African Languages and Societies Commons^™

Oil Wealth, Resource Curse And Development: Any Lessons For Ghana?, Felix Kumah-Abiwu, Edward Brenya, James Agbodzakey

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Ghana’s new status as an oil-producing country has invigorated the scholarly debate on the resource curse theory, which assumes that countries with vast natural resource wealth like oil, diamond and gold are likely to experience slow economic growth and development as compared to countries with scarce natural resources. Although the development literature is well endowed with cases of countries with huge natural resources that have experienced slow economic growth, the literature is also clear on few other countries with enormous natural resources that continue to experience high economic growth due to strong political institutions and democratic practices. Norway and Botswana …

Creating Knowledge, Volume 8, 2015

Creating Knowledge

Dear reader,

I am delighted to introduce this eighth volume of Creating Knowledge: The LAS Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship. This volume features 19 essays and 14 art works, representing advanced coursework produced in twenty different departments and programs during the 2014-2015 academic year. Several of the essays have been honored with department awards and several draw on research supported by undergraduate research grants. Many were originally written in senior capstone seminars, research-intensive seminars, and independent studies, and many were presented in some form at one of the numerous conferences and showcases sponsored by departments and programs throughout the year. All …

Review Of Jon Stratton And Nabeel Zuberi's Black Popular Music In Britain Since 1945 (2014), Tim Engles

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

A review of Jon Stratton and Nabeel Zuberi's book Black Popular Music in Britain since 1945.

The Expectation Of Emotional Strength And Its Impact On African American Women's Weight, Necole L. Rivers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American (AA) women have the highest rates of obesity and weight-related diseases of any other cultural group in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between acceptance of the Strong Black Woman (SBW) cultural construct and the following weight-related health factors: body mass index (BMI), high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes mellitus (DM). The hypothesis was that a positive relationship exists between accepting the SBW persona and weight-related health factors. The theory of womanism was used to guide this study. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 127 AA women to participant in an …

Exploring The Viability Of Establishing A Children’S Grief Camp In South Africa, Joann Borer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The death of a loved one is an inevitable and unavoidable phase of life that everyone must experience. A variety of thoughts and feelings follow the death a close friend or relative. It is crucial to address the thoughts and feelings associated with the death so that individuals can grief in a healthy manner. Those living in South Africa are most likely going to experience the death of a loved one since South Africa has such a high mortality rate. Through a qualitative study, this paper explores the death system and culture in South Africa. In addition, the organizations and …

Threads And Stitches Of Peace- Understanding What Makes Ghana An Oasis Of Peace?, Hippolyt Akow Saamwan Pul

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Ghana is considered an oasis of peace despite having the same mix of ethno-political competitions for state power and resources; north-south horizontal inequalities; ethno-regional concentrations of Christians and Muslims; highly ethnicised elections; a natural resource dependent economy; and a politically polarized public sphere, among others, that have plunged other countries in Africa into violent and often protracted national conflicts. Use of the conflict paradigm to explain Africa's conflicts glosses over positive deviance cases such as Ghana. This study used the peace paradigm in a mixed method, grounded theory research to examine Ghana's apparent exceptionalism in staving off violent national conflicts. …

La Lutte Pour L'Azawad: Mnla Public Relations Responses To Conflict In Northern Mali, 2011-2014, Sean Neil Curtis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis examines the Internet public relations content of Mali's Tuareg rebel group, the Mouvement National de la Liberation de L'Azawad (MNLA). Content analysis grounded in speech act securitization theory is applied to the 259 posts on the MNLA's primary French language website in order to determine if MNLA website posts correlate with the events occurring in the northern Mali conflict. The data reveals that various characteristics of MNLA statements do correlate with events in the conflict. What the MNLA says provides important insight into the organization and the conflict itself. The identified correlations allow for MNLA rhetoric and activity …

Factoring As A Financing Alternative For African Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Robert Lumbuye Tomusange

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the main drivers of economic growth and employment. African SMEs are constrained by a lack of access to finance. In line with the pecking order theory, capital-constrained SMEs are expected to seek external finance. However, due to credit rationing, African SMEs have limited success raising finance. Factoring could enable African SMEs to gain access to finance, as underwriters mainly place the risk on the receivables as opposed to the firm itself. Despite its benefits, factoring has not taken root in sub-Saharan Africa. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the obstacles and …

