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VOLUME XXV JULY/SEPTEMIER 1992

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ASA OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 1992

OFFICERS President: Edmond J. Keller (UCLA) Vice-President: David Robinson (Michigan State

Univ.) Past President: Martin A. Klein (Univ. of Toronto) Treasurer: Joseph C. Miller (University of Virginia) Executive Director: Edna G. Bay (Emory Univ.)

DIRECTORS RETIRING IN 1992

Carol M. Eastman (University of Washington) Christraud M. Geary (National Museum of African Art) Sandra Greene (Cornell University)

RETIRING IN 1993 Joel D. Barkan (University of Iowa, USAID) Beverly Grier (Clark University) Goran Hyden (University of Florida)

RETIRING IN 1994 Donald Crummey (University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign) Gwendolyn Mikell (Georgetown University) Gretchen Walsh (Boston University)

ASA News, Vol. XXV, No.3, July/Sept. 1992 ISSN 0278-2219 Editor: EdnaG. Bay

Editing and Layout: Beth Pearce

Published quarterly by the African Studies Association.

Contributions to ASA News should be sent to ASA News. Credit Union Building, Emory University, Atlanta., Georgia 30322. Deadlines for contributions are December 1, March I, June 1, and September 1.

Domestic claims for non-receipt of issues must be made within six months of the month of publication - overseas claims must be made within one year.

Notice to Members: The United States Postal System does not forward periodicals. We must receive written notification from you at least five weeks in advance of any change of address. Failure to notify us of your correct mailing address will result in suspension of mailings until we receive such notification. We can make address changes only when current dues are paid. Reinstatement of membership mailings after suspension may be made by payment of a $5.00 reinstatement fee.

FROM THE SECRETARIAT ...

Summer in Atlanta is program-preparation season for

the ASA Annual Meeting, scheduled this year for November 20-23 in Seattle, Washington.

Paper and panel proposals this year reflect the dynamic growth in African studies around the US. Previous ASA meetings on the west coast have tended to be slightly smaller in size than those in the east. This year, the number of proposals has resulted in a program as large, rich and diverse as any held anywhere in recent memory. Because of the large numbers, Panels Chair Lee Cassanelli reports that he reluctantly had to turn away a number of good proposals that arrived after the March 15 deadline for submissions.

The preliminary program booklet will be distributed to ASA members in August. As was the case last year, ASA meeting participants will need to make plane reservations as early as possible, since November 23 is the Monday before the Thanksgiving holiday. Please check page 22 of this newsletter for information on reserving flights, hotel rooms and rental cars.

ASA members who will be first-time visitors to the Pacific Northwest may wish to join one of two special postconference trips being offered by Convention Services Northwest. One trip leaves Seattle as the ASA meeting ends to visit the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, with a return to Seattle by Friday evening, November 27. The second departs Seattle at the same time, includes two days in Vancouver, and returns to Seattle in time for an evening departure on Wednesday, November 25. Details on both trips will be included in the preliminary program booklet.

WE WELCOME NEW ASA MEMBERS

(who joined us between March 1 and June 1)

Abdullahi Aden Taddesse Adera Abdel M. Ahmed Olusola Akinrinade Nurudeen Akinyemi Gabriel Alungbe Samuel Atteh Revathi Balakrishnan Janice Bernsten Laverle Berry Elias K. Bongmba Susan Bomstein Steven Brandt R.J. Brook Jim Cason Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha Arlindo Chilundo John M. Cinnamon Sean M. Geary Timothy Geaveland Kevin Cleaver JamesW.Cox Patricia Darish Suhashni Datta-Sandhu Elizabeth Defilippo G. Demolin Daniel Deybe Samia El Hadi EI Nagar Catherine Elkins Uzoma Esonwanne Ezekial Ette

Tanya L. Fast Silvia Federici Goetan Feltz Heidi Gengenbach Angela Gilliam Francis Githieya Stephen Gloyd Lily Golden Abe Goldman Fadzai Gwaradzimba Tracie Hall Nikhil Aziz S. Hemmady Nancy Jacobs Cheryl Johnson Robert Kappel Annette 1. Kashif Hilarie Kelly Samuel Ketekou Abraham Z. Kidane 1. N. Kimambo Shinjiro Kobayashi Christophe C. Kougniazonde George Lamptey Azzedine Layachi Michael Levin John Lucas Lorna L. Lueker Damazo Out Majak Takyiwaa Manuh J. Paul Martin

Valerie Mason Michael W. Mc Cahill Martin Meltzer Paul N. Mlaherbe Ali Mohamed Rider Moloto M. J. Mortimore Richard Mshomba Richard S. Mukisa Penny Nestel Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi Kimani Njogu Veronica Nmoma Michael Peyni Noku Philip Noss David Odden M.A. Odoemene Richard Okafor Eileen Oyelarin-Wilson Patricia L. Paton Rohan Quince Scott S. Reese Peter Rogers Judylyn S. Ryan Janice M. Saunders Emmett Schaefer Sally Scott Dianna J. Shandy Kathleen A. Siachitema Eliakim M. Sibanda

Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo Cathy Skidmore-Hess Patricia Smith Iraline &: Charles Smith William S. Smith Paul Smoke Gerda Snyman Sonja O. Solland Marc Sommers ThembaSono Michael A. Southwood Thomas W. Spang Carol Summers K. Swindell Aaron Tesfaye Moses Tesi MakikoToda Deborah Toler Thomas Trail Matthew Turner Veronica Udeogalanya Bedford N. Umez Timothy Wangusa Harry West Rhonda Williams Elvira Felton Williams Doris K. Williams Eric T. Young Scott M. Youngstedt Rebecca Zeigler

AND NEW LIFETIME MEMBERS

Ali Mazrui Lou Witherite

WE THANK ASA ENDOWMENT

CONTRIB UT 0 RS (who contributed between March 1 and June 1) Donors Tavy D. Aherne Nancy Ambruster Yaw Agyei Asamoah Mario Azevedo David Iyam &: Ruby A. Bell-Gam

Penelope Campbell S. Terry Childs Larry Diamond

David L. Easterbrook Harvey M. Feinberg Alan Feinstein Tyrone Ferdnance Roger Cocking John Harbeson Marieta Harper Ed Hawley Bonnie K. Holcomb

Curtis E. Huff Jeanne Koopman Harry W. Langworthy N'zinga Luyinduladio Peter Malanchuk Daniel McCall Josephine F. Milburn Robert &: Mildred Mortimer Mohame Haji Mukhtar

Aliko Songolo &: Emilie Ngo-Nguidjol

B. Marie Perinbam Cora Ann Presley William Cyrus Reed Elisha P. Renne John Allen Rowe John F. Sullivan Stevens P. Tucker

Special Donors Abena Busia Edwin N. Wilmsen Patricia Darish & David Binkley

Friends of ASA Martin A. Klein David Robinson J. Gus Liebenow Roslyn A. Walker Norman Miller

Benefactor of ASA Ruth S. Morgenthau

OBITUARY Mohamed Orner Beshir died in Khartoum on 29 January

1992. Universally known to his English-speaking friends simply as M.O.B., he created an unforgettable impression on those who met him. Passionate and eloquent, he was never happier than when discussing topics dose to his heart-in particular the nurturing of a Sudanese national consciousness and the protection of human rights.

He was born in Karima in the northern Sudan in 1926 and gained his higher education first at University College (formerly Gordon College) Khartoum and later at Queen's University, Belfast, where he earned a BSe in Economics in 1956 and finally Linacre College, Oxford. His professional career spanned secondary school teaching, university administration and diplomacy before he became a professorial fellow at the University of Khartoum's Institute of Asian and African Studies in 1974. The following year he became Dean of that university's Graduate College and for ten years was very active in organizing conferences and promoting the publication of Khartoum PhD theses in the humanities and social sciences. In the mid-1980s he embarked upon a project that in many ways was the fulfillment of his lifelong interest in education. After much lobbying and fund-raising, he was able to open the doors of the first private university in the Sudan-the Ahlia University, Orndurman, which emphasized vocation education with departments such as Computer Science and Business Management. He made a special effort to encourage and find scholarships for Southern Sudanese students.

M.O.B. was a prolific writer. His concern with education is reflected in one of his earliest published works, Educational Development in the Sudan, 1898-1956 (Oxford, 1969) and in later monographs published in Khartoum, Education in Africa (1974) and Educational Policy and the Employment Problem in the Sudan (1974 and 1977). His great concern for forging a truly Sudanese identity which would embrace both northern and southern Sudanese was the driving

force behind a series of books about the south, The Southern Sudan: Background to Conflict (1968), The Southern Sudan: From Conflict to Peace (1975), Diversity, Regionalism and National Unity (Uppsala, 1979), and Southern Sudan: Regionalism and Religion (1984). Some of his reflections on the concept of a Sudanese identity will appear shortly in a book of conference proceedings, Religion and National Identity in Africa (Northwestern University Press, 1992). His contributions to the study of broader questions in African politics are to be found in The Mercenaries in Africa (1972), Israel and Africa (1974), and Terramedia: Themes in Afro-Arab Relations (1982).

