Institute for African Development
IAD Global Africa Monthly Webinar Series
Africans in Science and Technology
In contrast to the objective conditions and the current images of Africa in the global geo-politics measured by indicators of socio-economic performance, as the cradle of humankind, for tens of thousands of years the people of the continent exhibited what Basil Davidson referred to as the “African genius.” From the onset and throughout the different historical moments, ingenuity was crucial in all aspects of their livelihood. The tragic centuries of the transatlantic enslavement did not halt the creative capacities of the Africans who survived, amidst extreme hostile contexts.
This webinar focuses on the historical trajectories and projection into the future beyond the 21st century, exhibiting African innovative competence in science and technology as part of the most critical areas of a holistic organization for social progress.
Moderator: N'Dri Assie-Lumumba, Professor, Africana Studies, and Director, Institute for African Development, Cornell
Discussant: Professor Gregory Jenkins, Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Geography, and African Studies, Penn State University
“Ancient African Inventions and Innovations” - Professor Gloria Emeagwali, Central Connecticut State University
“African Knowledge and Skills in the Creation of the Americas” - Professor Sheila S. Walker, Afrodiaspora, Inc.
“ Challenges and Potential Long-Term Solutions to Sustainable Agricultural Development in Africa” - Professor Kifle G. Gebremedhin, Cornell University
“Building Resilience: Low-cost Innovation as the cornerstone for facing challenges and improving the lives of young people in Africa and its Diaspora” - Professor Gregory S. Jenkins, the Pennsylvania State University
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Institute for African Development Seminar: Moving Worlds, Moving Words - featuring Patricia Jabbeh Wesley
March 19, 2021
4:00 pm
Poetry is sometimes viewed as the least directly political of literary genres, yet the political and other forms of exile have encroached on the lives of writers. Forced to flee their homeland, writers have chosen to make exile a vital theme as well as a practical condition. The IAD Migration Poetry Hour will highlight poets whooften straddle two worlds, seeking truth in experience as theirpoetry bear witness to new beginnings, new experiences and new stories.
Dr. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, a Liberian civil war survivor and poet, who immigrated with her family to the US during the Liberian civil war. Her books of poetry have been critically reviewed by literary critics and scholars in Europe, Africa, South America, America, and elsewhere. A regular interviewee on her poetics by NPR affiliate TV and Radio stations around the US, Dr. Wesley is also a public speaker on topics about the Liberian civil war, the plight of women, and African and African Diaspora poetics. She is the author of six books of poetry and a children's book, including, Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems (Feb, 2020) When the Wanderers Come Home, (2016), Where the Road Turns, (2010), The River is Rising, (2007), Becoming Ebony, (2003), and Before the Palm Could Bloom: Poems of Africa, (2012). Jabbeh Wesleys individual poems and nonfiction articles have been published in numerous magazines, including Harvard Review, Harvard Divinity Review, Transition Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, New Orleans Review, Black Renaissance Noire, among others. Her poetry and nonfiction pieces have been anthologized in dozens of books in the US and across the world, and her work has been translated in Spanish, Finnish, and Hebrew. She is Professor of English, Creative Writing, and African Literature at Penn State Universitys Altoona campus. Conversations from Penn State | Patricia Jabbeh Wesley | Season 7 | Episode 11 | PBS
The event will be moderated by Naminata Diabate, Associate Professor, Comparative Literature, Cornell
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Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for African Development Seminar: Surviving the Pandemic: An Exploration of the Socio-Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Ghanaians
March 11, 2021
2:40 pm
Issues in African Development Seminar Series examines critical concerns in contemporary Africa using a different theme each semester. The seminars provide a forum for participants to explore alternative perspectives and exchange ideas. They are also a focal activity for students and faculty interested in African development. In addition, prepares students for higher level courses on African economic, social and political development. The presentations are designed for students who are interested in development, Africa’s place in global studies, want to know about the peoples, cultures and societies that call Africa home, and explore development theories and alternate viewpoints on development.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development
IAD Poetry Reading
Moving Words, Moving Worlds: Migration, Exile and Return
Poetry is sometimes viewed as the least directly political of literary genres, yet the political and other forms of exile have encroached on the lives of writers. Forced to flee their homeland, writers have chosen to make exile a vital theme as well as a practical condition. The IAD Migration Poetry Hour will highlight poets who straddle two worlds, seeking truth in experience as their poetry bear witness to new beginnings, new experiences and new stories.
