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In partnership with the Center for African Studies, through support from the US Department of Education's Title VI Program, Krannert Center welcomes Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited for a performance at Stage 5 in the central Lobby. The performance will be accompanied by commentary from Mhoze Chikowero based on his award-winning book, African Music, Power, and Being in Colonial Zimbabwe.
Thomas Mapfumo is known as "The Lion of Zimbabwe" for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his music, including his sharp criticism of the government of President Robert Mugabe. He both created and made popular Chimurenga music, a Zimbabwean music genre that blends traditional Shona mbira music with modern electric instruments and lyrics characterized by social and political commentary. The word chimurenga itself is the word for liberation in the Shona language. Mapfumo's slow-moving style and distinctive voice is instantly recognizable to Zimbabweans.
Mhoze Chikowero, Professor of African History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, just won the J.H. Kwabena Nketia book prize for 2014-16. His book presents a historical account of the articulation of colonialism and self-liberation in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa through music and related performative cultures. The Blacks Unlimited, and particularly its leader Thomas Mapfumo, feature prominently in the book.
Together, the talk and performance advance an African multimodal approach to self-authorship that brings together scholarship and performance in the same space to present a powerful experience of music and intellectual discourse.
African Studies Announcements
Symposium on Teaching Transitional Justice: W.E.B. DuBois Lecture with Dr.Allan Boesak
Published Date:May 9, 2018
Click here to view the W.E.B. DuBois Lecture with Dr.Allan Boesak, part of the 2018 Symposium on Teaching Transitional Justice.
Published Date: May 9, 2018
CAS Support for GEO
Published Date:February 28, 2018
TO: Chancellor Jones,
Provost Cangellaris,
LAS Dean Hu,
LAS Associate Dean Tewksbury,
Graduate College Dean Chodzko-Zajko
RE: Center for African Studies’ Support For Graduate Employees Organization
The Center for African Studies writes to express our support for the Graduate Employees’ Organization in their bargaining efforts towards a fair contract with the University of Illinois. The strike is now in its third day and there has been significant disruption to the teaching mission of the university.
We urge Provost Cangellaris and the University bargaining team to work with the GEO to find a solution to provide a fair contract, especially considering that our graduate student employees have been without a contract since the beginning of the academic year. We support an agreement that maintains their tuition waivers, pays them a living wage that follows the University’s own published cost of living, and provides them with adequate healthcare.
We acknowledge the vital role that graduate students play as Teaching Assistants at our university, especially at the undergraduate level, helping us fulfill the mission of the university with regards to teaching, research, and service.
CAS joins other units in expressing our support for a fair contact for our graduate students.
Teresa Barnes (Director, CAS)
Maimouna Barro (Associate Director, CAS)
CAS Executive Committee
Ken Salo
Allyson Purpura
Atoma Batoma
Mauro Nobili
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Teresa Barnes
Director, Center for African Studies
www.afrst.illinois.edu
Associate Professor, History Department and Gender & Women's Studies Department
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801
Ph: 217-333-6335 or 217-333-1155
Published Date: February 28, 2018
Movie Review Competition: Marvel's Black Panther
Published Date:February 8, 2018
Published Date: February 8, 2018
Summer 2018 opportunities on campus: Summer Intensive Arabic Program for High School Students
Published Date:February 6, 2018
Published Date: February 6, 2018
Summer 2018 opportunities on campus: SILMW program
Published Date:February 6, 2018
Published Date: February 6, 2018
Thomas Mapfumo & The Blacks Unlimited with Author Mhoze Chikowero: Sounds of African Liberation
Published Date:April 12, 2017
https://illinois.edu/lb/files/2017/03/28/61329.JPG
Published Date: April 12, 2017
What Does The Ban Mean for Africa: Conversations about Immigration, Foreign-ness, and Resistance
Published Date:February 7, 2017
The Center for African Studies and The Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies invite you to a panel to discuss the recent signing of “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” an Executive Order targeting immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim nations, including Libya, Somalia, and Sudan. The event is co-sponsored by the University YMCA and will take place Tuesday, February 7, from 1:00-3:00 in Latzer Hall, University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St., C. Please join us. Click here for more information.
Published Date: February 7, 2017
Dr. Mauro Nobili on Arabic, Timbuktu, and West Africa, an Interview with Dr. Mauro Nobili, Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Katrina Spencer, Graduate student in Library and Information Science and CAS FLAS student
Published Date:April 4, 2016
Dr. Mauro Nobili is a history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Here he discusses his research as it relates to the fabled city of Timbuktu and the linguistic challenges posed to those addressing similar areas of interest. Click here for details.
