African Diplomatic Forum 2009: “Transitions & Transformation in Africa: The Cases of Ghana, Guinea, Kenya and Rwanda”

Date: Friday, November 20, 2009
Time: 1:00-6:00pm
Location: Columbia Law School, Jerome Green Hall, Room 106
 
The African Diplomatic Forum (ADF) is an annual conference that
gathers African diplomats, academics, students and activists to
discuss the continent’s interests and role in international affairs.
 
The ADF includes two topic-specific panels featuring African diplomats and experts on African affairs:
 
Panel I: “Political and Economic Development and the Question of
Transfers of Power: The Cases of Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda”
This panel seeks to discuss the impact of political and economic
development on transfers of power in Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda. These three countries have been selected in order to generate insights on different circumstances and to ask what lessons can be shared more
broadly on the African continent. This panel will combine expertise on
African political institutions and political economy to tie together
the cases of Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda and broadly on the topic of
transfers of power.
 
Panel II: “Military Rule, Human Rights Abuses and Elections: Guinea’s
Quest for a Peaceful Transition”
With the recent political unrest and human rights abuses in Guinea,
there has been much debate about whether this situation warrants
international or regional intervention. This panel will seek to
combine panelists’ regional expertise and understanding of issues of
political transitions to provide a unique and comprehensive point of
view from which to discuss the regional implications of Guinea’s
political transition, and the ways in which to ensure that this
process culminates in the most beneficial and peaceful outcomes to
all.
 
Co-sponsored by the  Columbia University Institute of African
Studies, the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Pan-African Network and the African Law Student Association.

For more information, please visit:
http://ias.columbia.edu/events/eventsf09.html#afridiplo

ALSA is welcoming its new board and kicking off a great new school year. After a tremendous turnout at a Dinner Orientation Gathering in Harlem and a Joint Bar Review Educational Session, plans remain in the works for future events.

Thus far, plans for the semester include: a “Lunch and Learn Speaker Series” on issues pertaining to the continent, a movie night featuring a Nollywood film and educational events featuring partnerships with other Columbia Law School Student groups.

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On September 19, ALSA also partnered with Columbia’s Latino/a Law Student Assocation and other Columbia identity groups to host Columbia’s first Law School Admissions Conference for People of Color.  The Conference, designed to provide tips and resources to individuals thinking about attending law school, was a huge success — thanks in large part to our volunteers and sponsors!

ALSA would especially like to thank Debevoise and Plimption LLP and Linklaters LLP for their generous contributions to the Law School Admissions Conference For People of Color.  Their contributions helped make the conference a success!

School health as an investment in education: malaria prevention programs in Kenya and the Gambia.
Date: April 8th, 2009. Time: 12:15-2:00pm
Venue:  305 Russell Hall,
Teachers College, Columbia University

Speaker: Matthew Jukes, Assistant Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Matthew Jukes’ research aims to improve children’s learning in developing countries. He is interested in impact of health, culture and home environment on children’s learning. Much of his work has involved the use of randomized trials to assess education interventions. There has also been a particular focus on the evaluation of school health programs. These programs aim to improve children’s learning through the treatment and prevention of common conditions such as worm infections, malaria and iron deficiency. This work is described in a recent book: Health, Nutrition and Education for All: Leveling the Playing Field. In addition to the geographical focus on East Africa, Matthew has also conducted work in the Gambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines.

he Dr. Calvin Martin Memorial Scholarship Trust Fund Inc, a non-profit charitable organization, was named in memory of its founder Dr. Calvin Martin. His passion was a love for education. He fulfilled this by demonstrating his pedagogical skills as a teacher and administrative skills as a New York City Public School Principal.

His career allowed him to develop a unique perspective on the American Education System.

The mission of the Scholarship Trust Fund is to educate African American Male Students through a scholar and mentorship program, to achieve higher academic excellence.

The scholarships are available to students who demonstrate high academic achievements in high schools, colleges/and or universities. They must be born in the USA and reside in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The amount of $100,000 will be awarded each year in scholarships. A maximum of $10,000 will be awarded each year per student who is attending a four-year college or university program/or graduate school.

Applicants must choose a major in the following field: education, business, law, medicine, architecture, engineering and creative arts.

Applicants must be unmarried and between the ages of sixteen (16), through twenty-five (25) years old. (Please note that these scholarships are available to African American males only).
General Information

• The deadline for submission of scholarship applications is May 15^th.
• Applications can be obtained through a counselor in the Financial Aid Office of your learning institution.
• All applications and submitted materials become the property of Dr. Calvin Martin Memorial Scholarship Fund and will not be returned.
• Applicants may be born in any of the fifty, (50) states, but must demonstrate legal residence in the Tri-State of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut at the time of applying for scholarships.
• Applicants who are awarded scholarships will be notified in writing.

Application Process

• Applicants must submit with their applications all required supporting documentation and an essay or letter describing what they are currently studying.
• A copy of your college transcript must be submitted and sealed by the bursar’s office. (Transcript must show a 3.5 GPA each year, to remain in the scholarship program).
• A photocopy of your birth certificate verifying birth in the United States of America and a photograph of applicant.
• Proof of legal residence in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut at least one year prior to application.
• All contacts must be with your counselor, who is the liaison between you and CMMSTF Scholarship Committee.
• Telephone and/or in-person interview may be necessary as part of the final selection process, by the CMMSTF, Scholarship Committee.

The estate of Dr Calvin Martin was bequeathed to the Dr. Calvin Martin Scholarship Trust Fund Inc, a non-profit charitable organization and not to any individual, school, college or university.

