African Studies Commons^™

Assessing The Senate: Political Opinion Among Cameroonian Youth, Rebeccah Rendall

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper seeks to examine the political opinions of Cameroon youth in regards to the newly-introduced Senate. Research was conducted with students at the University of Yaoundé I and the University of Yaoundé II over the course of a four-week period. This paper discusses the potential and stated purposes of the Senate within the Cameroonian context. It will also discuss the various particular reasons that the Senate was implemented in 2013. Finally, it will convey the opinions of and the hopes for the Senate as stated by university students. First, I conclude that the Senate’s main role is to be …

Twenty Years Later: Perceptions And Understandings Of Democracy In Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, Jennifer Hamilton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to explore perceptions and understandings of democracy in South Africa twenty years post-apartheid. Information from interviews with fifty South African citizens in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal was supplemented with interviews with five experts from institutions relevant to democratic development. Participants agreed that South Africa was a democracy, but disagreed on the meanings of democracy, South Africa’s democratic performance to date, and future prospects for democracy. The learner concludes that, in order to improve the quality of democratic governance in the country, South Africans must engage in a national dialogue about what democracy is and where it is meant to …

The Trajectory Of Warwick Junction As A Site Of Inclusivity In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Kara Van Schilfgaarde Van Schilfgaarde

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Warwick Junction, a thriving trading hub in the inner city of Durban, has long been considered one of the best examples of collaborative urban management practices between the local government and informal traders. In a post-apartheid South Africa, there was a national desire to transform the old systems of governance, which in Warwick translated to city government institutions making an effort to include informal traders in the policymaking and management processes. This paper tracks the history of Warwick Junction, using its oppressive past to frame common perspectives of informal trade. It considers the legacy of the post-apartheid era South Africa, …

A Case Study Of Rural Finance Self-Help Groups In Uganda And Their Impact On Poverty Alleviation And Development, Rebecca Flynn

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of financial Self-Help Groups (SHGs)on poverty alleviation and development in rural areasof Uganda and evaluate their successes, limitations, and potential for sustainability.An extensive literature review ofpovertyin Uganda, development theories and development in Uganda,andrural finance self-help group methodology and theorieswas conducted in order to provide a broader context for the research.

The participants in the research were members of SHGs in Central Uganda under the Self-Help Group Approach Uganda (SHGAU) organization andemployees of SHGAU.The primary methods were personal interviews and focus groups. Thesegave the researcher insight into the goals and structure …

Disturbing The Peace: Salw In Post-Conflict Sudan And South Sudan, Kylin Mueller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

According to the Small Arms Survey, there are an estimated 875 million small arms and light weapons (SALW) in circulation across the globe. All countries, as well as numerous non-state armed groups, have access to these types of weapons. There are both legal and illegal means of obtaining such weapons, and they can be used for a variety of purposes [1]. While SALW do have a range of legitimate uses, these are also the primary instruments of violence used in most internal and inter-communal conflict.[2] This study aims to address negative impacts that access to these types of …

What Really Matters: A Triangular Study Of Gender Roles And Standards Of Beauty In Cameroon Through The Lens Of Television Advertisements, Deborwah Faulk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mass media increasingly has become a powerful force around the world. It is impactful and useful in its various forms such as film, books, newspapers, magazines, television and visual and audio music. However even in its informative, educational, communicative, and entertaining character, the media also has the propensity to mirror larger societal practices, perceptions, thoughts, and opinions pertaining to social dynamics encountered within society. Thus social constructs of gender, race, class and other identity characteristics are exemplified and amplified through media forms. Such realities found in the media have the propensity to be socially dangerous in that it can shape …

Vision 2035 And The Kribi Deep Seaport: An Analysis Of The Economic Impacts For Cameroon, Charlotte Fisken

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the effects of the Kribi Deep Seaport project will be positive for economic development in Cameroon, and how the Port will affect Cameroon’s regional and global role. The study was conducted over a one-month period and was primarily qualitative in nature. The principal method of inquiry was interviews, which were complemented by quantitative secondary source research. Although most informants asserted that the project was a positive step for the country, the information they provided led me to conclude that the project was undertaken prematurely and will not promote sustainable economic development …

