Friday, February 24, 2012

Call For Papers

Hey guys!

Once again apologies for the inconsistent updates; grad school can really be a time drain. Woubze and Danielle have recently finished up putting together the call for papers for our conference below is a copy of the call:



The African Activist Association at UCLA
Invites you to submit abstracts for the
7th Annual African Studies
Graduate Student Symposium
May 18-19, 2012
“The Business of Africa”
Deadline for Submissions: April 15, 2012
The purpose of the conference is to address the different aspects of the business that is Africa. Though this is a vast topic the aim of the conference is to start a dialogue between different disciplines on the impacts of business in the continent. Business can be defined loosely, for example we hope to engage educators on the business of education, or spark discussion between economists and anthropologists on the impacts of new markets in growing urban capitals of Africa. Ask political scientists to analyze the privatization of public goods. Look to public health scholars on the distribution of medicine and access to education on disease prevention. What has been the impact of social media? How has the vast distribution of cell phones affected rural communities? All topics relating to the interaction of markets with communities on the continent are welcome.
Eligibility: Undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, post-doctoral students, lecturers, professors, activists and practitioners are urged to make submissions. Papers and presentations on topics related to Africa and the African Diaspora in all disciplines and from all institutions, programs and organizations will be considered.
Abstracts and papers must be submitted in English. Individual presentations may not exceed 15 minutes.
Please submit abstract of 250 – 500 words by email to africanactivists@gmail.com or else mail to the address below no later than April 15, 2012. The body of the email/letter should contain the title of the presentation, your name, institutional affiliation, address, email address, and phone number. The abstract should be sent as a Microsoft Word attachment. Participants will be notified of acceptance via email. We look forward to hearing from you.
African Activist Association
The James S. Coleman African Studies Center
University of California, Los Angeles
10244 Bunche Hall
P.O. Box 951310
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1310

Aside from that here is a fun news story about a circus in Morocco
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/02/201221212481714553.html

Friday, February 10, 2012

Hey all,
Sorry about not updating last week midterms got a bit hectic; speaking of hectic...here is an excellent (and short) documentary about the current situation in Senegal:
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/01/20121308524612601.html

We are still trying to figure out which film to screen next, but if you are hankering for African films right now; check out:





http://2012.paff.org/

Ok well that is it for this week enjoy the weekend and a happy early valentines day to all of you