosophy. August 2001.
Why do projects of modernity and development fail in Sub-Saharan Africa? Reflections on Human and Philosophical Foundations.

Emad Ahmed Al-Tamari. Ph.D., Linguistics, August 2001.
Sentential Negation in English and Arabic: A Minimalist Approach. Adviser: Sara Rosen.

Shauntae, R. Brown, M.A., Communication Studies May 2000.
The Rhetoric of Preacher, Politician Emanuel Cleaver: Testing the Limits of Afrocentricity across Contexts and Audiences. Adviser: Dorthy Pennington.

M.A. & PhD Recipients 1998-99

John Howard McClendon, Ph.D., Philosophy, May 1999.
Conscientism: The Philosophy of Nkrumaism. Adviser: Ann Cudd

Maria Jesus Cabarcos Ph.D., English, August 1999.
Some Post-colonial versions of the Pastoral. Adviser: B. Caminero-Santangelo.