The Adjudication Of Kenya’S 2013 Election: Public Perception, Judicial Politics, And Institutional Legitimacy, Charles Herman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This article presents the findings from an exploration of the 2013 Kenya Supreme Court ruling on the election petition. Raila Odinga, who averred that Uhuru Kenyatta was wrongly declared the victor of the election, brought a challenge to the Supreme Court. This article presents an overview of the election and judicial proceedings and then delves deeper into the issues. An application of Judicial Politics theory to the decision suggests that the Supreme Court was unbiased in the process. It is found that Uhuru Kenyatta supporters generally view the Supreme Court and the decision favorably and believe that no credible evidence …

Adapting & Appropriating Art From Afar: Negotiating A Global Identity Through Popular Culture, A Study Of Salsa In The Senegalese Context, Elizabeth Bockenfeld

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study is essentially an attempt to explore cross-cultural exchange and the resulting (re)creation of different forms of cultural expression. In its broadest sense it aims to explore the quotidian, cultural sides of globalization. It takes for its focus the re-appropriation of salsa music in Dakar, Senegal. Through interviews and participant observation in a number of salsa venues, I explore the various meanings Senegalese salseros put into salsa music and dance. Senegalese salsa is rooted in a very concrete historical background, while also holding meaning for the present. In short, the appropriation of salsa into the Senegalese context serves …

Gagner La Vie: Examining Return Preparedness And Resource Mobilization Among Moroccan Immigrants To France Who Return To Live Permanently In Agadir, Morocco, Karolina Michelle Dos Santos

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

If Moroccan immigrants are so in tune to their home culture and home happenings, under what conditions do they stay in France facing the problems of unemployment and homelessness? This study focuses on the return migration of Moroccans from the Sousse region; specifically Agadir and the surrounding Tiznit areas, who left Morocco during the decade of 1960 and who have permanently returned to live in Morocco. The study was conducted by using the snowball sampling technique to conduct semi-structured interviews of Moroccan return migrants in AitMelloul, a neighborhood of Agadir. My findings suggest that the return migrants from the Sousse …

East Versus West: Chinese And American Development Efforts And Perceptions In Cameroon, Grace Perkins

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Every year, donor countries pour billions of dollars of foreign aid into developing recipient countries. Humanitarian and “win-win” rhetoric generally accompanies the grant, hospital, school, or sports stadium. To a realist international relations scholar, it is highly unlikely that powerful nations like the United States and China donate anything without political or economic strategic interests in mind. How do American and Chinese strategic interests affect the quality of development aid? This paper seeks to answer this question in the context of Cameroon, a Central African state rich in resources and young minds but whose growth is hampered by its colonial …

New Approaches To The Green Revolution: Successes, Failures And New Rice For Africa, Maia S. Woluchem

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The nature of worldwide food insecurity is staggering, with thirteen percent of the world’s population currently malnourished. The situation is particularly dire in Sub- Saharan Africa, where 265 million people face hunger daily, with 30 to 50 million dying yearly. Solutions to the problem are often unsustainable, save a select few. Once such attempt, coined the Green Revolution, garnered both praise and notoriety through its relatively successful transformation of Southeast Asia in the 1960’s. Aimed at increasing food production, the project focused on small-holder farmers and their acquisition of more productive inputs such as high-yield seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. African …

Whose Gay Town Is Cape Town? An Examination Of Cape Town’S Gay Village And The Production Of A Queer White Patriarchy., Mollie Beebe

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My ISP works to illuminate the diversity of LGBTQI experiences and lives in Cape Town. I do this through discussing the privilege necessary to "come out" in Cape Town and, subsequently, have access to The Pink Village, Cape Town's gay district. By Bringing in theory on "coming out" as a white experience and the queer movement as re-centering white normativity, I work to openly discuss how a history of exclusion has lived on in Cape Town's gay district and pushed the more marginalized gay communities out of the city center. Through academic research, participant observation in both the gay village …

The Social And Economic Impact Of Mpesa On The Lives Of Women In The Fishing Industry On Lake Victoria, Danielle White

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study will examine the social and economic impact of the mobile banking system, MPESA, in the lives of women in the fishing industry on Lake Victoria in Kenya. The study aims to discover what MPESA is being used for and how its use is affecting the lives of its female users. It will not only study the immediate impact on women, but also the impact on the interactions with their families and communities, as well as the fishing industry. The study aims to determine whether or not MPESA is beneficial to these women and if it is, how the …

Highlife In The Ghanaian Music Scene: A Historical And Socio-Political Perspective, Micah Motenko

