During the 2007 Program, Africa – the Sub-Sahara, the faculty assigned several short papers and one major interdisciplinary research project. This final project was the culmination of the Scholar's experience.
ART & ARCHITECTURE
SOLOMON KUVINYU LOSHA
Nova Southeastern University doctoral student
M.A., B.A. in Sociology, specialty in African culture
University of Yaounde, Cameroon
During Art and Architecture lectures and seminars, scholars were introduced to the theoretical bases of the artistic and architectural works of the peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa. Within this theoretical framework, we situated the art and architecture of Sub-Saharan Africa in its historical and cultural context of a ‘triple heritage’ (i.e. the trilogy of indigenous, Islamic and western civilizations). We examined arts as a mediator of culture in sub-Saharan Africa with focus on issues of fertility, motherhood, kingship, initiation, scarification and rituals. Two cases of classical arts in Sub-Saharan Africa, the rock art of the Sans of Southern Africa and the Gold Weight arts of the Ashanti kingdom of Ghana, were studied. We established the case for functionality and aesthetics as inherent features of the art of Sub-Saharan Africa vis-à-vis the western aesthetic art concept of ‘art for art seek’ and also examined the situation of art in Sub-Saharan Africa with regards to the history of contact with non African others (Arabs and Europeans). Finally, We looked into the role of arts with regards to contemporary issues of development in the sub-continent, and examined the challenges and potentials of art and architecture as instruments of development. Scholars were also introduced to music, dance and dress styles as cultural forms of expression and as markers of social space in the Sub-Continent.
Christopher D. Conte — How Did Colonialism Affect African Art?
Salma Dawlatzai —What Effect Has Islam Had on Sub-Saharan Art and Architecture?
Joshua L. Fainsod — Out With the Old, In With the New: A Documentation of How Outside Influences Changed the San People of the Kalahari Desert.
Ikodiya K. Iroha —In What Ways Do Contemporary African Film and Music Challenge and Interrogate Historical Representations of Africa and Africans?
Natasha M. Pereira — How Are Women Depicted In Traditional and Contemporary African Art, and How Have Feminist Movements Influenced These Depictions?
Adrienne H. Spiegel — Photography From Colonial Africa: Black and White Images and Black and White Social Dynamics.
Robert D. Stewart —How has Islam Affected Sub-Saharan African Architecture?
Brandon C. Thompson — Questioning the Belief That African art is Primitive Art.
Pooja Yerramilli —The Effects Of Film On the World Perception Of Africans.
ENVIRONMENT
BENJAMIN D. NEIMARK
ABD at Rutgers State University
M.S. Cornell University
B.S. State University of New York at Buffalo
In the program, the New Jersey Scholars engaged in a survey concerning Africa and the Environment. The five distinct lectures and nine seminars illuminated key interests and issues of long-term environmental processes spanning pre-historic Africa to the present, including overviews of climate change and major bio-physical and anthropomorphic environmental dynamics. The course highlighted the human dimensions and drivers of environmental change such as agrarian and urban society’s impact on desertification, deforestation and reforestation, and reviewed regions of scarcity and plenty- biodiversity, drought and natural resource extraction. The group went on a virtual safari focusing on the history and politics of African wildlife and engaged in issues of biodiversity conservation, national parks and protected area management. As well, the group challenged contemporary environment and development frameworks which form the nexus of health, wealth, nature and power policies and practices in Africa i.e., ecotourism and other environmental valuation schemes. We concluded with some of Africa’s chances and challenges as well as opportunities and possibilities for a better future.
Eric G. Christodoulatos — How Has the Copper Industry in Zambia Affected the Environment, Politics, Economy and Foreign Relations in the Nation?
Anthony M. Ficarra —How has the Presences of African Mega Fauna Affected African Development, Specifically Tourism and Its Effect On Developing Nations?
Meghan J. Friedman —How Have Environmental Conditions Affected Gender Roles in Sub-Saharan Africa?
David A. Gold — What Role Do the Entheogenic Properties of Ibogaine Play in the Bwiti Religion?
Audrey A. Jenkins — How Did Environmental Factors of the Congo Forest Area Affect the Process and Rate of Assimilation of the Mbuti Pygmies to Colonial Influences (Disturbance of Their Traditions) and How Has This Effect Lasted to the Present?
Eric R. Karpas — How Has the Discovery of Oil in African Countries Led to a Narrowing of Industries Working With Them (With Special Reference to Gabon)?
Jacob I. Lavenhar —How Do Diamonds Play Into the Civil Conflicts in Sierra Leone?
Patricia A. Laverty — How Are Statistical Interpretations Of Climate Change on Mt. Kilimanjaro Misleading and How Can We Determine Which Information Is Skewed?
Matthew B. Sumner — What Role Did Resources Play In the Development and Success of the Resistance Movement of the Mau Mau In Kenya?
Mark Zhang —What Are the Social, Economic, Political and Environmental Factors That Have Resulted From The Extraction Of Oil From Post-Colonial Nigeria?