Cfp - Pan-African/Palestinian Solidarities

South

This collection seeks to assemble and make visible the historical and contemporary voices of bi-directional solidarity between Palestine and the Pan-African world. Shared struggles against colonialism, racism, apartheid, settler violence, historical erasure, patriarchy, class exploitation, and other forms of oppression link Pan-African and Palestinian communities throughout all periods of their often intertwined and overlapping histories. This is particularly true in the period of anti-colonial independence struggles, especially following the 1967 war, and in the global BDS movement today. But it is also continuous throughout the twentieth century, and especially since the Nakba in 1948. Because much of this history is …

Into The Red: A Look Into The Reasons Why Refugees Decide To Flee, Settle Or Migrate To And From Morocco, Fadeelah E. Holivay

Master's Theses

This research paper explores some of the main reasons why refugees and asylum seekers, particularly from sub-Saharan African countries, embark on a journey and decide to settle, flee or migrate to and from Morocco. Because of this phenomenon, Morocco has seen a 96% increase of refugees migrating to the borders of Morocco each year for the past three years. Many say that this astonishing increase of migrants choosing Morocco is due to such factors as: wars breaking out regionally across central African and Middle Eastern countries causing them to flee; Morocco being a culturaly diverse francophone country whose laws and …

Generational Inversions: 'Working' For Social Reproduction Amid Hiv In Swaziland, Casey Golomski

Anthropology

How do people envision social reproduction when regular modes of generational succession and continuity are disrupted in the context of HIV/AIDS? How and where can scholars identify local ideas for restoring intergenerational practices of obligation and dependency that produce mutuality rather than conflict across age groups? Expanding from studies of HIV/AIDS and religion in Africa, this article pushes for an analytic engagement with ritual as a space and mode of action to both situate local concerns about and practices for restoring dynamics of social reproduction. It describes how the enduring HIV/AIDS epidemic in Swaziland contoured age patterns of mortality where …

Chercheurs D’Afrique Et Archive Coloniale, Jean-Pierre Karegeye

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The main goal of this article is to demonstrate that discourse on the Rwandan genocide has an origin. In other words, the hamitic myth transcends the question of race and is present in its most radical form in the events of 1994 in Rwanda. However, the myth itself is not intrinsically genocidal, but it did clear the path. The danger arose when the myth was demythified, that is to say, perceived as historic reality and scientific knowledge, and entered a new environment of genocide discourse. To proceed based on the notion of archive is to approach the genocide in relation …

Esquisse D’Un Projet Épistémologique Pour La Science Politique Dans Une Afrique Post-Génocide, Mame-Penda Ba

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This article attempts to answer two main questions: “What does it mean to teach political science in an African university when oneself is African?” and “what social realities are we documenting (or should we document)?” As a political scientist, I came to ask myself these questions based on my encounter with the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda, and based on the questions that this major event had kindled in me. My encounter with the subject of “genocide” was in all respects an upheaval because I understood suddenly a large weakness in the way political science was taught at Université …

The Imam And The Pastor: Attempts At Peace In Nigeria Using Interfaith Dialogue, Jinelle Piereder

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Fearless: Margaret Jennifer Johnson, Christina L. Bassler

SURGE

Fearless Margaret “Jennifer” Johnson arrived on campus in the fall of 2011, she wasted no time in looking for opportunities to get involved. During her first year, she joined the Gettysburg Gospel Choir as treasurer, rebuilt houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina during an Immersion trip with CPS, was a member of the BSU, and a Senate Rep for the NAACP. Her list of involvement in clubs and organizations continued to grow throughout her years on campus, however, she felt like a part of her was still absent on campus. [excerpt]

