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~Ti ANSA ~tI"ldttr~••hr 2! - - !jaitt l!!;-!& Please Check The Date On Your Studies held at Leiden in March. He again expressed Newsletter Address Label gratitude to our hosts at Leiden, and then opened the floor to discussion on the question of a future The significance of the date on your mailing label has conference. been changed. Formerly it indicated the last recorded Reference was made to the meeting at SOAS month in which you paid dues. From this issue between Lucy Duran. Louis Brenner, and David Conrad foreward it will signify the date on which your present (for details see Newsletter 1/'2B). Louis Brenner had made membership expires (or expired). Therefore, if the date several suggestions including the holding of a 25-year is December 1995 or earlier, your membership is no anniversary commemorative acknowledgement of the longer current. New address for submitting dues: First Conference on Manding Studies held at SOAS in Laura Arntson, African Studies Center, 100 Center for 1972, with a possible return to London for this one. International Programs, Michigan State University, IIwas also acknowledged that communications had East Lansing, MI 48824. been received from colleagues in Africa offering their locations as conference sites: Barbara Lewis said she had heard from Yacouba Konate in Abidjan proposing that Minutes of the 1995 location. Conrad noted that Konate was a conspicuous Meeting of the Mande Studies Assoeiation participant at both the Bamako and Leiden conferences and that he m ,ght consent to organizational The new secretary tape-records the proceedings, and the responsibilities in Abidjan, but that Konate had not transcript of the last meeting is twenty-three pages contacted him directly. long. A summary is presented here, and the transcript is The President stressed the importance of having available in the MANSA files: someone on site at the proposed location as we had Jan Jansen at Leiden, with the dependability, energy and The total attendance surpassed forty-five, with about ten supporting network to pull together the various experiencing their first meeting. At the outset, the resources necessary to carry off an international Secretary distributed New Membership/Membership conference. Renewal forms, a list of members' e-mail addresses (the As recorded in an earlier Newsletter issue, Abdoulie up-dated e-mail list enclosed with this issue supersedes Bayo and Constance Sonko-Godwin (National Council that one), and MANSA T-shirt order forms. for Arts & Culture, Museum Annex) have both The President began by expressing regret that Vice contacted the President inviting MANSA to hold the President Marie Perinbam could not attend due to a next conference in Banjul. Their communications were death in the family. He also introduced two African gratefully acknowledged, while some concern was colleagues attending a MANSA meeting for the first expressed as to whether Banjul has the facilities time: Fulbrighter Marnadou Sumare (Bradford College), necessary for hosting an international conference. Bob and Amadou Dembele. Newton suggested we contact Robert Palmieri, former Announcements were made concerning "Friends of PAO in Banjul, for information on the feasibility of Mali" and Clarion University Malian artisan that location. workshops, and various members suggested panel topics Conrad mentioned that Berend Timmer (Research for next year's ASA meeting (see seperate newsletter School, CNWS Leiden) recently departed for Banjul, and items on all three topics). that Donald Wright (SUNY -Cortland) will be going in The President noted that this was the first MANSA March, and that he has asked each of them to report meeting since the International Conference on Mande DAVIDC. CoNRAD, President, State University of New York-Oswego B. MARIEPEluNBAM. Vice President, University of Maryland LAURAARNI'SONSecretary-, Treasurer Advisory Board ARIANEDELuz, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociologique RoBERTLAUNAY,Northwestern University MAMAOOUDlAwARA,Universitat Bayreuth l..AMINESANNEH,Yale University LANSINEKABA,University of Illinois-Chicago TER1lBA Toooix, Institut des Sciences Humaines back to him any information they can gather on meant to assume that his status as such would continue axU~faciliti~fuere. indefinitely, but that until MANSA's first formal Nebemia Levtzion expressed his personal preference elections could take place, both he and Marie Perinbam foc an African venue, noting that while Leiden hosted an would be grateful for a vote of confidence, and asked excellent international conference, he preferred the one that the current Acting Secretary be formally confirmed in Bamako. He observed that by holding the conference in the position she had held for the past year. in West Africa, in addition to a conference venue, it Stephen Wooten moved to a vote of confidence for presented an opportunity to become acquainted with the those currently in office, that they remain in office until host country, with trips to various sites of interest. such time as the by-laws are in