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“Kinship Joking Relationships as Indigenous Conflict Resolution Mechanisms in West Africa”

Major Senegalese Scholar to Speak at ����ֱ�� State University

7PM, Thursday, October 24, 2013, Oscar Ritchie Hall

Dr. Alphonse Raphaël NDIAYE

Alphonse Raphaël Ndiaye, Ph.D., a West African Research Association Resident Fellow at Boston University, will speak about “Kinship Joking Relationships as Indigenous Conflict Resolution Mechanisms in West Africa” at ����ֱ�� State University on Wednesday, October 24 at 7 p.m. in Ritchie Hall, Room 214, following a reception at 5:15 p.m. on the first floor of Ritchie Hall. 
The Seereer (also spelled Serer) are one of the major ethnic groups of Senegal from which the country’s first president and major world poet (Léopold Sédar Senghor) traces his paternal ancestry. Senghor co-founded the global black literary and cultural movement (known as the Négritude Movement) which was strongly influenced by the Harlem Renaissance Movement.

Ndiaye is the director of the Léopold Sédar Senghor Foundation in Senegal. This UNESCO-affiliated organization aims to preserve and enrich the cultural heritage of Africa, and promote research on applied culture in art, literature, human sciences and the teaching of national languages. Prior to his current function, he was the Director of Senegal’s Cultural Archives and Public Libraries before leading the Environmental Education program in the Sahelian Region of the development-focused international organization called Enda Tiers Monde (Enda Third World).  He is fluent in four languages (Seereer, Wolof, French, and English) and has done extensive research on African cultures and history. His numerous essays appear in key publications, such as Présence Africaine, Revue Ethiopiques, Revue sénégalaise de philosophie and in many volumes.  Ndiaye is also the author of the well-known doctoral thesis entitled, La Notion de parole chez les Sereer (Sénégal) [The notion of Orality of the Seereer (Senegal)”].

The lecture is presented by ����ֱ�� State University’s Department of Pan-African Studies and Department of English with additional support from the University Teaching Council, Honors College and Departments of Philosophy, Political Science, and the Institute for Applied Linguistics.

Media Contact: Dr. Babacar M’Baye, Department of English and Department of Pan-African Studies, bmbaye@kent.edu, 330-672-1742