WELCOME NEW AFRICANISTS AT KU

On September 6, 2001, the ASRC organized a welcome reception for an impressive group of new Africanist faculty and graduate student at KU. We would like here to welcome the new Africanists and introduce them to our wider audience.

Glenn Adams is a newly arrived Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at KU. His introduction to Africa came as a Peace Corps Volunteer, when he worked for 3 years as a secondary school math teacher in a small town in northeast Sierra Leone. Since then he has returned to West Africa twice-in particular, Ghana-to conduct field research.

When he returned from the Peace Corps, Dr. Adams enrolled in the Ph.D. program in social psychology at Stanford University. As he progressed through graduate school, he increasingly noticed a gap in psychological theory and research regarding the phenomenon of culture. Not only was there little recognition or concern for the possibility of cultural differences in psychological functioning. In addition, there was little concern for the psychological aspects of cultural phenomena. More generally, the psychology that he was learning seemed to have limited relevance and applicability for everyday realities in places like Sierra Leone.

Observations like these are what motivated Glenn Adams to conduct field research in Ghana. Soon after he arrived, he noticed the phenomenon that would become his dissertation topic: a prominent concern with enemyship - a personal relationship of hatred, malice, and harm-in social discourse, cultural practices, and material realities of many Ghanaian settings. This prominence contrasts with the near absence of enemyship, both as a topic of study in the science of Psychology and in the psychological experience of the mainstream American undergraduates who disproportionately inform the science of Psychology. Dr. Adams' research has traced these differences in the prominence of enemyship to different constructions of personal relationship that prevail in these settings. Specifically, his research links the prominent concern with enemyship in many West African settings to a conceptual and material reality of inherent connection in which relationship, including enemyship, is built into the natural order. Similarly, his research links the near-absence of enemyship from mainstream American settings to a conceptual and material reality of inherent separation in which interpersonal connection, including enemyship, is the voluntary, optional product of "prior" individuals.

In his ongoing work, Dr. Adams continues to conduct research that compares personal relationship phenomena in a variety of Ghanaian and American settings. He has expanded his focus from enemyship to other forms of personal relationship: friendship, kinship, romantic relationship, and personal relationship processes, in general. Glenn will present his work on "The Collective Construction of Personal Relationship" to the Brown Bag forum on March 7 at Alcove C, the Kansas Union.

Besides these "African Studies" projects, Dr. Adams also conducts research within the US on the perception of prejudice, discrimination and racism. On one hand, this research considers the factors that influence whether a person will perceive an ambiguous event as the result of racism. On the other hand, this research considers the consequences of the suspicion of prejudice for performance and social interaction outcomes. Dr. Adams welcomes anyone who wants to discuss issues at the intersection of cultural, psychological, and African Studies. He can be found in 418 Fraser Hall, phone 864-9481, email adamsg@ku.edu.

Elizabeth MacGonagle joins the Department of History and the Department of African & African American Studies, with a specialty in the history of the Ndau of Mozambique. Elizabeth was featured in the spring newsletter.
Margaret Rausch, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies joined KU this fall, replaces Professor Fatima Harrak who returned to Morocco. She teaches 'Living Religions of the West (107) and Studies in Islam: Sufism (532). Margaret received her doctorate in Islamic Studies from the Free University of Berlin in 1997 and her Master's degree in Middle Eastern History from the Ohio State University in 1982 and a Bachelors in French Language and Literature from the Ohio State University, 1977. Her research interests include Moroccan women and religious expression, women in Islam, women and religion, mystical Islam, and Islamist movements. Dr. Rausch has done extensive traveling and research in Northern Africa and the Middle East. In 2001 she won a Koeber Foundation fieldwork grant to study women singers in Casablanca, Morocco and the transformation of their societal boundaries. In 1999-2000 she was offered a Multi-Country Research Grant of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers to explore Freelance Women Singers in Cairo and Casablanca. She also won a dissertation grant offered by the Women's Research Program in Berlin, Germany to write her thesis on the topic of 'Spirit Possession and the Renegotiations of Gender Roles and Power Relations', and before that a Ph.D. Grant from the Graduate Student Program at Berlin, Germany. Margaret either speaks or familiar with different African, European, and Middle Eastern languages that include Arabic, Turkish, Persian, German, French, and Tashilhit Berber. She is professionally affiliated to the Middle East Studies Association and American Middle Eastern Women Society. Her recent publications include 'Bodies, Boundaries and Spirit Possession: Moroccan Women and the Revision of Tradition, Singing in Celebration', 'Women's Agency and the Revision of Boundaries: Spirit Possession in Casablanca', and 'the Female Body, Gender Roles and Ritual. Women and Spirit Possession in Casablanca.'

Clarence Henry, Assistant Professor of Music History, received his doctorate in 2000 from the University of California at Los Angeles. He earned his master's degree in education at Columbia University and two bachelor's degrees from the University of Houston. He came to KU from Indiana State University where he was an Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology and African-American studies. His areas of specialization are music of Africa, Latin American musical culture, and cross-cultural musical aesthetics. Clarence will discuss "The Influence of African Music in the African Diaspora" in the African Studies Spring Brown Bag on Thursday, April 25, 2002.

Craig Pearman is the new Administrative Specialist for the African Studies Resource Center. He was born in McPherson, Kansas where his father was a Certified Public Accountant with the firm of Emery, Pearman, and Stuart. He graduated from McPherson High School and received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Wichita State University. He is currently a graduate student at Emporia State University working on his Masters of Library Science degree and will graduate in 2 ½ years. He is married to the former Shelia Whitlow, who is originally from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She is a graduate of Green County High School in Greensburg, Kentucky and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Public Relations from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Craig's nine-year-old son, Russell, attends fourth grade at McClure Grade School in Topeka, Kansas. Craig is an avid reader and likes to attend many sporting events in person or watch them on television. Craig also enjoys reading history and going to history museums. His other great hobby interest is model railroading. He is greatly interested in the programs of the center as well as the people that are a part of the center itself. Craig helped organizing African Studies conferences and seminars for fall semester. He also helped in updating the accounting duties of the center, clerical work of the center, supervising student workers, and monitoring the center's Internet e-mail account. Craig enjoys his work greatly and looks forward to serving anyone who stops by the center that needs his help. He is a great addition to the center team that promotes the study of Africa on the campus of the University of Kansas.

Egodi Uchendu is a new Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the Department of Women's Study at K.U. She teaches History at the University of Nigeria.. Her research interest is on Women in Anioma and she presented this research topic on MAAAS annual meeting and for the African Studies Brownbag series. Her presentation is reviewed elsewhere in this newsletter.

Alassane Fall, joined KU this fall as an instructor of Wolof and graduate students in International Studies. Alassane got his M.A. and B. A degrees in Political Science, specializing in international relations from Gaston Berger University of Saint -Louis, Senegal in 2000 and 1999 respectively. His Master's thesis is entitled 'Co-operation between Senegal and North American Countries: Canada and the United States of America.' His research interests include: north-south relationships and cooperation between North America and Sub-Saharan Africa particularly Francophone regions. Alassane either speaks or is familiar with Wolof, French, English, and Spanish.

Araba Sey is a PhD student at the Department of Communication Studies. She has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Ghana and Masters degrees in Communication Studies and Media Management from the University of Ghana and the University of Stirling respectively. Her current interests are in broadcasting and culture, media policy and media institutions. Araba's presentation on "Broadcasting and Culture in Ghana" is reviewed in the following section of this newsletter.