place and an election can Conrad recalled the 1991 meeting he had with be held to either re-elect them or elect new officers. The useum and University staff in Conakry when they motion was seconded and carried unanimously. petitioned MANSA to hold a conference in Kankan, By the time discussion of the by-laws actually though this is presently regarded as unrealistic, owing commenced, more than half the attending members had to transportation and other problems. departed from the meeting room and the trickle of those Louis Brenner reminded us of Dakar as a potential abandoning ship continued for the remainder of the venue because of the West African Research Association meeting. However, a skeleton-crew in ever-dwindling being there. It was noted that the West African Research numbers carried on to approve the by-laws. (Ed's. note: Centre in Dakar is interested in scholarly exchanges and Members who spoke during the discussion were, in the bas the potential to assist in hosting an international order that their names appear in the transcript: Conrad, cooference. Lilyan Kesteloot of IFAN was mentioned as Stephen Wooten, Barbara Hoffman, Jeanne Toungara, a pctentially valuable contact, and it was agreed that Nehemia Levtzion, James Jones, Stephen Belcher, Dakar is a site that should be seriously considered. Richard Warms, Laura Arntson, and Mary Jo Arnoldi, Mary Jo Arnoldi introduced the possibility of but there were others present whose names are not heard Ouagadougou as another future location, perhaps in on the tape.) conjunction with the film festival. Section 1 was accepted without disagreement Richard Warms moved (seconded by Ralph Austen) Following discussion on the wording in Section 4 that we hold a conference commemorating the 25fu concerning the "Executive Council," it was amended to. Anniversary of the SOAS Conference on Mande read as it is reproduced below. Studies, and that it be held at one of the locations in Another important amendment was made combining West Africa. The motion carried. the offices of Secretary and Treasurer. There was a Jeanne Toungara suggested that a committee explore consensus that the President/Vice President terms the advantages and drawbacks of each of the venues should be stagger <1 with that of the Secretary-Treasurer suggested. The question of dates came up briefly, but it so the officers would not all change in the same year, was decided that the a venue should be established first. but this was not resolved in an amendment. A proposed Julianne Short suggested that we continue the amendment to remedy that is appended to the by-laws discussion of conference dates and location over the e- below, and can be voted on at the next meeting. mail and asked if we might create a list-serve. Barbara Each of the proposed by-laws was briefly discussed Hoffman said she had access to the appropriate facilities and accepted, with some amendments. The revised and would look into it Jeanne Toungara, Barbara document now stands as follows: Lewis, and Lucy Duran agreed to investigate possible venues and logistics for potential conference sites. Mande Studies Association (MANSA) Moving on to other business, Jeanne Toungara By-Laws announced the West African Research Association I.The name of the organization shall be Mande Studies (WARA) meeting to take place the following evening Association and shall be known as MANSA. and encouraged MANSA members to join that organization. II. The Mande Studies Association is an independent The President then turned the discussion to the professional society established in the United States question of by-laws. He prefaced this with a brief which is open to all Mande scholars, from any nation, account of how editorship of the newsletter and the academic discipline and/or professional interest office of President originally came to be combined. He explained that at the time of the founding meeting III. The specific aims of fue organization are the which resulted in MANSA, before there was any folIowing: question of "officers," he agreed to attempt a newsletter A. To promote scholarly research, both within and for specialists in Mande studies, something that he and outside Africa, in all areas and disciplines of the social Tom Hale had discussed on the occasion of a "Bend in sciences, natural sciences, and humanities relevant to the River" roundtable at an earlier ASA meeting (as the Mande experience and environment. they recalled, "Second Bend in the River, fourth beer''). B. To encourage international cooperation and facilitate At the founders' meeting, once Conrad had agreed to try the exchange of ideas and meaningful dialogue among to produce a newsletter, Robert Launay suggested that a persons engaged in research on Mande societies. title be attached to the editorship, and "President" was C. To encourage the publication and dissemination of chosen. In Orlando Conrad stressed that he has never 2 scholarly and artistic works as well as primary sources (c) The Secretary-Treasurer shall serve as Secretary on Mande studies and related topics.
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