Once Upon Our Time: The Ancient Art Of Storytelling In A Contemporary West Africa, Harlee Keller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Storytelling is an art form that has been flourishing in Senegal since the country’s origin. Traditionally, storytelling was a communal endeavor, oral and interactive. As modernity crept up on Senegal storytelling began to change, oral tradition only partially surviving in rural settings, almost completely obsolete in big cities. I am particularly interested in how Wolof tales and oral storytelling are surviving in a modernizing Senegal. I think that storytelling is a form of cultural education for children and adults alike, and that preservation is dire for the survival of this art. I will discuss story structure, content and the opinions …

“In Light Of Real Alternatives”: Negotiations Of Fertility And Motherhood In Morocco And Oman, Victoria E. Mohr

Student Publications

Many states in the Arab world have undertaken wide-ranging family planning polices in the last two decades in an effort to curb high fertility rates. Oman and Morocco are two such countries, and their policies have had significantly different results. Morocco experienced a swift drop in fertility rates, whereas Oman’s fertility has declined much more slowly over several decades. Many point to the more conservative religious and cultural context of Oman for their high fertility rates, however economics and the state of biomedical health care often present a more compelling argument for the distinct differences between Omani and Moroccan family …

Perceptions Of Peace And Reconciliation: Case Of Lokokwo Peyot Women’S Group In Paidwe Parish, Bobi Sub-County, Amanda R. Kaste

Student Publications

This research project explores perceptions of peace and reconciliation among female members of the Lokokwo Peyot Women’s Group in Paidwe Parish, Bobi Sub-County, Gulu District. It aims to understand how women define the concepts of peace and reconciliation and how women currently perceive peace and reconciliation within their community. It also attempts to further understand these perceptions through examining the women’s past experiences and current challenges. The project displays the impact of women’s involvement in peacebuilding and conflict mediation in a region that is desperately trying to recover from decades of destruction and violence.

Research was carried out at two …

Jean Sénac, Poet Of The Algerian Revolution, Kai G. Krienke

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The work presented here is an exploration of the poetry and life of Jean Sénac, and through Sénac, of the larger role of poetry in the political and social movements of the 50s, 60s, and early 70s, mainly in Algeria and America. While Sénac was part of the European community in Algeria, his position regarding French rule changed dramatically over the course of the Algerian War, (between 1954 and 1962) and upon independence, he became one the rare French to return to his adopted homeland. I will argue, sometimes polemically, that Sénac was and should be considered a properly Algerian …

Synthesis Before The Proto-Niger-Congo Inflectional Verb: Evidence From The Peripheral South Atlantic Languages, George Tucker Childs

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper contributes to the understanding of Proto-Niger-Congo (PNC) verb structure. It supports the contention in Nurse 2007 that PNC verbs were likely more analytical than synthetic in nature. It does so by illustrating several paths of grammaticalization (and cliticization), in a set of several far-west Atlantic languages, geographically distant from the Niger-Congo core.

Corruption In Oil Revenue Distribution And Conflict In Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Chux Ibekwe

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

In the last seventeen years, several high level government officials in Nigeria have faced corruption charges totaling $22 trillion dollars related to oil revenues. In Bayelsa State, a Nigerian state that produces oil, officials have been marked with high level corruption in oil revenue. In particular, the state faces constant conflicts among the government, multinational oil corporations, and the people of the state. Based on these observations, this dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between corruption in oil revenue redistribution and perpetuation of conflicts in Bayelsa State of Nigeria.

Bayelsa State is one of the nine states in Nigeria’s Niger …

Application Of Citation Analysis In The Development Of Core Nigerian Languages Texts In Nigeria University Libraries, Ifeanyi J. Ezema, C.F. Ugwuanyi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of this paper is to develop core books in Nigerian languages using citation analysis. A total of 449 theses and dissertations submitted to the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages in six Nigerian universities from 1996 to 2007 constituted the population. The universities are University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), University of Ife (OAU), University of Lagos (UNILAG), University of Ibadan (UI), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (ABU) and University of Benin (UNIBEN). A bibliometric study was conducted using indicators such as types of cited sources, most frequently cited books and the most frequently cited authors. A total of 27,686 …

La Langue Seconde Au Service De La Créationcinématographique. Les Séries Télévisées En Afrique Subsaharienne Francophone, Dragoss Ouédraogo

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The African sitcoms in the wake of South American telenovelas build steps to win spaces on TV screens. The case of Burkina Faso shows the vitality of filmmaking in second language, with breakable structure of production context.