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I lived in the cities of Accra and Kumasi for a total of 30 days during the month of November, 2011. To achieve my research objectives, I used a combination of formal and informal interviews, participant observation, and non-participant observation. I interviewed 7 musicians and 1 professor/musician in Accra, as well as 1 musician, 1 CD shop owner, and 1 DJ in Kumasi, making a total of 11 interviews most of which I recorded. For my participant observation, I observed 4 concerts total in Accra, all consisting of a mixture of genres including Highlife and Gospel. I participated in 2 …

R-E-S-P-E-C-T Expectations, Perceptions, And Influences On Moroccan Etiquette, Christina Ermilio

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Why do humans naturally create distinctions? How do we establish these distinctions between ourselves? What marks us as an individual within a particular group? In this project, I consider how etiquette is defined in Morocco and how it relates to the work of certain theorists and sociologists such as Pierre Bourdieu. Primarily, this project focuses on expectations of behavior, perceptions of the ‘other,’ and influences on the definition of good behavior in Morocco. In addition to observations in public spaces and more specifically at universities, I interviewed University students from Ibn Tofail in Kenitra and from Mohammed V in Rabat, …

A Foreigner’S Gaze On The Micro-Culture Of The Car-Rapide—Senegalese Values Vs. Monetary Lust, Merrill Pierce

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The vibrant, chaotic, and interactive Car Rapide, a poignant micro-culture in Dakar, is a visually communicative entity and social space in Senegal’s transportation system. From an outsider’s gaze, this project addresses the history, artistic and religious significance, inner-workings of the system of employees, and present day implications of the car-rapide. The car-rapide emerges as the embodiment of both valuable and challenging aspects of Senegalese culture.

White-Washed: The “Conservation” Of The Physical And Metaphysical States Of Ghanaian Slave Castle-Dungeons And Forts, Britney D. Ghee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The methodology for this qualitative research is heavily reliant upon personal observation, photographic documentation, secondary source analysis, and interviews. It i was crucial to also develop personal observation through other sources like journals and museum professionals. By visiting and thoroughly investigating Cape Coast Castle, St. George’s Castle (referred to as Elmina Castle), Fort Victoria, Fort St. Jago, and the English Fort in Komenda, observations that deal with preservation tactics for the buildings and for memorializing slave castles and forts in Ghana can be addressed. Certainly these case studies are all located in the Central Region, but the differences and variety …

A Berber In Agadir: Exploring The Urban/Rural Shift In Amazigh Identity, Thiago Lima

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Arab Spring has seen North African and Middle Eastern youth organizing against the status quo and challenging what they perceive as political, economic, and social injustices. In Morocco, while the Arab Spring may not have been as substantial as in neighboring countries, demonstrations are still occurring nearly everyday in major cities like Rabat as individuals protest issues including government transparency, high unemployment, and, for specific interest of this paper, the marginalization of the Amazigh people. The Amazigh, also popularly referred to as Berbers in most Western academia and literature, are regarded as the original inhabitants of Morocco and the …

Bills, Bribery And Brutality: How Rampant Corruption In The Electoral System Has Helped Prevent Democracy In Uganda, Sam Tabachnik

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study looks at the electoral system in Uganda and the corruption and inefficiencies that go with it. In addition, this study delves into the most common electoral crimes and the way they are committed. Going even deeper, the study examines the reasons for bribery pervasiveness, the role of money in politics and the views locals have of their government and its leaders. Crucial institutions such as police, military, judiciary, Electoral Commission and civil society groups were also discussed in how they relate toelections and politics in Uganda.

The research design was qualitative, historical and descriptive. Information was gatheredby in-person …

The Crisis Of Unity In The 21st Century: The Unrealized Dream Of Pan-Africanism In Cameroon, Araba Sapara-Grant

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following is an analysis of how the sentiments of pan-Africanism, a notion formulated in the early 20th century, have failed to proliferate in Cameroonian society. As a concept based in the social, economic, and political solidarity of the African continent, the pan-African movement has often been a point of reference for intellectuals searching for a solution to the problems Africa currently faces, some of which include lack of political agency and stagnating economic growth. The beliefs promoted by pan-Africanists is that by joining together the collective potentials of all African people, the continent can become a global force, leaving …