Although M.O.B.'s writings are a monument to his broad-ranging mind and liberal humanism, he was no mere armchair scholar. He was active behind the scenes in promoting dialog between northern and southern Sudan in the 19605 (particularly at the roundtable conference of 1965) and early 1970s (crowned by the Addis Ababa Accords of 1972) and in bringing about the first major international conference on Arab-African relations in Abu Dhabi in 1976. He was a tireless champion of human rights in the Sudan and was one of the founders of the Sudan Human Rights Organization.

We shall miss the warmth of his friendship and the inspiration of his commitment to a liberating vision of the Sudan and of African-Arab relations.

John Hunwick R.S. O'Fahey

PROVISIONAL MINUTES

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Friday, May 8, 1:30-5:30 pm and Saturday, May 9, 11:00 am-7:00 pm Radisson Plaza Hotel, Orlando Present: Directors Edmond Keller (chair), Joel Barkan, Donald Crummey, Carol Eastman, Christraud Geary, Sandra Greene, Beverly Grier, Goran Hyden, Martin Klein, David Robinson, Gretchen Walsh, Edna Bay (Exec. Did, Joseph Miller (Treasurer), Sheridan Johns and Tom Hale (AASP representatives) Excused: Gwendolyn Mikell

1. Approval of minutes Eastman moved and Klein seconded a motion that the

minutes be approved as published in ASA News Oan/Mar 1992). The motion carried. Keller asked that copies of the published minutes be provided in Board packets in future.

2. Report of the Executive Director Membership, Member Services

Bay re?Jrted that individual renewals currently stood at 1816 (about 50 more than this time last year). Another 400500 memberships are anticipated. The total individual membership in 1991 was 2288. Institutional renewals are up to 491, with 104 left to renew from last year.

Finances are in good condition, though a deficit budget is being pro?Jsed for the next fiscal year. ASA members have generously contributed to the Challenge Grant Campaign with their renewals.

Publications ASA News was mailed during the first week in April and

has been arriving in members' hands during the past two weeks. The April ASR should be appearing momentarily. ASR editor Mark DeLancey is no longer considering moving to Cameroon during his editorship. Harvey Glickman, editor of Issue, has now received two grants totalling $48,500 from the Ford and MacArthur foundations for two special editions of Issue, on conflict resolution and democratization. The funding will allow African contributors to those editions to present their papers at the next annual meeting.

History in Africa is on schedule and should be out as usual this summer.

We hope to see the second volume of the festschrift in honor of Kwabena Nketia momentarily. A contract for the second and third editions of Janet Stanley'S The Arts of Africa has been received from the Smithsonian Institution. We are compiling in-house the eighth edition of the Directory of Programs of African and African-American Studies. Data now being collected will be kept updated as a data base on those fields.

Annual Meetings Panels Chair Lee Cassanelli will re?Jrt in person on the

panels for the Seattle meeting, while Karen Morell, Chair for the Seattle Program Committee, has submitted a writ ten re?Jrt. We plan to promote the northwest as a Thanks

giving holiday site by encouraging participants to take advantage of two different ?Jst-convention trips: to Vancouver, British Columbia, with a return to Seattle in time to get to the east coast by Thanksgiving morning; or to Vancouver and Victoria with a return to Seattle on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Both are priced very reasonably.

Plans for the 1993 Boston meeting are moving along well. I met with Panels Chair David Newbury and Program Chair Jim McCann in North Carolina in March.

We are under contract with the Royal York Hotel in Toronto for a meeting on the first weekend in November 1994.

Contract with Emory University The final draft contract with Emory is ready for signa

ture by our president. We have received all we requested in the way of enhancements for a second contract: a commitment to fund a 50 percent teaching pOSition for the Associate Director, $7000 in computer equipment, and additional space. The search for an Associate Director is ongoing though incomplete at this ?Jint. Negotiating ?Jsitions with individual departments is proving slightly more difficult than expected. Since the search committee is not yet prepared to make a recommendation to the Board, I ask that the Board make arrangements for handling the final approval of a candidate.

Special Projects A proposal drawn up by members of the Arts .Council

of the ASA in conjunction with the Society for African Archaeology was submitted to USIA in January and funded at $135,000. A group of 14 African museum curators, archaeologists, artists and art historians has just completed travel in the US as part of that program. They attended the Society for African Archaeology meetings at the end of March in Los Angeles, the Triennial of African Art at the end of April, and in between were programmed to visit a number of archaeological and museum sites. We are pleased with the quality of the program, and the USIA appears enthusiastic about working with us for future ventures of this kind.

Other Meetings I represented the ASA at three meetings in April. The

AASP met in Washington, DC on 9-10 April. A central concern of that meeting was the Boren legislation. It was also a central agenda item for the meeting of NCASA (National Council of Area Studies Associations) on 28 April in Chicago, a session attended by me and vice-president Dave Robinson, and which included a long and valuable conversation with the administrator for the National Security Education Act, Martin Hurwitz. The NCASA meetings were followed by the ACLS annual meeting,. where topics of particular interest to us included electromc publishing and international contacts for learned societies.

After a brief discussion, Eastman moved that the Executive Committee be responsible for Board approval of a candidate in the search for the Associate Director. Klein seconded the motion which passed.

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3. Report of the Executive CommiHee Keller described provisions put forward by the Execu

tive CommiHee to be included in the Emory contract, particularly a greater role for the ASA in the evaluation of the Executive Director and assurance of access to the records of Emory regarding the Association.

An 6 April conference call agenda for the Executive Committee included a number of items. The committee discussed developments in the administration of the Boren legislation and agreed to continue to coordinate activities with LASA and MESA. Keller agreed to seek counsel on Boren developments from previous presidents of ASA; four have responded to date. Candidates for Panels Chairs at the 1994 and 1995 annual meetings were discussed, with agreement that a final decision would be made at the Orlando Board meeting. A proposal by John Harbeson to survey the ASA membership on the directions of the organization was discussed. There will be further discussion of the proposal during this meeting. Meanwhile, an alternative suggestion was adopted, that the Board host a town meeting at Seattle during which members could discuss informally the directions of the Association and possible program ideas. Finally, an invitation to membership in the National Humanities Alliance was discussed and referred to the full Board for a decision.

Keller reported that he contacted Willie Lamouse-Smith regarding a claim for charges incurred at the time of the Baltimore ASA meeting. An itemized list of costs was requested; no reply has yet been received.

4. Boren legislation The appropriated funds for the first year of operations

under the National Security Education Act (Boren legislation) have not yet been released. Plans for administration of the act continue to be fluid and changing. The nongovernmental appointees to the governing board for the act will be appointed shortly. The principal question for the Board and the Association now is whether to participate in the process of implementation of the grant over the next few months, and how to direct that participation. The question later will be whether to recommend participation in applying for awards of fellowships and center grants.

The Board endorsed the position taken in the letter which Keller wrote in conjunction with the presidents of LASA and MESA (published in ASA News, Apr/Jun 1992). It noted that the NSEA was designed to strengthen the understanding of international languages, cultures and areas by citizens of the US through the funding of undergraduate study abroad, fellowships for graduate studies in the US and centers for international studies in the US. It authorized the Executive Director and Executive Committee to continue to pursue fundamental changes in the NSEA legislation and its implementation, in consultation with the other area studies associations and groups, and specifically

to seek to 1) maximize the academic representation on the NSEA Board,2) maximize the NSEA Board's distance from the Department of Defense and its agencies, 3) maximize the representation of independent academics on the NSEA Advisory Subgroups and their subordinate groups, and 4) maximize the regranting of responsibilities for setting criteria and priorities and ensure that awards are made by a peer review process including panels composed of representatives of the academic community with expertise in international studies.

The Board commended to the ASA membership the resolution adopted by the AASP, viz:

We, the members of the Association of African Studies Programs at its annual meeting on April 10, 1992, wish to congratulate Senator Boren for his initiative to strengthen foreign language and international studies through the National Security Education Act of 1991.

At the same time, we are greatly concerned about maintaining the access, safety, long-range perspectives, and academic integrity of the Africanist scholars in Africa and in this country. From these concerns, we call on Senator Boren and the administrators of the Act to ensure that the priorities, criteria, and funding goals of the program are developed from within the academic community; are consonant with the integrity of the scholarly process; and that there is a separation of Africanist scholars and their institutions from military and intelligence organizations and priorities.