HISTORY & POLITICS
AGYA BOAKYE-BOATEN
Ph.D. Cultural Studies, Ohio University
M.A. Political Science and African Studies, Ohio University
Since the 26th of June, 2007, I have been privileged to be an Instructor at the New Jersey Scholar Program, facilitating lectures and seminars on Sub-Saharan African History and Politics. My source of excitement has been the display of intellectual prowess by the scholars and their ability to comprehend some of the complex issues facing Sub-Saharan Africa. Among other things, we have been examining Pre-Colonial Africa, which examined the historical and political development before colonial engagement, Slavery & Colonialism, the first for Liberation, Post-Colonial Africa and how Sub-Saharan Africa fit with the scheme of globalization. During these weeks, I pushed students towards a more critical discourse, and a more holistic approach when examining the current issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. The seminars particularly helped the students to formulate and articulate their views in a scholarly fashion. By activating prior knowledge scholars where able to make the necessary linkages, and also question the basis of their thinking. Most important was the level of intellectual creativity exhibited by scholars in advancing some practical suggestions for evaluating the problems confronting Sub-Saharan Africa. I am happy to acknowledge that the experience was not only worthwhile for the scholars, but it has also renewed my optimism about Sub-Saharan African. I leave this experience knowing that there are some scholars who continue to advocate for a better consideration of the issues confronting Sub-Saharan Africa.
Arun S. Avva — How Could the Current Conflict In Sudan Progress?
Daniel Y. Choi — Do Cultural and Political Factors Proliferate or Stem the AIDS Epidemic? (A Comparative Analysis of Uganda and Kenya)
Lauren P. Fedor — What Political, Economic and Social Changes Did Wangari Maathai Inspire? How Did the Influence of This Kenyan Activist Affect the Sub-Sahara In General and Women In Particular?
Wislande Guillaume — Has Christianity Been Used As An Instrument of Domination In Africa? (With Special Reference to African History And Literature).
Kevin L. Huang — Why have international environmental agreements failed to properly address African environmental concerns?
Maxwell J. Lasky — How has the World Bank and the IMF Affected Development in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Nicholas Liu — What Factors Led to the Blurring of Ethnic Divisions in Nigeria That in Turn Aided the Peaceful Transition of Presidential Power Despite Glaring Faults in the Electoral System?
Chetachi Odelugo — What Were the Effects of Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism on Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Gregory Williams — What Were the Environmental, Political and Economic Influences That Led to the Perpetration of the Wonga Coup in Equitorial Guinea?
LITERATURE
KHADIDIATOU GUÈYE
Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University
M.A. at Cheik Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
The interdisciplinary scope of the New Jersey Scholars Program has enabled me to sketch connections and linkages between literature, politics, history, environment, art, and architecture with a view to underscoring the humanistic fiber of literature. I specifically set as my goal the immersion of students from various backgrounds into the rich, diverse, intriguing, and complex corpus of literary productions by male and female writers from Sub-Saharan Africa. Through different genres including autobiography, play, poetry, and epic, thematically and stylistically capturing the socio-cultural specificities of different parts of Africa, we embarked on a culturally flavorful and historically determined journey from pre-colonial to post-colonial Africa. The clashes between African traditionalism and European colonialism, the lingering effects of colonialism on postcolonial African societies, the complex literary negotiations coupled with ambivalent discursive challenges of postcolonial African women, to name a few, generated spirited discussions amongst scholars. For the improvement of their critical engagement with literary texts, my mantra has been incessantly problematization and historical contextualization. These help avoid dwelling on sweeping generalizations and fossilizing African realities and identities in an unchanging dynamic.
Michelle G. Adler — How Has Colonialism and Neo-Colonialism Affected the African Cultural Identity as Shown by Things Fall Apart and I Will Marry When I Want ?
Alexander C. Benz — A Tool of Subordination: Christianity in Colonial and Neocolonial Africa.
Marina Ermakova — Beti, Laye, and Achebe’s Presentation of Indigenous Culture.
Jiseung Han — How Are African Collectivism and European Individualism Conveyed in African Literature, What Environmental Factors Contributed to This Divergence During the Pre-Colonialist Era, and How Did It Ultimately Determine the Outcome Of Their Interaction?
Sarah Leung — The Truth and A Story: The Portrayal Of The African Identity.
Taylor C. Leyden — What Are The Effects of Christianity in Colonial and Neocolonial Sub-Saharan African Societies?
Ishhani N. Sandesara — The Impact of Post-Colonialism on Women’s Rights.
Darina A. Shtrakhman — Representations of Africans in American Films: Stopping Stereotypes.
Elizabeth C. Stainton — The Struggle of African Women Writers.
Séjour B. Stephens — Colonialism’s Effects on African Culture and Women’s Rights.
Zakiyyah J. Wiley — The History of the System of Apartheid and Its Effects on South African Literature.