African Studies hosts a regular brown bag series at the University of Illinois campus every Wednesday from noon to 1 pm in the International Studies Building. It is open to the public and all are welcome to bring their lunch and attend these sessions.
It is an opportunity for students, faculty, staff, and community members to learn about the research and work that other Africanists are undertaking.
For scholars working on new material or preparing a publication, dissertation, or thesis, the venue provides an environment to present your material amongst colleagues and friends and get supportive feedback.
For attendees, the series is a means to learn about other people's research and work. It is also an opportunity to expand your African studies networks within the UIUC community and beyond.
Spring 2013 Brown Bags (Click here)
January 23
“Disrupting Patriarchy: An Examination of the Role of E-Technologies in Rural Kenya"
Brenda N. Sanya--Doctoral Student in Global Studies in Education in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
January 30
“Humor, Irony and Ordinary Absurdity: Rural Subordination through a Camera’s Lens”
Jesse Ribot--Director: Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy: Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science; African Studies; Latin American and Caribbean Studies; and School of Earth, Society, and Environment
February 5
“Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Kuwait: The Transnational Trajectory of an African Literary Classic”
Wail Hassan--Professor, Program in Comparative and World Literature
Sponsored in collaboration with the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, UIUC
February 6
“Health Data Collection Efforts Targeting Obesity and Nutrition-Related Non-Communicable Conditions in Uganda”
Diane Grigsby-Toussaint--Assistant Professor of Kinesiology and Community Health and Division of Nutritional Sciences, Center for African Studies
Mary J. Christoph--PhD/MPH Student in Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
February 20
“Contesting Identities: The Mijikenda and Their Neighbors in Kenyan Coastal Society”
Rebecca Gearhart--Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair, Department of Sociology & Anthropology at Illinois Wesleyan University
Linda Giles--Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at Illinois Wesleyan University
March 6
"Workplace Transitioning Experiences of Internationally Educated Nurses”
Anne Namatsi Lutomia--Doctoral Student in the Division of Human Resource Development in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership
April 10
“Unsettling Academics: Anti-Colonial Designs for Higher Education in 1960s Sierra Leone”
Zack Poppel--Doctoral Candidate in Department of History
“Art, Xenophobia, and Social Change: Examining the Intersection of Zimbabwean Stone Sculpture and South African Art Activism"
Lance Larkin--Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Anthropology
For information on past brown bags please go to: Archive of Past Events: Brown Bag Lectures and Events