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The seminar series for fall 2023 explores the future of African land, agriculture and food, digging into the contestations, conflicting and converging visions from a wide range of perspectives. How might land be used, valued and lived in, across cities, rural communities, forests, deserts and grasslands on the continent in the future? Who is proposing different visions of land futures in Africa, what are the histories, politics, socio-cultural, environmental and economic implications of these potential visions? In one of the regions with the most youthful populations, how are young people considering possible futures? What are ways that land, agriculture and food systems could be resilient, healthy, ecological, thriving and just? Can there be a decolonial agriculture and food future in Africa that celebrates Indigenous and local foodways?

The seminar series for fall 2023 explores the future of African land, agriculture and food, digging into the contestations, conflicting and converging visions from a wide range of perspectives. How might land be used, valued and lived in, across cities, rural communities, forests, deserts and grasslands on the continent in the future? Who is proposing different visions of land futures in Africa, what are the histories, politics, socio-cultural, environmental and economic implications of these potential visions? In one of the regions with the most youthful populations, how are young people considering possible futures? What are ways that land, agriculture and food systems could be resilient, healthy, ecological, thriving and just? Can there be a decolonial agriculture and food future in Africa that celebrates Indigenous and local foodways?

Panel discussion: An Emahoy century – On Emahoy’s life

An aura of legend has coalesced around Emahoy’s astonishing life, marked by worldly renunciation, steadfast spiritual resilience, and restless migration and exile. This panel discussion will situate Emahoy as a not only legendary, but also historical figure, considering her biography against the backdrop of nearly a century of intense sociopolitical change, in Ethiopia and abroad.

Featuring Hanna Kebbede (CEO of Emahoy Tsege Mariam Music Foundation and Publisher, and Emahoy’s niece) and Tamrat Kebede (Executive Director of InterAfrica Group, and Emahoy’s nephew); moderated by Prof. Fouad Makki (Associate Professor, Cornell Department of Global Development).

This event is part of a two-day symposium, titled Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru at 100, celebrating the music and life of the legendary Ethiopian composer, pianist, and nun, Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru. The events will include panel discussions about Emahoy’s life and archive, and presentations of Emahoy’s music (some never yet performed) in live concert performances, and from her personal recordings. All events will be free and open to the public, and hosted on Cornell’s campus.

This symposium is generously co-sponsored by the Cornell Music Department, Cornell Council for the Arts, the Institute for Comparative Modernities, Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, the Institute for African Development, the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, Society for the Humanities, the Jian and Tran Family Charitable Fund, the Music Graduate Association, and Cornell Centers for Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging.

Panel discussion: “Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid” – On Emahoy’s archive

Only a fraction of Emahoy’s musical legacy has yet been represented on recordings and sheet music publications made available to the public. This panel will discuss Emahoy’s vast collection of home recordings and manuscripts, ongoing efforts to steward them (including those here at Cornell), and what we music we might hear from them in the future.

Featuring Tre Berney (Director of Cornell DCAPS), Desi Alexander (Audiovisual Collections Coordinator, Cornell DCAPS), and Cyrus Moussavi (Producer and Owner, Mississippi Records), moderated by Prof. Ben Piekut (Cornell Department of Music).

This event is part of a two-day symposium, titled Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru at 100, celebrating the music and life of the legendary Ethiopian composer, pianist, and nun, Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru. The events will include panel discussions about Emahoy’s life and archive, and presentations of Emahoy’s music (some never yet performed) in live concert performances, and from her personal recordings. All events will be free and open to the public, and hosted on Cornell’s campus.

This symposium is generously co-sponsored by the Cornell Music Department, Cornell Council for the Arts, the Institute for Comparative Modernities, Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, the Institute for African Development, the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, Society for the Humanities, the Jian and Tran Family Charitable Fund, the Music Graduate Association, and Cornell Centers for Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging.

Laidlaw Scholars at Cornell will share their summer research and leadership-in-action experiences at this annual symposium.

Beginning in the Klarman Hall Auditorium, a panel of scholars will share their work and experiences. The presentation will be followed by poster presentations throughout the Groos Family Atrium.

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholarship Program provides generous funding to first- and second-year undergraduates over two years as they pursue internationally focused research, engage in leadership training and a leadership-in-action experience, and join a global network of like-minded peers.

Learn more about the program, which is administered by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies with leadership training support from the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.

Register

The seminar series for fall 2023 explores the future of African land, agriculture and food, digging into the contestations, conflicting and converging visions from a wide range of perspectives. How might land be used, valued and lived in, across cities, rural communities, forests, deserts and grasslands on the continent in the future? Who is proposing different visions of land futures in Africa, what are the histories, politics, socio-cultural, environmental and economic implications of these potential visions? In one of the regions with the most youthful populations, how are young people considering possible futures? What are ways that land, agriculture and food systems could be resilient, healthy, ecological, thriving and just? Can there be a decolonial agriculture and food future in Africa that celebrates Indigenous and local foodways?

Recital: “Story of the Wind” – Piano music by Emahoy and Chopin

Music DMA candidate Thomas Feng performs well- and lesser-known works by Emahoy, interspersed with music by her admired Chopin, for which scores were found in Emahoy’s room following her passing this past spring. Following Ghanaian musicologist Kofi Agawu’s proposed analytical framework of “strategic sameness”, this program seeks to illuminate parallels between the two composers, challenging the conception of Emahoy’s music as exotically, incommensurably “Other”, while also destabilizing received understandings of Chopin’s music as canonically unmarked. An alternation of laments, reminiscences, mazurkas, and (especially) waltzes culminates in a performance of Emahoy’s sprawling, unrecorded “Grande Valzer Improvisata”, inspired by Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, and composed at the outset of the Ethiopian Revolution.

This event is part of a two-day symposium, titled Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru at 100, celebrating the music and life of the legendary Ethiopian composer, pianist, and nun, Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru. The events will include panel discussions about Emahoy’s life and archive, and presentations of Emahoy’s music (some never yet performed) in live concert performances, and from her personal recordings. All events will be free and open to the public, and hosted on Cornell’s campus.

This symposium is generously co-sponsored by the Cornell Music Department, Cornell Council for the Arts, the Institute for Comparative Modernities, Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, the Institute for African Development, the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, Society for the Humanities, the Jian and Tran Family Charitable Fund, the Music Graduate Association, and Cornell Centers for Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging.

Listening Party: Souvenirs

Emahoy sings poignantly of faith, family, and Ethiopia on Souvenirs, a record forthcoming on Mississippi Records. Following a panel discussion about Emahoy’s archival materials, this listening party offers an exclusive chance to hear music from Emahoy’s only full-length vocal album, transferred and mastered from Emahoy’s own home cassette recordings, before its release in the coming spring.

This event is part of a two-day symposium, titled Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru at 100, celebrating the music and life of the legendary Ethiopian composer, pianist, and nun, Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru. The events will include panel discussions about Emahoy’s life and archive, and presentations of Emahoy’s music (some never yet performed) in live concert performances, and from her personal recordings. All events will be free and open to the public, and hosted on Cornell’s campus.

This symposium is generously co-sponsored by the Cornell Music Department, Cornell Council for the Arts, the Institute for Comparative Modernities, Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, the Institute for African Development, the Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards, Society for the Humanities, the Jian and Tran Family Charitable Fund, the Music Graduate Association, and Cornell Centers for Equity, Empowerment, and Belonging.