The African Students Organization (ASO) of Michigan Tech starts a colloquium series this October on understanding the role that Africa and her Diasporas play on the global stage. This was made known to the LODE during the association’s meeting on Saturday, Oct 8, 2016 at Fisher Hall, room 327.
The ASO was established in spring 2001 as an umbrella organization for all undergraduate and graduate students at Michigan Tech with ancestral ties to Africa. The current membership is around 30 consisting of members from Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, the USA and Zimbabwe. Although the association is mainly for Africans, African-Americans and Caribbean due to their historical ties, membership is open to people from other countries who would like to know more about the continent.
According to the president of the association, Tolulope Odebunmi, a second year PhD rhetoric, theory and culture student, “the main goal of the series is to create a platform for conversations on the current researches and trends of development in Africa and her Diasporas”. The colloquium hinges on the conviction that “Africa and African Diasporas are changing so rapidly in dynamic and ingenious ways with the quest to producing relevant knowledge, building social institutions, renewing practices and contributing to the wellbeing of humanity. Available theories and stereotypical knowledge, however, have put the strides of Africa and her Diasporas into the background of global conversations,” Tolulope said.
The colloquium series will be held twice each semester under the auspices of the association’s advisor Professor Kedmon Hungwe of the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences at Michigan Tech. Some of the speakers lined up for the series are two Michigan Tech PhD students, Nancy Henaku and Yunana Ahmed. The others are Professors Nwando Achebe, Niyi Osundare and Folu Ogundimu among others.
Professor Nwando Achebe is a historian and daughter of the eminent writer Chinua Achebe. She was appointed a full Professor of History at Michigan State University at the age of 39. She is also the founding editor-in-chief of the new Journal of West African History and is a member of the African Studies Association’s (ASA) Board of Directors. Professor Niyi Osundare is an acclaimed poet, dramatist, academic and media columnist at the University of New Orleans, as well as a Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Letters (NAL), the country’s highest Academy for the Humanities. Professor Folu Ogundimu is professor of journalism and communication at Michigan State University and a former consultant to the USAID in Zambia and the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Ethiopia.