At this meeting we unanimously agreed to abide by a moratorium on all soliciting or receiving of NSEA funds until the language of the Act and its regulations guarantee these values. We look forward with eagerness to this needed opportunity.

The Board agreed that it may choose at the appropriate time to issue a general invitation to the membership to contact their representatives to urge them to support such fundamental changes.

5. Distinguished Africanist CommiHee Klein presented a recommendation from the selection

commiHee. The Board voted to accept the recommendation and make the award in November. There followed a short discussion of the problems of definition for the award and whether there should be a separate Distinguished Service Award presented regularly.

6. Herskovits CommiHee Keller nominated Karen Fields to begin a term on the

Herskovits Committee in 1993. Robinson moved and Grier seconded a motion to name Fields to the committee. The motion passed.

7. Book Famine Walsh reported on the Association of Research Libraries'

foreign acquisitions project. The ASA's Africana Libraries Council (formerly Archives-Libraries CommiHee) has formed a task force to define African studies concerns and

develop a pilot project. Walsh and Grier met in Boston to consider possible ASA

actions on the book famine. They proposed that ASA 1) support small scale book donation programs for a la-year period from ASA endowment earnings ($2000-$3000 per year), 2) explore affiliation with a planned project sponsored by Bridge to Asia and the National Association of College Stores, 3) continue to distribute major publications to Africa through the AAAS-ACLS journals distribution project, 4) explore grants to subsidize US publishers to enable them to market books in Africa at a low enough price for book buyers, 5) explore joint publication/distribution possibilities with other small presses, 6) continue to support dialog among publishers at ASA meetings to encourage joint publication arrangements, and 7) include publishing and the book trade in research initiatives such as the task forces on sustainable development.

Keller asked that Walsh suggest a project to be pursued. Walsh recommended small scale book donation support or a link with Bridge to Asia.

8. Policy on Mfiliated Groups Greene presented guidelines revised on the basis of dis

cussion in St. Louis. The Board agreed that sponsored groups should evidence an interest in the continent of Africa as a whole.

Keller suggested that affiliated groups might be required to pay fees. A discussion ensued on the role of the ASA in encouraging affiliated groups and the costs of services already being provided to such groups. Klein moved and Grier seconded a motion that the policy on affiliated groups be adopted as revised by the Board. The motion carried (see p. 18 for the revised policy statement).

9. Technology Committee The Board reviewed a request from Patty Kuntz and oth

er ASA members that a special committee of the Board be created to promote electronic technology as it is applied to the field of African studies. Members noted the potential of electronic technology and Klein recommended that the Associate Director be asked to become a liaison with the group. Crummey noted that the Board rarely forms committees to encourage member interests in an area but rather recognizes affiliated groups once they are well-established. Members agreed to encourage the group to continue to be active at ASA meetings and appointed Walsh and the ASA Associate Director as formal liaisons with the group.

10. Prizes Committee The Text Prize will be awarded for the first time in 1993.

It will be a non-monetary award. Composition of the selection committee will be decided at the fall Board meeting.

11. Development Committee Eastman reported that 31 applications had been received

for international visitors to the 1992 annual meeting. Three were selected for support from special funding for guests from the Horn of Africa. Another 10 were approved depending upon the amount of funding available.

Eastman reported that the Development Committee Chair, Sandra Barnes, recommended that the Board encourage lifetime memberships.

The subcommittees formed by the Board at the St. Louis meeting reported. The Committee on Corporations and Foundations has a letter ready to send to publishers and is approaching corporations. The Committee on Special Constituencies has made some approaches but action is currently on hold. The Membership Committee has not yet drafted an appeal letter to the membership.

Hyden noted that it was past the critical point for a membership appeal this spring and recommended that a letter be sent in August. He reported contacts with several prominent members who have agreed to solicit funds for special projects and provided suggestions of foundations and corporations that should be approached.

12. Nominating Committee Robinson suggested that, since Barkan is no longer resi

dent in the US and hence cannot be active on the Nominating Committee, it would be appropriate to name an additional person to serve. The Board agreed to name four nonBoard members to the committee. Nominations were made and the Executive Director charged with contacting potential committee members.

13. Funding for Graduate Training At the president's request, Catharine Newbury prepared

a draft letter expressing the Board's concern about reduction in funding for graduate training by US foundations. Keller agreed to contact Newbury and Martha Gephart to discuss organizations that might be sent the letter. A final draft will be prepared and approved by the Executive Committee of the Board.

14. Annual Meetings Lee Cassanelli, Panels Chair for 1992, presented two

written reports on 1) the organizational experience of his committee and 2) a summary of program content. A report from Karen Morell, Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee, and David Newbury, Panels Chair for 1993 were circulated. Cassanelli noted that the keynote address will be delivered by Kofi Awoonor while Jan Vansina has agreed to inaugurate a lecture series by ASA Distinguished Africanists. Two SSRC-sponsored papers will be read and several sessions featuring Japanese Africanists are planned. A special commemoration of Ali Mazrui is being planned.

The Panels Committee recommended scheduling innovations that included special breakfast sessions, an all-day consecutive session on the work of the Task Force on Sustainable Development and an afternoon of individual papers on democratization. Some Board members expressed concern that a succession of individual papers would not permit the discussion which is built into the panel organization.

Miller queried if there was a group of featured panels expressly developed by the Panels Committee. Cassanelli indicated that he had looked for trends in the Association and then responded by generally recommending themes to the membership. Geary and Walsh suggested that separate deadlines for individual papers and panel proposals might facilitate the organizing process in future. Cassanelli noted that the entire organizing process needs to begin earlier than is now the practice.

15. Annual Meetings Committee A final recommendation for 1994 is not yet ready,

though the Panels Chair will likely consist of two persons, one based in Canada and the second in the US. Robinson moved that the Annual Meetings Committee continue its search and solicit approval of its choice by the Executive Committee. Geary seconded the motion which passed.

Robinson reported that Barkan had met with the committee regarding the Panels Chair position for 1994. Since Barkan will not return to reside in the US until the end of 1993, the committee proposed Barkan for Chair for 1995.

Barkan proposed that he organize the 1995 meeting around the work of 12-17 section heads chosen for their disciplinary specializations and thematic interests. As the individual responsible for a small number of panels, each section head would write a statement on the panels that he or she would be organizing and members would be asked to submit papers to correspond to the themes outlined.

Hyden asked reassurance that papers submitted that did not fit the Panels Committee's themes would not be discarded.

Hyden moved that, pending the securing of institutional support (to be confirmed by November), Barkan be appointed to serve as Panels Chair for 1995. Eastman seconded the motion. The motion carried with one dissenting vote.

It was agreed that Bay would provide some material on possible sites for 1996 and 1997 at the fall Board meeting, and figures on registration for previous Annual Meetings, as far back as possible. At the spring 1993 meeting, the Board will solicit local interest in particular sites for 1996 and 1997.

16. Policies on Affiliations of Annual Meeting Participants and Acceptance of Sponsored Panels

In response to questions raised at St. Louis by ACAS, the

Board agreed that the ASA would continue to expect that persons proposing papers and panels who have an institutional affiliation will be required to declare that affiliation. The name of the affiliated organization will appear on name tags at the conference. Independent scholars will not be required to provide an affiliation.

The Board considered a complaint that the Program Chair for 1991 had rejected a panel proposed by ACAS. After discussion, Hyden moved and Klein seconded a motion that the Panels Committee will make every effort to accommodate panels recommended by coordinate and other organizations within the purposes of the ASA but will retain final authority over the disposition of available times and spaces. The motion passed.

Robinson moved that the Panels Chair be invited to attend the spring Board meeting two years in succession. Crummey seconded the motion which passed with two abstentions.

Suggestions for sites for the 1996 and 1997 meetings were made, including Washington, IX, the Twin Cities, the Bay area, San Diego, Austin, Houston and Dallas. Barkan recommended that the first priority in choosing sites should be 1) keeping costs down and 2) meeting at the end of October. Bay noted that those objectives were incompatible since October is high season for conventions in the US and rates drop dramatically after early November. Bay was asked to get preliminary information on possible sites for discussion in November.

17. Paper Distribution at the Annual Meeting Keller noted that the American Political Science Associa

tion asks annual meeting participants to mail papers to the convention hotel, where they are made available to attendees. Barkan proposed such a system for ASA. At the president's request, Beth Pearce of the ASA staff did a survey of 15 other learned societies to develop recommendations for the distribution of papers at the annual meeting. Bay reviewed the results of the survey and explained the current system, which allows for distribution of papers only after the conference. The Board discussed various options; no action was taken.

18. Finance Committee Eastman recommended that ASA adopt the following

policy regarding the use of the ASA name on products to be sold. All designs will be approved by the Association and 30 percent of net or 15 percent of gross proceeds will return to the ASA. Walsh so moved and Greene seconded the motion which passed.