Published Date: April 4, 2016
“Thinking about Our Shared Common Ancestry–Pausing to Reflect Back on My Career as an Africanist,” an Interview with Dr. Alma Gottlieb, Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois by Dallas Tatman, Graduate Student in Religious Studies.
Published Date:March 17, 2016
An Interview by Dallas Tatman, Graduate student in Religious Studies, as part of the Center for African Studies' Graduate core course, AFST 522: “Development of African Studies,” Spring 2016.
Click here for details.
Published Date: March 17, 2016
“Memories and Images of the East African Coast,” an Interview with Dr. Prita Meier, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Illinois by Beth A. Williams, Doctoral Student in History
Published Date:March 17, 2016
“Memories and Images of the East African Coast,” Dr. Prita Meier, Assistant Professor of Art History. Interview by Beth A. Williams, Doctoral student in History, as part of the Center for African Studies' Graduate core course, AFST 522: “Development of African Studies,” Spring 2016.
Click here for details.
Published Date: March 17, 2016
Three Decades, and Africa, an Interview with Professor Teresa Barnes, Professor of African History, University of Illinois by Katrina Spencer, Graduate student in Library and Information Science and CAS FLAS student
Published Date:March 1, 2016
Click here to listen to an interview of Professor Teresa Barnes by CAS FLAS student Katrina Spencer.
Published Date: March 1, 2016
Renowned African liberation supporter Prexy Nesbitt will speak to CAS sessions on History of African Liberation Movements and Lessons for US today March 10-11
Published Date:February 18, 2016
CAS will host a two-day seminar which will bring together Africanist academics from the U of I and colleges across the state. The content will focus on the links between African Studies and contemporary racial justice struggles in the US as well as examine the potential for expanding Africana Studies in Illinois community colleges. The event is jointly organized by CAS, Department of African American Studies, and the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University as part of a Title VI grant. Co-sponsors include: Center for South Asian and the Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES), Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, and LAS Global Studies Program.
Click here for details.
Published Date: February 18, 2016
Article titled, The Evolution of Shea Butter's 'Paradox of paradoxa' and the Potential Opportunity for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to Improve Quality, Market Access and Women's Livelihoods across Rural Africa by Dr. Bello-Bravo Published in SUSTAINABILITY, Vol.7, Iss. 5, 2015
Published Date:May 8, 2015
Click here to read more.
Published Date: May 8, 2015
We are proud to note that CAS and its faculty affiliates are prominently featured in the current issue ( No. 20; SPRING/SUMMER 2015 ) of ILLINOIS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW
Published Date:May 7, 2015
2014 International Achievement Award Recipients-Gregory Damhorst
Wamkilekile-Welcome to South Africa-Introduction by Jan Brooks
Illinois Mobilizes to Educate on Ebola
Published Date: May 7, 2015
Breakthrough Research, Global Impact - Cell Phone Animations and Global Development
Published Date:April 15, 2015
Read the full article, click here.
Published Date: April 15, 2015
Underrepresented doctoral students in STEM receive grant
Published Date:April 7, 2015
Read the full article, click here
Published Date: April 7, 2015
CAS introduces new blog on Ebola Response and Resources
Published Date:November 3, 2014
The Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois recently introduced a new blog that aims to raise awareness and collate resources surrounding the recent Ebola outbreak in W. Africa. To view the blog, click here.
The "Ebola Response and Resources" website contains latest developments on the Ebola outbreak in the media, educational materials, way to contribute, as well as information about the Scientific Animation Without Borders (SWABO) Ebola animation project.
Published Date: November 3, 2014
International Food Security at Illinois (IFSI) announces new website and invites affiliates
Published Date:October 27, 2014
ACES at the University of Illinois has announced the release of a new website for the International Food Security at Illinois (IFSI) program. IFSI aims to "works to secure abundant food for everyone through food systems research and innovation". To view the website, click here.
To apply to be an affiliate, please fill out the following form by October 31st: https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/6397093
Published Date: October 27, 2014
Undergraduate Internship - Soybean Innovation Lab
Published Date:October 22, 2014
Published Date: October 22, 2014
CAS Community to present at African Studies Association Annual Conference in Indiana
Published Date:October 10, 2014
To view the list of presentations, click here.
Published Date: October 10, 2014