Register here
Dr. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, a Liberian civil war survivor and poet, immigrated with her family to the US during the Liberian civil war. Her books of poetry have been critically reviewed by literary critics and scholars in Europe, Africa, South America, America, and elsewhere. A regular interviewee on her poetics by NPR affiliate TV and Radio stations around the US, Dr. Wesley is also a public speaker on topics about the Liberian civil war, the plight of women, and African and African Diaspora poetics. She is the author of six books of poetry and a children's book, including, Praise Song for My Children: New and Selected Poems (Feb, 2020) “When the Wanderers Come Home,” (2016), “Where the Road Turns,” (2010), “The River is Rising,” (2007), “Becoming Ebony,” (2003), and “Before the Palm Could Bloom: Poems of Africa,” (2012). Jabbeh Wesley’s individual poems and nonfiction articles have been published in numerous magazines, including Harvard Review, Harvard Divinity Review, Transition Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, New Orleans Review, Black Renaissance Noire, among others. Her poetry and nonfiction pieces have been anthologized in dozens of books in the US and across the world, and her work has been translated in Spanish, Finnish, and Hebrew. She is Professor of English, Creative Writing, and African Literature at Penn State University’s Altoona campus. Conversations from Penn State | Patricia Jabbeh Wesley | Season 7 | Episode 11 | PBS
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High Food Prices are Part of a 'One-Two Punch' for Struggling Americans
Chris Barrett, IAD and SEAP
“The risk of food price spikes is driving people into diets or undernutrition who don't need to be there. We've got to find ways to both temper demand growth and to accelerate supply growth,” says Chris Barrett, professor of applied economics.
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naked agency: GENITAL CURSING AND BIOPOLITICS IN AFRICA
March 3, 2021
4:00 pm
naked agency: GENITAL CURSING AND BIOPOLITICS IN AFRICA
Please join Naminata Diabate for a book Discussion.
Naminata Diabate is associate professor of comparative literature at Cornell University. With linguistic expertise in Malinké, French, English, Nouchi, Spanish, and Latin, she explores questions of gender, sexuality, and race in Africa and the African diaspora. Analyzing novels, films, visual arts, and digital media, Diabate’s most recent work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, collections of essays, and her book, Naked Agency: Genital Cursing and Biopolitics in Africa (Duke University Press, 2020). Currently, she is working on two monographs, “The Problem of Pleasure in Global Africa” and “Digital Insurgencies and Bodily Domains.”
REGISTER HERE
https://societyhumanities.as.cornell.edu/naminata-diabate-her-book-nake…
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Program
Institute for African Development
Institute for African Development Seminar: The Need for Climate Justice in Africa and its Diaspora: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
March 4, 2021
2:40 pm
Issues in African Development Seminar Series examines critical concerns in contemporary Africa using a different theme each semester. The seminars provide a forum for participants to explore alternative perspectives and exchange ideas. They are also a focal activity for students and faculty interested in African development. In addition, prepares students for higher level courses on African economic, social and political development. The presentations are designed for students who are interested in development, Africa’s place in global studies, want to know about the peoples, cultures and societies that call Africa home, and explore development theories and alternate viewpoints on development.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for African Development Seminar: The Importance of Clean Water and the Role of African Woman in Situation of Health Crises / Importance de l’eau potable et la place de la femme Africaine en situation de crise sanitaire: cas de la COVID-19
February 25, 2021
2:40 pm
Issues in African Development Seminar Series examines critical concerns in contemporary Africa using a different theme each semester. The seminars provide a forum for participants to explore alternative perspectives and exchange ideas. They are also a focal activity for students and faculty interested in African development. In addition, prepares students for higher level courses on African economic, social and political development. The presentations are designed for students who are interested in development, Africa’s place in global studies, want to know about the peoples, cultures and societies that call Africa home, and explore development theories and alternate viewpoints on development.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for African Development Seminar: Student Health In COVID-19: Challenges and Prospects of Supply Chain Management in Africa
February 18, 2021
2:40 pm
Issues in African Development Seminar Series examines critical concerns in contemporary Africa using a different theme each semester. The seminars provide a forum for participants to explore alternative perspectives and exchange ideas. They are also a focal activity for students and faculty interested in African development. In addition, prepares students for higher level courses on African economic, social and political development. The presentations are designed for students who are interested in development, Africa’s place in global studies, want to know about the peoples, cultures and societies that call Africa home, and explore development theories and alternate viewpoints on development.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development
Institute for African Development Seminar: A Holistic Approach to the Design and Management of Public Health Policy in Africa: Necessity and Effectiveness of a Multi-Sectorial Synergy
February 11, 2021
2:40 pm
Issues in African Development Seminar Series examines critical concerns in contemporary Africa using a different theme each semester. The seminars provide a forum for participants to explore alternative perspectives and exchange ideas. They are also a focal activity for students and faculty interested in African development. In addition, prepares students for higher level courses on African economic, social and political development. The presentations are designed for students who are interested in development, Africa’s place in global studies, want to know about the peoples, cultures and societies that call Africa home, and explore development theories and alternate viewpoints on development.
Additional Information
Program
Einaudi Center for International Studies
Institute for African Development