Upcoming Events
This workshop critically assesses the global politics of China’s ambitious new grand strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). As the world’s economic centre of gravity progressively moves eastwards, China is extending its trading routes and infrastructure capacity westwards. The term Silk Road (in German Seidenstraße) was first used by the German geographer, Ferdinand von Richthofen, in 1877. Doyle refers to ‘interimperiality,’ the ways in which empires rework networks, ideas, sites, and spaces – which she termed “sedimented infrastructures,” that were, in turn, central to other prior imperial systems. Should we be reading the material components of a world order as being in the process of transformation through the BRI? How can we investigate the role of material infrastructure in sustaining different forms of world order? As Beijing downplays competitive geopolitics and talks instead of common development, win–win cooperation and communities of shared destiny, a guiding question for this workshop is whether these developments will significantly change global politics, and possibly world order.
Date: Wednesday February 27th, 2019 | 9:00am to 5:00pm
Location: Richcraft Hall, Second floor conference rooms, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6
See more information here
“Rainwater Harvesting Structures: Elements of Haffir and Barrier Survey, Design and Construction”
by Tag Elkhazin
This presentation will focus mainly on Pastoralism in Subsahara Africa. About 50 million Africans are engaged in nomadic pastoralism or agro-pastoralism. Their main source of water supply is harvested rainwater. The structures are generally known as “Haffirs”. While the need to harvest rainwater is mainly for animals and humans’ survival, there are special types of structures that are constructed for agriculture or for preserving rain water in sand dams and then digging shallow wells to retrieve the water. A Haffir is not a pond or a hole in the ground. It is a “dam”. Like any dam, it needs survey and assessment, feasibility study, design and then engineering construction using an assembly of earth-moving equipment. The presentation is a snapshot of the engineering process developed by the presenter, among others, and customised so that it is robust, scientific and effective.
Tag Elkhazin is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of African Studies, and holds a B.Sc. Engineering and M.Sc. Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle USA and has 40 years experience in water resources, development, conflict management and governance in the Horn of Africa (HOA). As owner and CEO of Engineering and Transport International, Mr. Elkhazin was the local partner of MONENCO of Canada in studying and developing the partial design of Merowe Dam in North Sudan between 1988-1992 funded by the World Bank to the tune of US$6.5 million. The dam is designed to produce 1200 MW of hydropower and assist with providing water for agriculture in the region and is now operational. Mr. Elkhazin is an expert on Nile Waters and Water Resources Management as well and has done work for Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC) on Nile Waters Management and Food Security and Conflict Management in the HOA.
Date: Wednesday February 27th, 2019 | 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Location: ME (Mackenzie) 3444, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6
RSVP: banu.ormeci@carleton.ca
“Entangled Histories from Segregated Archives: Writing a De-ghettoized History of Marriage in a South African Colony”
This paper is an introduction to the making of marriage as legal and social form in an emerging colonial-capitalist system of reproduction across race in nineteenth century Natal, a small British colony on the Southeast African coast. African, Indian and European customary practices of marriage became the focus of regulation, and of reformist discourse, under British colonial rule. The processes by which missionaries, settlers, state legislators and bureaucrats engaged these practices reflected the moral regulation inherent in state formation. By setting the contemporaneous regulation of different forms of marriage practices alongside each other, it is possible to view the differing historical and legal forms of gendered social order coming into being in this colony by the turn of the twentieth century for each of these colonial groups. In each case, the sedimentation of marriage regimes in the law was inflected by pre-existing forms of power which were appropriated and transformed by the colonial state’s legal institutions in conversation with its differently-constituted legal subjects.
Nafisa Essop Sheik received her PhD in African History from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 2012. She is Senior Lecturer in the History Department at the University of Johannesburg, and for 2018/19 she is the Cornell Visiting Professor in History at Swarthmore College. She works on gender, law and nineteenth century British colonialism in South Africa.
Date: Friday March 15th, 2019 | 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Location: 433 (History Lounge) Paterson Hall, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6
See more information here
Vacancy | Assistant Professor, History (Permanent)
Mount Royal University Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The Department of Humanities, Faculty of Arts at Mount Royal University invites applications for a tenure track position which will commence July 1, 2019 subject to final budgetary approval, at the Rank of Assistant Professor.
We are seeking a historian whose work focuses on the Islamic world, South or East Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, or the global south. The successful candidate will be expected to develop and teach courses in global/world history. The ability to develop and teach courses in global gender issues will be a strong asset, as will the ability to also teach existing history courses at Mount Royal. A Ph. D. in history is required.
New faculty are hired into one of two work patterns. The teaching/ scholarship/ service pattern (TSS) has a focus on teaching with the requirement that the faculty member be involved in a research program as well as service to the Mount Royal community. The teaching/ service pattern (TS) has a focus on teaching and service only. The successful candidate will be hired into the teaching/ scholarship/ service pattern (TSS). There is an option to change work patterns after tenure.
The successful candidate will be required to teach one course annually in General Education, with the rest of their teaching load in Humanities.
