Ohio Wesleyan’s 2011 Sagan National Colloquium to Focus on Africa
This photo was taken on a safari by Ohio Wesleyan senior Rhett Rybarczyk in fall 2009 during his semester-long study in Tanzania. (Photo by Rhett Rybarczyk ’11)
Following several decades of civil strife and economic distress, authoritarian regimes in Africa have been replaced by multiparty competition, democratic principles, and good governance. With the end of apartheid in South Africa and the discovery of oil in other parts of the continent, Africa is poised for the third wave of accelerated economic development, regional economic cooperation, and genuine democratic reform.
The 2011 Sagan National Colloquium theme is “Africa: Governance, Equity, and Global Citizenship.” This fall, guest speakers will discuss the related issues in a series of free public lectures at Ohio Wesleyan. The list of speakers will be finalized and announced during the summer.
“Africa, as a continent, has been understudied and misunderstood—in spite of the remarkable progress made since independence in the early 1960’s,” says Randy Quaye, Ph.D., director of Ohio Wesleyan’s 2011 Sagan National Colloquium. “The Sagan National Colloquium will provide a forum for students, faculty, and the general audience to examine, thematically, issues affecting the continent, and in the process, help dispel some of the negative stereotypes about the continent.”
Randy Quaye is also associate professor of Black World Studies, director of the Black World Studies Program, and director of the Ohio Wesleyan in Tanzania Program.
Zanzibar is one of the cities visited by OWU students while studying in Tanzania. (Photo by Rhett Rybarczyk ’11)
During the fall semester, Quaye will be teaching a colloquium-related course (with the same title), which will explore the issues in depth.
Each year Ohio Wesleyan’s Sagan National Colloquium features major lectures and programs that address an issue of international importance. The colloquium is funded through an endowment from the late Margaret (Pickett) Sagan and the late John Sagan (both members of the OWU Class of 1948).
Africa also will be the destination for three OWU travel learning courses in 2012, which will take faculty and students: to Ghana for “Nation Building in Ghana,” taught by Quaye; to Tanzania for “Translational Research in Psychology,” taught by Andrew Brandt, Ph.D.; and to Tanzania for “Biology of East Africa,” taught by John Gatz, Ph.D., professor of zoology. In addition, the Ohio Wesleyan in Tanzania Program will include a semester-long study in Tanzania during spring semester 2012.
Learn more about the study in Tanzania this semester by OWU students and Quaye.