Global encounter summit on Africa to be held at MSU Contact: Jenny Bond, International Studies and Programs: (517) 355-2350, jbond@msu.edu; Dave Wiley, African Studies Center: (517) 353-1700, wiley@msu.edu; or Ike Val Iyioke, University Relations: (517) 432-0924, ike@msu.edu
March 19, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University will host Global Encounter: Africa on Friday, March 23, designed to plot future university endeavors in Africa.
The event, sponsored by MSU’s International Studies and Programs (ISP) and the African Studies Center (ASC), begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Delia Koo International Academic Center.
The event hopes to identify partners, programmatic themes, and research and instructional opportunities where MSU and African partner institutions can have mutually beneficial relationships in the decades ahead.
“To be a great international university in the 21st century, MSU must be engaged across the missions of research, teaching and outreach with strategic partners around the globe,” said Jenny Bond, ISP acting assistant dean. “Key countries in Africa will be a focus of these efforts by 2012,” she added.
In planning for future linkages with African institutions, MSU has the resources of more than a half-century of rich, varied involvement in Africa and a record of scholarship throughout the continent. This has produced faculty expertise, resulting in African and American alumni in policy-making positions and a history of collaborative partnerships with several African universities.
This event is a sequel to earlier global encounters at MSU that focused on China, India and Brazil. Reflecting MSU’s extensive faculty work in more than 30 African countries, this forum will focus on the entire continent and its regions, including specific countries. Following this event, organizers expect to have country-specific follow-up meetings.
ISP Acting Dean Jeffrey Riedinger, MSU Provost Kim Wilcox and ASC Director David Wiley, will participate in the event.
Participants are encouraged to register online at the Global Encounter: Africa Web site at www.isp.msu.edu/globalencounter/africa, which includes the full schedule. Persons registering by March 19 will receive complimentary lunches and be given immediate access to the African Studies Center Angel Web site with background documents; selected items will be posted on the ISP Web site.
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