The Finance Committee recommended that Geller and Associates be engaged to invest ASA funds in growth and income instruments. Barkan agreed to check on the costs of Geller'S services. Klein expressed concern for ethical investments and Crummey agreed to put the Association in

contact with Working Assets. Hyden moved that the Executive Committee, using information on commission structures and ethical options, make a decision on investments as soon as possible. Klein seconded the motion which passed.

The Finance Committee recommended the following changes in ASA staff practices: 1) that the structure of office responsibilities be standardized, 2) that Norma Miller's title be changed to Assistant to the Director, and 3) that the rate of raises correspond to the Emory College scale. Robinson moved and Greene seconded the motion which carried.

The budget proposed by the committee anticipates a deficit of $4100 in fiscal 1992-93. New to the budget for this year is a discretionary fund of $3000 to be used by the president and executive director. Robinson moved acceptance of the budget, Crummey seconded and the motion passed. Miller and Barkan urged that the Association seek to balance budgets in future.

19. Human Rights Committee Committee Chair Claude Welch recommended that the

ASA apply for observer status on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. A letter to that effect has been sent. A proposal for a Board resolution on human rights violations in Sudan was briefly considered. The Board agreed to circulate the resolution with each member responding within a week.

20. Publications Committee Klein noted that preparation of Issue is going well. ASR

editor Mark Delancey is working efficiently and will soon complete one year of his three-year term. Inquiries will be made in the near future about continuance beyond a first term. Klein noted that David Henige, editor of History in Africa, has more material of excellence than can be published in 400 pages per year. The committee recommended that one of the following remedies be applied: 1) the format be enlarged, 2) two issues per year be published or 3) more material be rejected.

The Publications Committee discussed ideas for the reprinting of classics in African studies for distribution at low prices in Africa. Additional ideas that were proposed included the publication of a collection of key articles in the field and exploring ways to help the revival and publication of African journals.

21. National Humanities Alliance The National Humanities Alliance, an independent coa

lition of some 75 scholarly and professional associations, universities, museums, libraries and other organizations concerned with national humanities policies has invited the ASA to become a member. After discussion, Robinson moved that the ASA join as an associate member. Greene

seconded the motion which carried with two nays and two abstentions.

22. Other Business The Board agreed to schedule further discussion of John

Harbeson's survey proposal on the November agenda. Keller indicated that a formal proposal with an estimate of cost would be needed for the Board's consideration.

Robinson invited the Board to meet in East Lansing in spring 1993. Such a meeting might be extended over an extra day so that meetings with deans and African studies faculty could take place on the subject of the direction of African studies. Funding of $3000 has been offered by Michigan State University to support such a meeting.

The Board discussed concern expressed by Horace Campbell about ASA registration fees. Keller offered to write Campbell explaining that the registration fee is halved for persons teaching in African universities. If African visitors are supported by the ASA International Visitors Program, the registration fee is provided by that program. Otherwise, panel chairs may pay fees in advance and ask African colleagues to reimburse them on arrival. If African participants request it, they are permitted to register on site at the preregistration rate.

NOMINATING COMMI'I"I'EE Members of the ASA Nominating Committee for 1992

are David Robinson, Chair (History, Michigan State University), Joel Barkan, (Political Science, USAIDNairobi), Kate Ezra (Art History, Metropolitan Museum of Art), Sandra Greene (History, Cornell University), Eileen Julien (Literature, Boston University) ,Pearl-Alice Marsh, (Political Science, University of California), Della McMillan (Anthropology, World Bank), and Gwendolyn Mikell (Anthropology, Georgetown University).

ASA members who seek nomination or wish to recommend colleagues for nomination may contact any member of the committee.

Members of the Association may add to the Board slate of candidates during a 75-day period follOwing the Business Meeting. The nomination of an "at-large" candidate must be supported by a petition containing the signatures of no less than 25 ASA members in good standing and a letter from the candidate indicating a willingness to stand for election.

In creating the Board slate, the Nominating Committee usually has two priorities. First, it is concerned to find candidates who will work effectively and efficiently. Membership on the Board involves a significant amount of work. Second, an effort is made to balnce the diverse constituencies that make up the Association. The committee usually seeks a balance of academic disciplines and of race, gender, and region of the country.

ASA ELECTIONS 1992

The following persons have been nominated far officers of the Association and members of the Board of Directars. A ballot far the election has been inserted in the newsletters of1992 individual members. Ballots must be received in the secretariat office no later than 30 September 1992.

Vice-PresidentIPresident Elect

Edward A. Alpers (History, University of California, Los

Angeles)

Mario Azevedo (History, University of North Carolina,

Charlotte)

Directors

Anne Adams (Literature, Cornell University)

Ekpo Eyo (Art History, University of Maryland, College

Park)

Cheryl Johnson-Odim (History, Loyola University)

Shem Migot Adholla (Sociology, World Bank)

V.Y. Mudimbe (Anthropology, Duke University) Jack Parson (Political Science, College of Charleston)

Edward Alpers Bio~aphical Information

Present position: Dean of Honors and Undergraduate Programs, College of Letters and Science (since 1985), and Professor of History, UCLA, where I have been on the faculty since 1968. Previous position: Lecturer in History, University College (now University) of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1966-68.

Other appointments, awards, and professional activities: Visiting Research Associate, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, 1976; NEH Research Fellowship, 1978-79; Fulbright Lecturer, Somali National University, College of Education, Lafoole, 1980; Board of Directors, Association of Concerned Africa Scholars, 1983-present; Editor,ACAS Newsletter (1983-85); Director, UCLA-Somali National University Faculty Development Program, 1984-86; ASA Board of Directors (1985-88); ASA Development Committee (1991-present); Co-chair, Alliance for Undergraduate Education (1989-1992).

Education: AB, magna cum laude, Harvard College, 1963; PhD, SOAS, University of London, 1966.

Major publications: The East African Slave Trade (1967); 'Trade, State and Society among the Yao in the Nineteenth Century," Journal of African History (1969); "Re-thinking African Economic History," Ufahamu (1973); Ivory and Slaves in East Central Africa (1975); Walter Rodney-Revolutionary and Scholar,co-editor Pierre-Michel Fontaine (1982); "Muqdisho in the Nineteenth Century," Journal of African History (1983); 'The Story of Swema: Female Vulnerability in Nineteenth-Century East Africa," in Claire G. Robertson &

Martin A. Klein (eds.), Women and Slavery in Africa (1983); "Ordinary Household Chores: Ritual and Power in a Nineteenth-Century Swahili Women's Spirit Possession Cult," International Journal of African Historical Studies (1984); "Representation and Historical Consciousness in the Art of Modem Mozambique," Canadian Journal of African Studies (1988).

Research and teaching activities: I am working on the political economy of eastern Tanzania in the nineteenth century and maintain my broad interests in precolonial eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean, as well as African women's history. Recently, I have been teaching an undergraduate seminar on 'The Cultural Dimensions of Apartheid South Africa;" next fall, I will also offer a freshman seminar on 'The African Experience: the case of the Swahili." In addition to the 33 PhD dissertations that I have either chaired or co-chaired at UCLA, I currently supervise the work of some half-dozen graduate students. Statement of Candidacy

I am honored to be nominated as a candidate for the vice-presidency of the ASA. During my tenure on the Board of Directors I came to appreciate the critical role that we play in leading the Association so that it can achieve the full potential of its membership in representing the community of scholars of Africa both nationally and internationally. The ASA has made Significant progress in recent years and I believe that it can realize even more in the future. For example, at a time when Africa seems farther than ever from the central agenda of the United States, the growth in the membership of the ASA, the endowment campaign, the efforts to address the book famine in African universities, and the enhancement of the Association's publications are all encouraging developments. My goal is to consolidate and build on these accomplishments by focusing our future efforts on the educational mission that we share and for which we bear responsibility.

Specific areas where I would hope to provide leadership and invite participation include:

Outreach -All of us would like to see a better informed public when it comes to African issues. Greater prominence for outreach activities at the Annual Meeting of the ASA, such as more panels and workshops, could serve the entire membership of the Association by facilitating the sharing of successful materials, programs and strategies. Outreach is everyone's business.

Pipeline activities-The ASA needs to consider how best it can help to renew and diversify the community of scholars of Africa. A strategic planning process to consider this issue and develop strategies for addressing it that would also ensure the participation of both African and African-American institutions and scholars-in-training

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could yield significant intellectual and professional benefits.

Networking- The experiences of and resources available to members who work in relative isolation are quite different from those who work in greater institutional proximity to each other. The ASA should explore the possibility that we could do more to support our colleagues who would identify themselves as the proverbial "lonely Africanists."