Ten schools have been selected to administer these scholarships to recipients, of the scholarship trust fund awards.

The CMMSTF Scholarship Committee reserves the right to add or cancel any school/colleges/universities from the CMMSTF approved list, at anytime and without notice.

Tuesday, April 7 | DINNER/DISCUSSION | 745pm-9pm | Malcolm X Lounge
We will discuss the use of African-American English in Robert
Alexander’s play “I AIN’T YO’ UNCLE: The New Jack Revisionist Uncle
Tom’s Cabin.”

Friday, April 10 | SEMESTER GROUP OUTING | Apollo Theatre
We will see Jessica Care Moore’s play “God is not an American”: Meet
in the X Lounge at 7pm before walking to Apollo Theatre. Show starts
at 7:45pm. Tickets cost $15. FREE FOOD in the X Lounge after the show.

Tuesday, April 14 | GENERAL BODY MEETING | 745pm-9pm | 607 Butler Library
Ever heard of the African Studies Reading Room? Dr. Yuusef Caruso,
African Studies Librarian, will discuss African Studies Library
Resources at Columbia University. Followed by DINNER and a POETRY
READING.

Questions? Email cu.adls@gmail.com

When: April 17th 6:00-8:30pm

Where: Einstein Auditorium, NYU Steinhardt Department of Art & Art Professions, 34 Stuyvesant St., Barney Building, Ground Floor

Space is limited: Please RSVP now: http://wagner.nyu.edu/events

Special Guest Speakers:

Awam Amkpa, PhD. Filmmaker, author, and Chair of NYU Africana Studies. Organizer of Real Life: Pan African Festival of Documentary Films, and the Kofi Ghanaba musical archive in Ghana. He will show excerpts from his new documentary film on West African artists.

Ross Bleckner, MFA. Renowned artist, whose works are held in prominent public collections throughout the globe, including MoMA, MoCA, Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He is a Clinical Professor at NYU Steinhardt’s Art Department. Mr. Bleckner will present paintings made by former child soldiers during his workshop in Uganda, where he has recently been appointed the first Artist Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations.

Djibril Diallo, PhD. Lon. As Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Dr. Diallo helps advance the priority of universal access to HIVA/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. Dr. Diallo also serves as the chair of the Leadership Committee for the U.S. Launch of FESMAN 2009 (the World Festival of Black Arts 2009), which will be held in Senegal in December 2009, offering an opportunity to strengthen the role of the arts in promoting development and peace. He is also the co-Chair of the World Affairs Taskforce of the U.S.-based National Association of Black Journalists, and is a Board Member of All for Africa, a U.S. non-governmental organization promoting African development, and the Africa Centre in London.

Columbia University Seminar on Studies in Contemporary Africa
presents

SAVIORS AND SURVIVORS: A DISCUSSION ABOUT DARFUR

Thursday, March 26, 2009
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Social Hall
Union Theological Seminary
3041 Broadway at 121st Street
New York, New York

A conversation around the book Saviors and Survivors: Darfur,
Politics, and the War on Terror, by Mahmood Mamdani, published in
March 2009 by Pantheon.

Speakers:
– Khaled Fahmy, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, New
York University
– Amir Idris, Assistant Professor of History, Fordham University
– Mahmood Mamdani, Professor of Government and Anthropology,
Columbia University
– Peter Rosenblum, Clinical Professor of Human Rights, School of
Law, Columbia University

Co-sponsored by the Institute of African Studies

For more Institute of African Studies Events, please go to:

http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/ias/index.html

The Institute of African Studies present a book discussion of
Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the
Americas, 1585-1660 with co-authors Linda Heywood and John Thornton

Date: March 25th, 2009
Time: 3-5pm
Location: Philosophy Lounge

This book establishes Central Africa as the origin of most Africans
brought to English and Dutch American colonies in North America, the
Caribbean, and South America in their formative period before 1660. It
reveals that Central Africans were frequently possessors of an
Atlantic Creole culture that included adaptation of Christianity and
elements of European language, especially names and material culture.
It places the movement of slaves and creation of the colonies within
an Atlantic historical framework, including showing interactions among
Africa, Europe, and all of the Americas.

It explores the development of attitudes toward race, slavery, and freedom as
they developed in the colonies of England and the Netherlands, and it
revises earlier discussions on these issues. The book suggests ways in which
this generation of Africans helped lay the foundations for subsequent
development of African-American culture in all the colonies of these
countries.

Linda Heywood is a professor of African History and the History of the
African Diaspora at Boston University.  She is the author of Contested
Power in Angola, editor of and contributor to Central Africans
Cultural Transformations in the American Diaspora, and co-author with
John Thornton of Central African, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation
of America (Cambridge University Press, July, 2007), winner of the
Herskovits Prize.  Her articles on Angola and the African Diaspora
have appeared in The Journal of African History, Journal of Modern
African Studies, Slavery and Abolition, and the Journal of Southern
African Studies.

She has served as a consultant for numerous museum exhibitions,
including African Voices at the Smithsonian Institution, Against Human
Dignity sponsored by the Maritime Museum, and the new exhibit at
Jamestown. She was also one of the history consultants and appeared in
the PBS series African American Lives (2006) and Finding Oprah?s Roots
(2007).  She is writing a biography of Queen Njinga.

John K. Thornton is Professor of African American Studies and History
at Boston University.  He received his BA from the University of
Michigan (1971) and MA and PhD from UCLA (1972, 1979).