South African Jews And How The History Of The Aparthied Has Effected The Community’S Relationship To The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Julia Berner-Tobin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research paper is centered on the question “how does the history of the Apartheid effect South African Jews relationship to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?” Four South African Jews from different parts of the Jewish community were interviewed. Blogs and newspaper articles were also analyzed. The participants were asked about their personal stories. They were asked about their relationship to Israel and Palestine, their visits there, whether or not they see a comparison between the Apartheid regime and the Israeli government. Participants were also asked to comment on the current climate of the South African Jewish community and the issues that …

Endangered Heritage And Emergent Ogogo: A Case Study Of The “Ulwazi Programme”, Emily Kwong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Kwesukesukela, or “a long time ago,” there was a beautiful woman who lived by the ocean with her husband and two small children. The woman’s name was Mazanendaba. Although she lived a life full of happiness, Mazanendaba came to realize with time that something important was missing: there were no stories. No stories for mothers and grandmothers to tell their children. No stories to inspire joy and ease sorrow. No stories to enrich the mind and nurture the soul. Determined to find stories in a world without any, Mazanendaba left her beloved home in search of a new story to …

The Future Of Tradition: An Ethnographic And Comparative Study Of Social Preference And Medicine In Rural Ghana, Shannon Dick

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In Ghana, there are currently two prevalent forms of medical treatment: traditional and Western medicine. Since Ghana was colonized by the British, Western medicine has spread throughout the country, essentially from south to north. In this ethnographic study, two rural villages are compared, one located in the Central Region and the other in the Upper West Region, in order to evaluate what type of medical treatment people prefer and the reasons for their decisions. The research assesses the social inclination in terms of medicine in these two locations, indicators of Western influences, and gleans a sense of what the future …

Body Politics Within The Body Politic: Ghanaian Disabled Communities And Their Relationships To Power, Conner Chivone Spinks

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I chose as my research topic disabled communities within Ghana and their relationships with different sources of power in Ghanaian society. To begin my analysis, I deconstructed the „disabled body‟ and established disability as an axis of identity that has bearing on social positioning. I explored the power dynamics that dictate the lives of minorities, particularly the lives of those with non-normative bodies. Using my interviews of disabled Ghanaians and my observations of disabled Ghanaians in public spaces, I analyzed how systems are felt in everyday life.

Between The Lines Of Hegemony And Subordination: The Mombasa Kadhi’S Court In Contemporary Kenya, Bailey Funderburk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the middle of a scalding hot October afternoon, I found myself waiting at the Mombasa Kadhi’s Court for the fifth time. Frustrated with my prior failure to meet the Kadhi and gain his permission to research at the court, I waited alongside a cross section of the Muslim community of Mombasa all attempting to meet with the Kadhi. Despite frustrations with the red tape surrounding the Kadhi’s court, acting as a barrier between me and all of the information I believed to be pertinent to my research, I realized that my research had already begun. A number of aggravated …

A Study Of The East African Slave Trade In Bagamoyo, Jake Salyers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of my study was to learn about the east African Slave trade and its relationship to the town of Bagamoyo. Bagamoyo was an important trading town on the coast of Tanzania during the peak of the Arab run slave and ivory trade. Slavery was only abolished in Tanganyika in 1922, so there are still many monuments and memories remaining in the town concerning the slave trade. I had two main methods of collecting information about the town, interviewing the descendants of slaves and slave owners and researching the history of Bagamoyo. I was able to get three different …

The Elusiveness Of Light: The Difficulty With Harnessing The Omnipresent Solar Energy In Africa, Hai-Vu Phan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The world is currently facing an energy crisis. Our dependency on oil and natural gas has led to many global problems, such as OPEC’s oil hikes which have disrupted economies everywhere and caused oil dependent countries to suffer. Our huge consumption of oil has also led to the global warming catastrophe that we currently must combat. The world must find a new energy source soon, or more environmental, political, social, and economic problems will occur. Solar energy’s potential has been recognized for many decades, and its abundant and limitless supply makes it the perfect new form of energy. Solar energy …

Health As A Basic Human Right: Efficacy Of Quality Assurance For Healthcare In Uganda, Ally Pregulman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Quality of health care is an important aspect of health services delivery because of its ability to maximize outputs within given resource constraints. Quality assurance programs for health care are paramount to the realization of good quality health care because of their ability to identify gaps in service provision. The Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in health care have created quality assurance supervision and support programs for the health sector, yet there is a disconnect between the programs and the operational realities of the sector. The health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are far from being achieved within Uganda and …