Mario Azevedo Biographical Information

Born in Mozambique, came to the States as a political refugee in 1965. Currently: Frank Graham Porter Professor and Chair, Afro-American and African Studies Department, University of North Carolina-Charlotte. BA, Catholic University (History); MA, American University (History); PhD: Duke University (African History). Major grants: Duke University and the University of Ghana (1974 research in Chad); NEH; Fulbright (1981, 1984, 1986, 1990 Group Projects Abroad); Gulbenkian Foundation (1982 research in Portugal); Lilly Endowment; USAID (Infant Mortality in Cameroon, 1987). Publications: Africa and Its People (1982); African Profiles (1975); The Returning Hunter (1978); Cameroon and Chad (1989); Disease in African History (1978), contributor; Independence Without Freedom (1980), contributor; Great Lives in 20th Century (1991), contributor; Masterplots (1992), contributor. Articles in African Studies Review, African Affairs, Journal ofAfrican Studies, Journal of Negro History, Journal of Southern African Affairs, International Review of African Studies, Social Science and Medicine, Current History, Africa Today, Africa in the World, Sunbelt, Western Journal of Black Studies, Journal of Islamic Minorities, A Current Bibliography on African Affairs, Conflict Quarterly, The Researcher. Accepted for publication (1992): Introduction to Kenya, Introduction to Afro-American and African Studies (Carolina Academic Press). In progress: "Studies in the History of Mozambique." Statement of Candidacy

My candidacy represents proven commitment, experience, vision, and visibility for the Association. Since 1971, I have actively attended every annual meeting, even when I had no institutional funds. As a former Board member (1986-89), I understand the inner workings of the Association. I maintained, as your conscience and voice, my commitment to ensuring that the Association remained faithful to its mission of promoting scholarship; of being the forum for the analysis of Africa's current events; and as the voice of professionals enlightened in foreign policy matters but deeply concerned with the plight of the African masses. I wish to continue to ensure that the Board listens to all views, regardless of ideology, and that our African Studies

Review and Issue remain open to researchers meeting the Academy's standards and not to a few senior scholars who publish by request rather than by competition. The Association should demonstrate greater commitment to continental scholars in publication opportunities (through ASA Press and the Review), travel assistance to annual meetings, collaborative research, and library materials. This is why I have contributed to the Endowment and, to this end, I pledge, if elected, not to request the Association's funds for my first annual and spring meetings as VicePresident. I would likewise r~xplore the idea of one annual meeting in Dakar (or elsewhere in Africa). I discussed the logistics with the newly-opened Meridien Hotel in Dakar while in that city in April 1992. (Indeed, for many of us, a trip to Seattle will be as costly as a package deal trip to Dakar.) For long, the Association's top leadership has generally come from specific regions and institutions of the country, and only recently has the Board become truly sensitive to race and gender representation. While on the Board, I supported broadening representation: at the 1989 annual meeting, heeding President Nzongola's call, I single-handedly collected 35 signatures which ensured the nomination and subsequent representation of an African-American on the Board. The flexibility of my present position, my extensive network here and in Africa, and my ability to work harmoniously with others would enhance the Association's visibility: since 1981, I have brought to my institutions close to a million dollars in grants; travelled, on the average, twice a year to Africa (and not to Europe) on research related grants; read proposals from Africanists of various disciplines, for the federal government, almost every other year; and served as CoCoordinator (1986-1989) of the South-Eastern Africanists Association. Thus, although from a relatively small and less known southern state institution, I think my VicePreSidency would energize the Board and test the Association's commitment to a truly representative and experienced leadership.

Anne V. Adams Bio~aphical Information Associate Professor African and Caribbean Literatures in the Africana Studies & Research Center (ASRC), Cornell University, where I have been teaching since 1982. Education: BA, Fisk University, 1963; MA, University of Michigan, 1968; PhD, University of Michigan, 1977. At Cornell: Coordinator of African Studies Certificate Program of Cornell's National Resource Center for African Studies. Professional Activity: African Literature Association (ALA): Executive Council member 1984-1987, Annual Conference Convener, 1987; President, 1989-1990; Headquarters Director, 1989-present. ASA: Member of African

Children's Book Award Committee. Relevant grants/ fellowships: Fulbright lectureship at Universite Marien Ngouabi (Brazzaville), 1979-1980; Fulbirhgt lectureship at University of Ghana-Legon, 1992-1993; Research Associate in the "Identity in Africa" Research Group at UniversWit Bayreuth,1987-1988. Research Interests: African and Caribbean women writers; Congo literature; Black Women Writers and German audiences. Publications include: with Carole Boyce Davies (eds.), Ngambika: Studies of Women in African Literature (1986); transl., Showing Our Colors: AfroGerman Women Speak Out, 1991 (K. Oguntoye, M. Opitz, D. Schultz, eds.: Farbe Berkennen) Statement of Candidacy

1) Atlanta Mayor Andy Young's welcoming remarks in 1991, to the effect that he would like to see ASA "work itself out of a job." (Would a US politican greet a European Studies Association or an Asian Studies Association with the hope that they would work themselves out of a job??) Young's point was that the mission of Africanist scholars was to prepare the way for the US entrepreneurs to expand trade in Africa.

2) Once, during my year teaching "American Civilization" at Universite Marien Ngouabi in Brazzaville, a student, reflecting on the subject matter, asked: Madame, do US students learn about our country, as we must learn about theirs? Andy Young's perspective causes us to reflect on the mission of African Studies in "outreach" to the general public; the Congolese student's question reminds us of the place that African Studies should occupy in the current move toward "diversity" in the US undergraduate curriculum.

Both of these points have taken on heightened clarity to me in the last two years, since my institution has become the newest National Resource Center for African Studies, and one that is based in a department that incorporates Africa and the Diaspora. The importance of our services in "community outreach" to re-form the concept/conception/ conceptualization of Africa for the US public is only underscored by the continued representations through the media and through misguided exploitative perspectives as the trading-partner vision. The infusion of African Studies courses into the general education curriculum at the undergraduate level is, in my view, a struggle that should characterize our activism in our respective faculties. We cannot allow ourselves to be satisfied with teaching and conducting research for a select group of (mostly graduate) student, with an eye toward "development work" in Africa (nor grooming trading partners). Similarly to other "area studies" as promulgated in the academy-is that term used for European Studies, too? Why not?-African Studies must acquaint the US public with African societies in all aspects, to acknowledge the African version of the human condition. This, specifically, as it draws the connection of Americans of African descent to a place before this one,

giving substance to the phenomenon of Diaspora. This, generally, for its own sake, as we need to know about the total world that we, our students, and communities must live in and live with.

In addition to those educating missions at home, I am also very interested in pursuing ASA's affilia tions/ associations with peer organizations based in Africa. The definitions of "affiliate organizations" and of "associate organizations" (ASA News XXIV: 4, Oct/Dec 1991) provide the structure for energectic collaboration and especially communications exchange between ASA and organizations such as the International Congress of African Studies. Exchanges of representatives at conferences, panels at each other's conferences, etc. should be encouraged. Ultimately, ASA should hold periodic joint conferences with such group~n the African continent.

EkpoO. Eyo Biographical Information

Present and past positions: Professor of African Art History and Archaeology, University of Maryland at College Park since 1986. Previous position was Director General of the Nigerian National Commission for Museums and Monuments between 1968 and 1986. Currently President of Pan African Association on Prehistory and Related Subjects, Member of the Board of Directors of the Center for African Arts in New York and Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Leakey Foundation for Research into Human Origins, Behaviour and Survival. Previously, President of the Organisation of Museums and Monuments in Africa (OMMSA), President, West African Archaeological Association, Member of the Expert Committees that drafted UNESCO's Convention on (a) The Illicit Transfer of Cultural Property, (b) Restitution or Return of Cultural Property to Their Countries of Origin and, (c) The Preservation of World Cultural and Natural Heritages.

Education: BA and MA in Social Anthropology, Pembroke COllege, Cambridge University, England. Post Graduate Academic Diploma with a mark of Distinction in Prehistoric Archaeology, University of London. PhD in Archaeology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Diploma in Conservation of Museum Objects, University of London. Diploma of the Museums' Association of Great Britain and Ireland.

