Department of Society &Environment
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SCHOOL OF SOCIAL & CULTURAL STUDIES Department of Barnett Hall, Rm 2210 Truman State University 100 East Normal Society &Environment Kirksville, Mo 63501 TRUMAN STATE UNIVERS ITY F A L L 2 0 1 3 660-785-4667 societyandenvironment @truman.edu Sabbatical to Department Chair societyandenvironment. truman.edu/ After six years of service as to full-time research and will present her findings this November at a Global Issues Department Chair of the teaching. Also, Dr. Johnson newly formed Society & was married on October Colloquium, entitled “Women’s Voices from the Environment Department, 10th to Dr. John Smelcer, Zimbabwean Diaspora: Mi- INSIDE Dr. Amber Johnson, Profes- author and Native American gration and Change.” sor of Anthropology, has scholar. Congratulations, T HIS passed the baton to Dr. Dr. Johnson! Dr. McDuff also directed a ISSUE: Elaine McDuff, Professor of Truman Study Abroad pro- gram on Democracy and Hu- Sociology. Dr. Johnson will Dr. Elaine McDuff, Profes- sor of Sociology, has just man Rights in South Africa be on sabbatical during the returned from a year-long from May 14-June 19, 2013. Sabbatical to spring and fall semester of sabbatical to take on a new This program enabled fifteen Chair 2014, doing research for a role as Department Chair. students to work for four weeks as interns in non-profit Study Abroad book entitled “Using Frames of Reference: A Dr. McDuff spent her Sab- social justice, social service, Internships & batical year (2012-2013) Guide to Binford’s Datasets, and health agencies in Cape Field Schools working on a research pro- Town, South Africa. Program, and their Re- ject on “The Causes and Civic Engagement search Potentials.” The Consequences of the Femi- In July, she took over as Meetings & book manuscript is designed nization of Zimbabwean Chair of the Department of Research to guide interested teach- Migration.” She inter- Society and Environment and Notes & Honors ers, students, and research- viewed Zimbabwean mi- is adjusting to the new ad- ers through strategies for grants in South Africa and ministrative pace. Alumni Notes the UK in order to learn using data organized by an- about the feminization of thropologist Lewis R. Bin- Zimbabwean migration, and ford. She plans to offer the impact of migrant expe- workshops for colleagues riences on gender roles and interested in learning how family dynamics. to use the data, and to take She spent three weeks in the revised product to Ar- the U.K., four weeks in Cape gentina as the basis for Town, three weeks in Johan- teaching a graduate semi- nesburg, and finished with a nar. month spent in Zimbabwe. Dr. Johnson is looking for- After returning to Kirksville ward to moving from ad- from her travels, Dr. McDuff ministrative responsibilities had Truman students tran- Dr. Elaine McDuff, Professor scribe her interviews. She of Sociology P A G E 2 Study Abroad Cape Town “Finding Ubuntu” with regard to paper, and this is what she had women, children, to say about her life in Khaye- workers, immi- litshia: ‘As I said living in Khay- grants, and the elitshia is not good. Life is not environment. The perfect everything that is bad is other days were there. Every human traf- spent visiting mu- ficking is there, every seums and histori- drugs is there, every cal and scenic sites abusing people are around Cape there, criminals are Town. there, gang groups are Elonwabeni Children’s Home there. I find that life is jumping for joy after a day As part of the program, students are required too hard for me there… spent with Truman Students to post reflections about their The life we live there is experiences on a course blog, bad in such a way that Many majors in the depart- and complete a research paper the teenagers are be- ment have participated in study which they present in the come the destroyers of abroad experiences during the spring at the Student Research their freedom and fu- past year. One of the most Conference. popular among majors is led by ture.’ This is one excerpt Dr. McDuff, Professor of Soci- Sociology and English from one paper, and sadly ology, and her husband, Steve, double major, Conner these kinds of stories are the to Cape Town, South Africa. Maguire worked as a Teach- norm, not the exception. It is a bi-annual trip offered for er’s Assistant at Thandokhu- five weeks in May & June in lu High School. Here is one of the most beautiful cities a highlight from Conner’s in the world, in a country that blog post: faces ongoing problems with poverty, inequality, racism, “South Africa gender violence, and crime — seems to be full of yet which is, full of hospitality, some of the most sacrifice and smiles. They call it “Ubuntu”. horrible problems, and the most won- Fifteen Truman students, in- derful people. In talk- cluding seven SOAN majors, ing with the learners and were immersed in the living marking many of their history of South Africa by papers, I have been able Students eating a "smiley”, a working twenty hours a week to hear and read their sheep's head that has been in non-profit organizations in stories and get to know cleaned, boiled, and roasted Cape Town, which address where they come from. over a fire with spices to eat. issues of human rights, social Just earlier this week I justice and equality, especially was reading a learner’s DEPARTMENT OF SOCIETY &ENVIRONMENT TRUMAN STATE UNIVER SITY P A G E 3 Almost all of the teachers at people who are always community in Khayelitsha, in Thandokhulu are also Amaxho- willing to give all they spite of its poverty. He asked sa and live in the townships. As have and more to help us how well we knew our they have told me, ‘ Yes it is someone else. It’s not neighbors—I wave at mine sad, but these are simply the sometimes. He explained that lives we live. Everyone has charity; it’s a part of the he knew that if he ever needed nothing. We can only do what culture. It’s Ubuntu, hu- anything, he could go to a little we can to help those man kindness, and it’s neighbor and they would reach around us who have even less.’ alive and well in South in their pocket and give him A teacher’s salary in South Afri- Africa.” what they could. I suppose ca is fairly small. However, one this is the ‘Ubuntu’ we of the teachers, Cana, was tell- All fifteen students shared sim- heard so much about, and ing me about how, when she ilar experiences such as Sociol- it is an idea that will stick was teaching in a primary ogy Major Rikki Watts who with me long after the school, the teachers and admin- wrote about drinking tea with trip. I have learned that each istrators would identify learners her boss, Phindi, at the Eco- that were in the most need of nomic Justice Network of us has beautiful things to assistance, and the teachers (EJN), an NGO devoted to share from our own life—many would essentially adopt them. working for justice on issues of times in our background—and They would pay for their school tax equality, food security, cli- that each of us has knowledge fees, transportation to and from mate change, and trade fairness. that can benefit others whether it is from a book or experience; school, and help provide lunch Rikki states, “Going for a The important part seems to be and books. Teachers would tea break to Phindi’s of- even collect used clothes from that we share them.” their family and bring them in fice is probably the best for the learners. They would thing I’ve done here, and Andie had the following to say pour their own small not just because rooibos about TAC: “Being given the amount of resources back has high levels of antioxi- opportunity to aid in the con- dom distribution to gather the into their learners, be- dants, but Phindi invited me into her life as a personal stories with people cause they knew that the living in the Khayelitsha was an learners needed it more friend. ” incredibly powerful experience. than they did.” It really helped bring some of Sociology Majors Ashley the concepts that I’ve been Conner’s blog sums up his Repka and Andie Davis learning about in abstract into Cape experience in these worked in Khayelitsha, a two- reality. They were given a face hour ride every morning past words: “South Africa has and a voice through the individ- beautiful beaches to a large, uals living in the township, and I extreme, concentrated impoverished township. They poverty that feeds into was able to see firsthand the worked at the Treatment Ac- important work that the Treat- problems of drug addic- tion Campaign (TAC), an HIV- ment Action Campaign is do- Aids Advocacy Organization tion, violence, sexual ex- ing.” ploitation, and gangster- with branches throughout South ism, all on a scale that we Africa. Visit Trumanincape- could not possibly imag- Ashley shared the following town2013.blogspot.com ine in the United States, about her experience: “Lwazi, but it is also full of the from TAC, explained to Andie to read more stories and to most amazing people, and I one day that he loved the learn about the Cape Town Study Abroad Program. P A G E 4 Ireland Study Abroad National University not only to learn in Maynooth with a about Irish society, student body of about but to take one of 6,000 and located fif- my major courses teen miles from the in another country Dublin city center of- and see how it was fering strong fields in taught there.” Kelsie anthropology and soci- was able to travel and ology.