Nous Habitons Les Langues Et Les Langues Nous Habitent, Cheikh Tidiane Sow

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Who has not his mother, suckles his grandmother. This wolof of Senegal adage tells us that the absence of the native language and the adoption of another language, far from being a handicap, would open more “naturally” to the universal. The author, whose parents are Fulani speaking Pulaar, delivers his experience and his relationship to his two family “second languages”, Wolof and French.

Beyond The Ancestral Code: Towards A Model For Sociolinguistic Language Documentation, George Tucker Childs, Jeff Good, Alice Mitchell

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most language documentation efforts focus on capturing lexico-grammatical information on individual languages. Comparatively little effort has been devoted to considering a language’s sociolinguistic contexts. In parts of the world characterized by high degrees of multilingualism, questions surrounding the factors involved in language choice and the relationship between ‘communities’ and ‘languages’ are clearly of interest to documentary linguistics, and this paper considers these issues by reporting on the results of a workshop held on sociolinguistic documentation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over sixty participants from Africa and elsewhere discussed theoretical and methodological issues relating to the documentation of language in its social context. …

In Search Of Ubuntu: An Examination Of Enslaved African Domestic And Labor Environments On St. Eustatius, Deanna Lynn Byrd

Theses and Dissertations

The discovery of dry stone rock features in the northern hills on the Dutch island of St. Eustatius presented a unique opportunity to investigate an enslaved African environment during the time of enslavement. Abandoned after emancipation, the area has remained virtually undisturbed by eco-tourism, making it an archaeological gem. The intact nature of the sites held potential to add significantly to our understanding of choices enslaved Africans made in slave village design, orientation, and the construction of their dwellings, as well as the labor activities of daily life. In doing so, this investigation attempted to detect whether higher levels of …

Writing For A Future Audience Contemporary Children's Literature In Wolof, Mariana Robertson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Wolof as a whole is a language in transition from oral to written. The immense oral tradition of stories and songs in Wolof is increasingly being supplemented by new literature. This movement is visible across all genres of literature, but I am particularly interested in literature for children, both because it has been largely ignored in the existing research on Wolof literature, and because I think that children’s literature written in local or indigenous languages is important for increasing literacy and keeping these languages alive and vibrant. I will provide an analysis of the activities of two authors of Wolof …

Credit Card System In Ghana: An Investigation Of Why Credit Cardsare Not Widely Used In Ghana And How Widespread Use May Be Implemented, Emmanuel Andoh

Masters Theses

Credit card systems offer economic advantages to many families and individuals across the globe. In economically developed countries and most emerging ones, the credit card system helps individuals, businesses, and even government agencies, speed up business transactions and access to short term loans. However in developing countries such as Ghana this is not the case. The result is that many people find it very difficult to buy goods and services without having cash at hand. Moreover a vast majority of people have to carry bags of money to travel across cities, towns and villages in the country to trade and …

The Growing Women’S Political Activism In Africa 1990-2010: An Explanatory Analysis Of Institutions And Contexts, Sylivia Juta

Dissertations

Women all over the world face significant social, cultural, political, and economic barriers that prevent them from obtaining leadership positions. Africa is no exception. However, in the past four decades, Africa has shown a remarkable increase in the number of women gaining political leadership positions, in particular as representatives in parliaments. Due to this remarkable increase in the number of women in parliament in africa, there is a dearth of literature exploring this phenomenon more systematically. Most studies on women’s representation focus on the context of developed countries. The few studies on the African continent are mostly single case studies …

A Longitudinal Case Study Of The Impact Of Democracy On Food Security In Ghana And Implications For Theory Development, Katelyn Marie Colaric

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of a qualitative, longitudinal case study of Ghana that examined the impact of democracy on food security within Ghana since its democratization in 1992. First, the study reviews existing literature about food security, a newly-emerging concern in political science, as well as the literature on democracy and human rights. To fill the gaps in existing literature regarding the impact of democracy on food security, [and the author finds it overzealous to prove that democracy always benefits food security levels across varying states, cultures, and years] the thesis examines food security developments in Ghana, a developing …