Honors and A wards: Regents Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution, 1984, Hon. D.Litt. University of Calabar, Nigeria, Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (OFR), d'Officier dans L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France, d'Officier de L'Ordre de la Valeur, Republique Unie due Cameroun, Honorary Member of the International Council of Museums. Statement of Candidacy

Having spent all of my life in trying to promote bal

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anced information about Africa and African heritage, I am convinced that a major way of dealing with this situation is by involving a greater number of African scholars in the study of Africa. It is stating the obvious that much of what the world knows about Africa today comes from external observers who, one must credit, have done very much for the continent. Yet, we all realize how difficult it is for one to get out of one's own cultural context, and how it is even more difficult to get into other people's worlds in order to dispassionately analyse their modes and behavior. Experience has shown that a balanced perspective could be achieved if a particular African society is looked at both from the outside and from the inside. Unfortunately, such instances are rare. Much therefore needs to be done to remedy this situation. As a Board member of the African Studies Association, I will strongly advocate steps to be taken to create possibilities that will facilitate collaborative work between African scholars and their North American and European counterparts. One such step would be to foster stronger relationships with African universities, cultural agencies and individual scholars. To achieve this I will urge the Association to intensify its efforts in exploring financial means necessary to actualize these cooperations which will be mutually beneficial to scholars on both sides and will improve the quality of our information on Africa.

Cheryl Johnson-Odim BiolUaphical Information

Currently Assistant Professor of History, Loyola University of Chicago. Sit on AdviSOry Councils of AfricanAmerican Studies Program and Women's Studies Program at Loyola.

Previously Assistant Director of Program of African Studies at Northwestern (1980-84,1985-86) and Acting Director (1984-85). One year at University of Wisconsin (Madison) with joint appointment in African-American Studies and Women's Studies (1986-87).

Co-convener of Women's Caucus of the ASA (1987-89) and member of its Steering Committee since 1984. Served on Nomination Committee of the ASA in 1988. Currently consultant to Africa Exhibit Planning Committee of the Field Museum (Chicago) and recently appointed to Editorial Board of National Women's Studies Association Journal.

I would describe myself as an activist scholar and have been involved with anti-apartheid and various other advocacy groups regarding Africa. Chaired Free South Africa Movement Chicago (1984-86); co-founder Coalition for Illinois Divestment from South Africa (1983); chaired TransAfrica Chicago Support Committee (1981-85) and National Chair of TransAfrica Support Committees (1984-85); service on Senator Paul Simon's (Illinois) Southern Africa

Task Force (1984-87); Service on Executive Committee Association of Black Women Historians (1980-84).

Recently co-edited two special issues of Journal of Women's History focused on women in the 'Third World"; coedited Expanding the Boundaries of Women's History (forth I coming Indiana University Press); recently co-authored biography of Nigerian nationalist and women's rights acti f vist Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, which is being reviewed for publication. Contributed chapter "Common Themes, Dif tferent Contexts: Third World Women and Feminism" I (1991) that is currently being translated into Japanese for i publication in a women's journal. Several other chapters in books and articles in journals. f

Research interests include women and colonialism, fem ! inist theory, and African-American thought on Africa.

Education: BA (cum laude) Youngstown State Universi r ty (1972); PhD Northwestern (1978). i Statement of Candidac;y

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The 19905 require both reassessment and new initiatives for the organization to remain representative of the interests of Africa and African studies in a time of qUickly changing economic, political and social landscapes both on the continent and in the rest of the world. To some extent, I given the recent attempts to establish the endowment, dis

cussion over continuing commitment to increase the in

volvement of diverse communities in the organization, and

the debates over the nature of the ASA's relationship with \

official US government agencies, this process has already

begun. If elected to the Board I would lend support or pro

pose the following initiatives.

Maximizing Representation. We must continue to increase our organizational involvement with Africa- based institutions and scholars as well as with the AfricanAmerican and Afro-Caribbean communities. We must also remain committed to gender equity within all areas. I believe we should re-examine consideration of sponsoring one of our annual conferences (or a special conference) on the African continent, and other creative ways to show organizational support of Africanist scholarship in all its diversity. I encourage the sponsorship of plenary panels on newly emerging paradigms and theories as well as examination of the 'process' and 'content' of the organization itself.

Support of Future Scholars. We need to develop more direct ways of encouraging graduate students, such an an annual ASA dissertation prize, mentoring committees, graduate student panels on research in progress, and support to attend meetings.

Financial Security. We must continue our efforts to increase the ASA endowment to maintain independence in formulating programs and setting policies.

Representations of Mrica. While there are diverse ideological viewpoints in the Association, I believe there is consensus regarding the continued existence of inaccurate,

simplistic and disparaging images of Africa in the media, in elementary, secondary and university curricula, and in other public representations of Africa. We need to lend our weight as an organization (perhaps by way of a standing committee) to identify such representations and take steps Getter campaigns, telephone calls, list of available media consultants, etc.) to counterract them.

Shem Migot-Adholla Bio&Taphical Information

Obtained MA (1972) and PhD (1977) from the University of California at Los Angeles. I have held a faculty teaching position in the Department of Sociology at the University of Dar es Salaam and a primarily research position in the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Nairobi from 1973-1986, serving as Chair of the Department of Sociology from 1984-1986. I am currently serving as Senior Rural Sociologist in the Agriculture and Rural Development Department at The World Bank where my responsibilities include conducting research and providing advice on socioeconomic, cultural, and political aspects of agricultural and rural development projects in developing countries. In this capacity I have recently completed a study on the relationships between land tenure and agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. A manuscript on this work is currently under preparation.

Professional positions include membership in Selection Committee, African Dissertation Internship Program, The Rockefeller Foundation (1987-present); Fellowship Program on African Agriculture, Social Science Research Council (1986-89); Editorial Board, Canadian Journal of Africa Studies (1983-87); Editorial Board, Nomadic Peoples, Commission of Nomadic Peoples, International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (1979-84); Scientific Working Group on Social and Economic Research, Special Program on Training and Research in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization (1983-85); Panel on Low-Resource Agriculture in Developing Countries, Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States (1985-87). Statement of Candidacy

It is my view that the ASA should continue to playa catalytic role in the attainment of sustainable development in Africa. Through the work of its members and as an institution, the ASA must promote constructive dialogue among scholars, ordinary citizens, and policy makers in the United States and especially in Africa itself, within the context of ongoing global restructuring. To realize this goal, I would support the Association's drive to diversify its constituency and include in its activities more Africa-based scholars and other public opinion leaders. I would also strongly urge expansion of quality training of a new generation of Africanists in US institutions and facilitation of col

laborative work between scholars based in the US and Africa.

V.Y. Mudimbe Biographical Information

R.F. DeVarnay Professor of Romance Studies and Professor of Comparative Literature, I also serve in the Department of Anthropology and as a resource faculty in the Duke Department of Classics. I received a Doctorat en Philosophie et Lettres from the University of Louvain in 1970. Before coming to Duke, I taught at the Universities of Louvain, Paris-Nanterre, Zaire, and Haverford College; held visiting professorships at the Universities of Brazzaville, Bonn, Laval, Princeton, EI Colegio de Mexico and Vienna; and was Professor of Structuralism and Semiotics of History at the International Institute for Semiotics and Structural Studies at Indiana University. I also served as Consultative Director of the International African Institute in London (1977-80) and as Secretary General of the International Congress of African Studies 0973-78). I have published some 60 articles, three collections of poetry, four novels, and several books in applied linguistics, phUosophy, and social science. My recent publications include Air: Etude Semantique (1979); L'odeur du Pere (1982); The Invention of Africa (1988); Parables and Fables (1991); and The Surreptitious Speech (1992). My research interests are in phenomenology, structuralism and semiotics, with a focus on the logic of mythical narratives; the practice of language in ancient Greek and Latin geographies, the will to truth in French travellers' texts, and the intellectual history of Africa. Statement of Candidacy

As an ASA Board Member, I would work hard in supporting the following initiatives:

(1) a reinforcement of cross- and interdiSCiplinary researches and projects,

(2) a greater internationalization of the ASA perspectives, and

(3) a more systematic collaboration between the ASA and African-American and African institutions.

Jack Parson Biqg:raphical Information

Presently Professor of Political Science and coordinator for the African Studies Minor at the College of Charleston, an 8,000 student state institution, in Charleston, South Carolina. Born in S1. Louis, Missouri, I completed a BA at the University of Minnesota in 1965 and an MA at Southern II· linois University at Carbondale (SIU-C) in 1967. Deep into PhD coursework but wishing to have field experience, I abandoned SIU-C in 1968 for a research and teaching assistantship and PhD registration at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Four years later (and much the wiser), I left Uganda and after a year's "visit" to the University of

Wisconsin-Stevens Point took a faculty position in what is now the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Botswana where I stayed from 19731978. There I developed research interests in class-state relations resulting in a DPhil thesis on the political economy of Botswana at the University of Sussex in 1979. A year teaching jointly in the Black American Studies Program and the Master's program in community development at SIU-C was followed by an appointment as a visiting assistant professor to the College of Charleston in 1980 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Since returning to the US in 1980 I have been active in the ASA at annual meetings and as a member of the ASR editorial board during Carol Thompson's editorship. I am also an active member of ACAS and served four years (1987-1991) as a coordinator of the Southeastern Regional Seminar on African Studies (SERSAS), a fine interdisciplinary twice-yearly gathering of Africanists in the region. Since 1981 I have advised delegations representing various African countries participating in the national model OAU held annually at Howard University. I will be serving as Speaker of the Faculty, elected college-wide, as the faculty voice to the Board of Trustees and the administration, during the 1992-1993 academic year.