For more information visit website here or contact Dr. Mark Gardiner, Chair, Department of Humanities at (403) 440-6541 or mgardiner@mtroyal.ca
Closing Date: March 11, 2019
Call for Papers | Colloque Islam et radicalisation en Afrique de l’Ouest et au Maghreb
Le Centre d’expertise et de formation sur les intégrismes religieux, les idéologies politiques et la radicalisation (CEFIR, Cégep Édouard-Montpetit) organise le 11 septembre prochain un colloque sur la thématique Islam et radicalisation en Afrique de l’Ouest et au Maghreb. Le CEFIR invite les chercheurs et chercheuses travaillant sur divers aspects de cette thématique à soumettre une proposition de communication. Le Centre est particulièrement intéressé par les propositions venant de jeunes chercheurs et chercheuses (doctorat et postdoctorat) ainsi que de chercheurs originaires des pays du Maghreb et d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Les propositions doivent être envoyées avant le 1er avril 2019 au cefir@cegepmontpetit.ca.
Plus d’informations sur la thématique et sur la procédure d’envoi des propositions sont disponibles sur cette page: https://chaireicao.uqam.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/102/Appel-a-communications-Religion-et-radicalisation-en-Afrique-de-lOuest-et-au-Maghreb.pdf
Call for Papers | AU ECHO 2019 “Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”
The African continent hosts over a third of the world’s forcibly displaced persons are found in Africa, including 6.3 million refugees and 14.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). The continent is also home to 509,900 asylum seekers and 712,000 stateless persons.
In recognition of these challenges and the prevailing need to recognize links between displacement and peace and security and its development dimension, the African Union (AU) Assembly at its 31st Ordinary Session held in Nouakchott, Mauritania on 1-2 July 2018 adopted a decision declaring 2019 as the year of “Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa”.
See more information here
DOCUMENTARY (2019) | Do You Know Where the Gold in Your Ring Comes From?
The Shadow of Gold is a global investigation of the ultimate talisman of wealth, beauty and power. Filmed in China, Peru, Canada, the U.S., London, Dubai, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Shadow of Gold reveals the impact of gold mining and the gold trade on our economy, environment and conflicts. Watch to discover what our lust for gold costs. And who pays the price.
About the Film
An international Canada-France co-production by award-winning filmmakers Robert Lang (Canada), Denis Delestrac (France) and Sally Blake (France), The Shadow of Gold pulls back the curtain on the world’s most coveted heavy metal.
As the global economy undergoes rapid and profound change, the gold industry continues to grow. Over the past 15 years, we have mined more gold than ever before. Filmed in Canada (Mount Polley, BC), the U.S., London, Dubai, China, Peru and the Democratic Republic of Congo this incisive investigation examines the trade of this precious metal from raw material to market while exposing its consequences and impact. With political, economic, and ecological implications, how is the thriving industry changing our lives and the world around us—and at what price?
The Shadow of Gold reveals positive advancements in the industry and engages with engineers, scientists, jewellers, and responsibly-sourced advocates who work with miners to tackle gold’s worst environmental and social problems.
World Premiere, Toronto
Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, February 22
Ottawa
Mayfair Theatre, February 27
PURCHASE TICKETS ONLINE
When: Saturday, February 23, 2019 | 7 – 9 pm
Venue: St. Andrew’s Church, Corner of Wellington and Kent Sts., Ottawa Across from the Supreme Court of Canada
For more information visit https://www.standrewsottawa.ca/black-history or telephone 613-232-9042
Rencontre avec Edem Awumey
L’Alliance Française Ottawa vous invite à rencontrer l’auteur Edem Awumey qui viendra faire une conférence-lecture pour discuter de son dernier livre : «Mina parmi les ombres».
Edem Awumey est né au Togo. Après quelques années passées en France, où il a publié son premier roman, Port-Mélo (Gallimard, 2006; Grand Prix de littérature de l’Afrique noire), il s’est installé à Gatineau en 2005. En 2009, son deuxième roman, Les Pieds sales (Boréal, Seuil), a été sélectionné pour le prix Goncourt. Il a également fait paraître Rose déluge (Boréal, Seuil, 2012) et Explication de la nuit (Boréal, 2013). Descent into Night, la traduction anglaise d’Explication de la nuit, a été récompensée en octobre 2018 par un Prix du Gouverneur général du Canada. Ses romans s’inscrivent dans les lieux imaginaires de l’enfance, du voyage et de la mémoire. Edem Awumey a également été chargé de cours de littérature francophone à l’Université McGill et à l’Université du Québec en Outaouais. Sa dernière fiction en date, Mina parmi les ombres (Boréal, 2018), raconte le périple d’un photographe afro-québécois qui part sur les traces de sa muse, disparue dans un pays d’Afrique en proie à la fureur de l’intégrisme.
Cet événement est organisé en partenariat avec le Salon du Livre de l’Outaouais.
Date et Heure: sam., 2 mars 2019, 10:00 – 11:00 HNE
Endroit: Alliance Française Ottawa, 352 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 0M6