Research and publication remain a priority despite a heavy (12 hour) undergraduate teaching load. A continuing interest in research on democracy in Botswana has widened to some work on South Africa and in the SADCC region. I have continued to do field work, briefly in 1982 and 1987 and more extensively on Fulbright research grants during the 1984-1985 academic year and for three months in 1990. Resulting publications include Botswa1Ul: Liberal Democracy and the Labor Reserve in Southern Africa (Westview Press, 1984), Succession to High Office in Botswa1Ul: Three Case Studies (with Michael Crowder and Neil Parsons, Ohio University Press, 1990), articles in Africa Today, the Journill of Southern African Studies and the Journill of Modern African Studies and chapters in several collections dealing with the politics of development, most recently in the volume edited by Cohen and Goulbourne on Democracy and Socialism in Africa (Westview Press, 1991). Statement of Candidacy

I teach, live, research and write in the diaspora of African Studies in America. Many, perhaps most, of us work well away from African Studies Centers and are not in large institutions where there is an Africanist community. Yet I remain deeply and absolutely committed to intellectual engagement with the interdiSCiplinary Africanist community in the US, in Africa and around the world. It is for these reasons that I appreciate the importance of belonging to and being active in the ASA. As a member of the Board I would work to sustain existing Association activities and explore new or changed ones which strengthen the professionallives of Africanists in general but in particular the

professional lives of those of us who represent the decentralization of African studies.

Annual Meetings: The annual meeting is especially important. Presenting and debating ideas and analysis, scouring booksellers' stalls, talking with publishers and meeting colleagues are necessary and energizing activities made possible by a vigorous and vigilant staff and Board. The international visitors' program and plenary speakers

! Iadd to the texture of the meetings. I would bring to the

Board great enthusiasm for providing creative and strong annual meeting programs.

Nurturing the Africanist Community: I would like to i see the Board explore new ways in which to communicate

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among the Africanist community. One way might be to encourage the African Studies Centers to schedule sessions at annual meetings to meet with Africanists in their catchment areas. Another way might be for the Board to spon Isor regional meetings during the annual meetings and to

I Iencourage the creation of new or resurrection of old re

gional and sub-regional seminars and associations. Myexperience in SERSAS indicates that these can be creatively and inexpensively managed. ASA publications might provide a more explicit forum for communication across the regions and disciplines. In general I would like to see the Board discuss new means to invigorate and service the large number of us who live and work in the "bush." In addition to developing a discussion of these matters on the I

! IBoard, I would be particularly interested in two other spe !

cific issues that will need Board attention in the next year

or two:

The Boren Bill: The Board needs to maintain its vigilance in relation to the Boren Bill. The Boren Bill repre l sents a serious threat to the integrity, independence and ! credibility of American Africanist research in Africa. The likelihood that the Defense Department and CIA will de I 1cide research priorities and decide on the dispersal of f funds must be dealt with vigorously. The Board needs to continue to work, on its own and in cooperation with MESA, LASA and others, to maintain the academic integri I

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ty of publicly funded research. African Studies in the '90s: US domestic economic dif j,

! ficulties and the end of the cold war combined with a dose of chauvinistic nationalism have pushed African issues far down on the list of public and policy issues. Yet the issues of political, economic and cultural development in African countries remain and many problems are made worse by these trends in the US and Europe. While the Association cannot itself solve these problems and make Africa a first priority, it can maintain as high a profile as is consistent with its purposes in order to keep Africa and African issues from completely falling off the public and policy agenda.

PAN AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON

DEMOCRACY AND TRANSITION

Ruth S. Morgenthau

An historic meeting took place in Dakar, May 25-28, 1992. Titled "Conference Panafricaine Sur la Democratie et la Maitrise de la Transition en Afrique Noire," it brought together leaders from 42 African countries. More than 200 attended, representing both the parties in power and the opposition.

The four days of intense political dialogue opened under most auspicious circumstances. President Abdou Diouf of Senegal, the incoming President of the OA U, and General Ibrahim Babangida, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and current President of the OAU, opened the meetings with detailed discussions of the importance of democracy and the need for pursuing a "transition" in the present economic and political context. Both presidents spoke in favor of mulit-party systems and a return by the military to the barracks. Both linked democracy with development.

The Senegalese and Nigerian governments co-financed the meeting, and, in addition, a number of African party leaders paid their own way. This occasion, not drummed up by donors from the outside, is notable as a truly African initiative.

Abdoulaye Wade, presently Minister of State in Senegal, presided over the conference with great tact. A few years ago he was in jail; he is a long-time opposition leader. He often gave the microphone first to oppostion party speakers during the lengthy country by country interventions, yet he also gave the right to reply to speakers who rose to reply or conradict a previous statement. The conference marked a brief "truce" in the often bitter African national political debates. While the discussions were always civil, there were several sharp exchanges (for example on Ivory Coast, Tchad and Djibouti) by representatives of rival groups. Many interesting details came to light and delegates formed cross-national links, while seeing their own national politics in fresh prespective.

Debates were translated into French or English; the many attending Portuguese-speaking Africans expressed themselves fully and freely in one of the two official languages.

Debate centered on building the political institutions necessary to achieve consensus on the rules needed to maintain multi-party systems, to hold fair and regular elections, and to keep the army in its place. The delegates paid respect to political martyrs of the past three decades in Africa, and identified their suffering with that of others in the long historic chain of fighters for freedom, in Africa and in the world.

In a dosing resolution, the conference expressed delight at achieving such a meeting after some thirty years of various forms of one-party or military rule. It called for regular Pan African inter-party meetings and agreed to work towards acceptance of basic and universal principles of democracy: free expression, association and enterprise, separation of powers, pluralism of political parties, trade unions and media, respect for human rights, free and democratic elections, and peaceful democratic succession. The conference rejected rule by single party or person, and identified varied patterns favoring or barring democratic transition. It urged adoption of laws in each country legalizing organized oppostion, alnd assuring outgoing heads of state of immunity and respect, as well as material support.

The conference called for three action outcomes: a Pan African party observer group for elections, a Pan African mediation group to settle political and armed conflicts (upon invitation by all concerned parties), and a small secretariat institutionalizing a General Conference of African Political Parties meeting annually.

It was an excellent step in the new round of multi-party building in Africa.

AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND

PEOPLES' RIGHTS Report on the 11th Session, Tunis, 2-10 March 1992 Claude E. WeIcht Jr., Chair, ASA Human Rights Committee

The African Commission is beginning to function with some effectiveness, although problems remain.

The Commission operates within the framework of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, adopted at the 1981 OAU summit meeting and formally in force since October 1986. The Commission meets twice annually for approximately a week. The Charter circumscribes the Commission's mandate and independence in numerous ways, as numerous commentators have written. Funding for the Commission was a problem for its early years, and the functioning of the Secretariat remains a continuing issue. The Commission plays a dual role, relating on the one hand to the OA U through the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, whose members tend naturally to uphold the status quo and Government, and on the other hand to individual Africans and to NGOs seeking active protection against human rights abuses. Inevitably, tension results.

Reports from the ratifying states provide the essential foundation for the Commission's work. The Commission has received initial reports from seven states (Libya, Rwanda and Tunisia were examined in April 1991, though quite cursorily; Egypt and Tanzania were considered in March 1992, with Nigeria and Togo deferred), Until all States Parties take preparation of these reports seriously, and until the Commission members, aided by NGOs, examine them in detail, shortcomings will remain. The Commission needs to increase the tempo and quality of submissions. It adopted a resolution that the OA U summit hopefully will endorse this summer, urging States Parties to submit overdue reports "as soon as possible."

The most secretive part of the Commission's work comes in examining communications from individuals alleging violations of rights protected by the Charter. Such examination occurs behind dosed doors. It is my understanding that, in the Commission's judgment, conditions in two states appear to constitute "a series of

serious or massive violations," in which case the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government is to be informed. The Commission also decided to contact several states with requests for information about new and pending cases.

Considering the scope of human rights abuses in OAU member states, the number of petitions is surprisingly-and distressingly-smal1. The number will inevitably increase, largely as a result of NGO activity. The Secretariat will have to develop a more efficient way of dealing with such communications, and States Parties must respond without undue delay to requests for information and correction of abuses.

Issues remain with respect to the efficiency of the Secretariat, the shortcomings inherent in the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights, and, most important, the problems human rights NGOs confront within individual African states. The Commission requires more effective administrative support than it has received to date. Its scope of activities will continue to be circumscribed by the Charter, although Commissioners can act creatively in areas of ambiguity. However, since the African Commission was designed essentially as a promotional rather than a protective body, its emphasis will differ from those of human rights NGOs, which stress protective steps. NGOs play an absolutely essential role in both protection and promotion. Unless and until they are able to take a more active role within OAU member states, extensive violations will continue.

In conclusion, I was impressed by the efforts made by African NGOs under difficult conditions, and by the efforts of international NGOs, notably the International Commission of Jurists, to assist them with communication and strengthening. In less than five years, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has made significant progress, comparable to other regional human rights bodies at similar points in their development.

ASA POLICY ON COORDINATE ORGANIZATIONS The following statement was adopted by the ASA Board of Directors at its meeting 8 May 1992.

Committees of the ASA Committees of the ASA will consist solely of Board

members or voting members of the ASA who have been selected by the Board. These committees report directly to the ASA Board.

ASA-Sponsored Organizations ASA-sponsored organizations consist of those

organizations that have a scholarly and professional interest in the continent of Africa as a whole and whose primary focus is facilitating the exchange of ideas, information and research findings on Africa.

These organizations have the following relationship of rights and responsibilities to the ASA:

1. Two-thirds (2/3) or 66 percent of their members must be members of the ASA on application. This percentage must be maintained as an average over a three (3) year period. If this three-year average falls below two-thirds or 66 percent, the ASA-sponsored organization will have one year to increase to the required level the percentage of their members who are also ASA members.

2. They must report to the Board, and give a report at the annual business meeting.

3. Activities in which ASA-sponsored organizations may wish to engage that are not concerned with the exchange of ideas, information and research findings on Africa must be approved by the Board.

4. These organizations also have the right to the following:

a. Use of the ASA name as part of their organization's name. b. Upon application to and approval by the Board, ASA subvention of their publications. c. Upon application to and approval by the Board, ASA financial support for special projects. d. Use of the ASA name in applications for outside financial support up to $100,000. e. Any monies applied for in excess of $100,000 must be approved in advance by the Board. f. Use of the ASA non-profit ID number. g. Free space at the annual ASA conference for their business meetings. h. Free A V equipment for sponsored panels. i. Authority to organize two panels free of ASA Panels

Committee Review. j. The highest priority for acceptance of those sposored panels that are subject to review by the ASA Panels Committee.

Associate Organizations Associate Organizations consist of those membership

organizations that have a scholarly and professional interest in Africa and which operate wholly independent of the ASA.

Associate Organizations have the following relationship of rights and responsibilities to the ASA:

1. One-third (1/3) or 33 percent of the ASA Associate Organization's membership must also be ASA members on application. This percentage must be maintained as an average over a three (3) year period. If this three-year average falls below two-thirds or 66 percent, the ASA-sponsored organization will have one year to increase to the required level the percentage of their members who are also ASA members.

2. They may: a. Have free space for their business meeting at the ASA annual meeting. b. Sponsor panels at the ASA annual meeting. c. Have a higher priority for acceptance of their sponsored panels.

Affiliate Organizations Affiliate Organizations consist of non-membership

organizations that have a scholarly and professional interest in Africa.

Affiliate Organizations will have the follOwing relationship of rights and responsibilities to the ASA. They may:

1. Have free space for their business meeting at the ASA annual meeting.

2. Sponsor panels at the ASA annual conference. 3. Have a high priority for acceptance of sponsored pan

els.

FUTURE MEETINGS & CALLS FOR PAPERS

The first Oromo Studies Association Conference,

''Reclaiming the Past and Charting the Future," will be held 7-9 August 1992 at The Humphrey Institute Conference Center at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. For further information contact Ismail Abdullahi, Oromo Studies Association, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern Station, Box 8888, Hattiesburg, MD 39406, (601) 582-9558, FAX (601) 264-8320.

For the first time in the history of the African Studies Association of Australia and the Pacific, New Zealand is to host the annual meeting. This is an exciting venture and it is hoped that many Australian members will support the decision and make the effort to cross the Tasman. The conference will be held at the African Information Centre in Wellington on 8-9 August 1992. Negotiations for fare discounts will be made with major airlines by the New Zealand conference committee. Details of these and accommodation and registration arrangements will be sent out as soon as possible.

Proposals for papers and suggestions for panels should be sent to Keith Sorrenson, Department of History, University Auckland, PB Aukland, New Zealand.

Panels, research papers and material submissions of public policy application in the substantive area of "Democracy & Democratization in Malawi" are solicited for possible presentation at a Research Colloquium on Malawi, Saturday,5 September 1992 in Washington, DC. Send proposal plus a biographical statement to Malawi Colloquium, Malawi Institute of International Affairs, P.O. Box 70257, Washington, DC 20024-0257, (202) 723-7010.

The 36th Annual Missouri Valley History Conference will be held in Omaha, Nebraska, 11-13 March 1993. Proposals for papers and sessions in all areas of history are welcome. Such proposals, accompanied with one-page abstracts and vitae, should be sent by 15 October 1992. Contact Dale Gaeddert, MVHC Coordinator, Department of History, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska 68182.

The Institute on African Affairs is pleased to announce that it is now accepting proposals for papers to be presented at its 1993 Conference on African Policy Issues due to take place in March 1993 in Washington, DC. The theme for this year's conference is ''Healthcare Problems and Policies." All papers must be problem-solving and must be directed towards dealing with a particular policy area or issue with specific recommendations. Papers will be accepted in one or a combination of any of the following issue areas: 'The Politics and Economics of Healthcare," "Adolescent and Elderly Health Issues," "Public Safety and Industrial Health," "Preventive Healthcare," "Maternal Health Issues," "Rural and Urban Health Delivery Systems," "Pharmaceutical Products and Services: Distribution and Availability," "Public and Environmental Health Issues," " Regulatory Issues of the Healthcare Industry," "International Cooperation on Healthcare Issues," "Gender Issues and Health," "Education and Training Issues for Healthcare Professionals," ''Food, Nutrition and Healthcare," and 'The AIDS Crisis."

Proposals may be submitted on health policy topics not listed. However, they must address a policy issue related to Africa. All proposals/abstracts (with vita) should be made by 30 September 1992 to Conference on African Policy Issues, Institute on African Affairs, 733 15th St., NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005. Selected papers will be published in the new Tournai of African Policy Studies.

The International Colloquium on the ''New Decade for Women," will be held Saturday, 27 March 1993 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. The Research & Working Group on "Women in Development" of the Association for the Advancement of Policy, Research, and Development in the Third World invites proposals for research papers, panels, and country-specific study in the following areas.

• Women in the Professions • Women in Development • Other issues pertinent to the New Decade for Women

within the suggested framework of the United Nations. Send a biographical professional statement along with

your proposal by Sunday, 1 November 1992 to Doug Ann Newsom, Department of Journalism, Texas Christian University, P.O. Box 32930, Fort Worth, TX 76129, (817) 921-7425, fax (817) 921-7133.

AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS

The Social Science Research Coun

cil Committee on International Peace and Security announces a competition for Visiting Scholar Fellowships. These three-month fellowships allow scholars, journalists, public servants, lawyers, and others to pursue research on innovati ve topics in international peace and security study at universities and major research centers outside their home regions. In 1992-1993, fellowships are offered to Africa, Eastern European, and Central European scholars and researchers who are resident in the countries of these regions.

Fellowships encourage junior scholars and others who can demonstrate comparable research experience to expand their participation in research and discussions on the security implications of worldwide cultural, military, social, economic, environmental, and political changes. The competition is designed for scholars in the first seven years of their postdoctoral careers and other eligible applicants at an equivalent stage. The competition gives strong priority to those who have not previously had the opportunity to study outside their home regions.

Fellowships will cover round-trip economy airfare, institutional fees, and a modest stipend. Fellowship awards will not exceed $9,000. For application materials and additional information contact The Program on International Peace and Security, SSRC,605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158, (212) 661-0280, FAX (212) 3707896. Deadline for applications is 15 September 1992.

The Sodal Science Research Council Committee on International Peace and Security announces a competition for grants to support small, topical workshops. These grants of up to $5,000 are available for workshops on

topics that test established assumptions about peace and security. Workshops permit small groups of junior faculty members and other junior scholars to meet for two or three days of intensive discussions of a specific topic. Workshops must involve papers. Workshops expected to lead to further collaboration, and preferably the publication of research findings.

Workshops must be initiated by individual recipients of SSRCMacArthur Foundation Fellowships in International Peace and Security (past and present), MacArthur Foundation Grants for Research and Writing, MacArthur Collaborative Studies Grants, or any other direct or indirect g