VOLUME XXV i ! JULY/SEPTEMIER 1992 I " NO.3 I I i i I I I• l 1 I! I I I' J f I t ASA OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 1992 FROM THE SECRETARIAT ... OFFICERS Summer in Atlanta is program-preparation season for President: Edmond J. Keller (UCLA) the ASA Annual Meeting, scheduled this year for Novem­ Vice-President: David Robinson (Michigan State ber 20-23 in Seattle, Washington. Univ.) Paper and panel proposals this year reflect the dynamic Past President: Martin A. Klein (Univ. of Toronto) growth in African studies around the US. Previous ASA Treasurer: Joseph C. Miller (University of Virginia) meetings on the west coast have tended to be slightly Executive Director: Edna G. Bay (Emory Univ.) smaller in size than those in the east. This year, the number of proposals has resulted in a program as large, rich and di­ DIRECTORS verse as any held anywhere in recent memory. Because of RETIRING IN 1992 the large numbers, Panels Chair Lee Cassanelli reports that Carol M. Eastman (University of Washington) he reluctantly had to turn away a number of good propo­ Christraud M. Geary (National Museum of African sals that arrived after the March 15 deadline for submis­ Art) sions. Sandra Greene (Cornell University) The preliminary program booklet will be distributed to ASA members in August. As was the case last year, ASA RETIRING IN 1993 meeting participants will need to make plane reservations Joel D. Barkan (University of Iowa, USAID) as early as possible, since November 23 is the Monday be­ Beverly Grier (Clark University) fore the Thanksgiving holiday. Please check page 22 of this Goran Hyden (University of Florida) newsletter for information on reserving flights, hotel rooms and rental cars. RETIRING IN 1994 ASA members who will be first-time visitors to the Pa­ Donald Crummey (University of Illinois at Urbana­ cific Northwest may wish to join one of two special post­ Champaign) conference trips being offered by Convention Services Gwendolyn Mikell (Georgetown University) Northwest. One trip leaves Seattle as the ASA meeting Gretchen Walsh (Boston University) ends to visit the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, with a return to Seattle by Friday evening, No­ vember 27. The second departs Seattle at the same time, in­ ASA News, Vol. XXV, No.3, July/Sept. 1992 cludes two days in Vancouver, and returns to Seattle in ISSN 0278-2219 time for an evening departure on Wednesday, November Editor: EdnaG. Bay 25. Details on both trips will be included in the preliminary Editing and Layout: Beth Pearce program booklet. Published quarterly by the African Studies Association. Contributions to ASA News should be sent to ASA News. Credit Union Building, Emory University, Atlanta., Georgia 30322. Deadlines for contributions are December 1, March I, June 1, and September 1. Domestic claims for non-receipt of issues must be made within six months of the month of publication - overseas claims must be made within one year. Notice to Members: The United States Postal System does not forward periodicals. We must receive written notification from you at least five weeks in advance of any change of address. Failure to notify us of your correct mailing address will result in suspension of mailings until we receive such notification. We can make address changes only when current dues are paid. Re­ instatement of membership mailings after suspension may be made by payment of a $5.00 reinstatement fee. WE WELCOME NEW ASA MEMBERS (who joined us between March 1 and June 1) Abdullahi Aden Tanya L. Fast Valerie Mason Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo Taddesse Adera Silvia Federici Michael W. Mc Cahill Cathy Skidmore-Hess Abdel M. Ahmed Goetan Feltz Martin Meltzer Patricia Smith Olusola Akinrinade Heidi Gengenbach Paul N. Mlaherbe Iraline &: Charles Smith Nurudeen Akinyemi Angela Gilliam Ali Mohamed William S. Smith Gabriel Alungbe Francis Githieya Rider Moloto Paul Smoke Samuel Atteh Stephen Gloyd M. J. Mortimore Gerda Snyman Revathi Balakrishnan Lily Golden Richard Mshomba Sonja O. Solland Janice Bernsten Abe Goldman Richard S. Mukisa Marc Sommers Laverle Berry Fadzai Gwaradzimba Penny Nestel ThembaSono Elias K. Bongmba Tracie Hall Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi Michael A. Southwood Susan Bomstein Nikhil Aziz S. Hemmady Kimani Njogu Thomas W. Spang Steven Brandt Nancy Jacobs Veronica Nmoma Carol Summers R.J. Brook Cheryl Johnson Michael Peyni Noku K. Swindell Jim Cason Robert Kappel Philip Noss Aaron Tesfaye Chacha Nyaigotti Chacha Annette 1. Kashif David Odden Moses Tesi Arlindo Chilundo Hilarie Kelly M.A. Odoemene MakikoToda John M. Cinnamon Samuel Ketekou Richard Okafor Deborah Toler Sean M. Geary Abraham Z. Kidane Eileen Oyelarin-Wilson Thomas Trail Timothy Geaveland 1. N. Kimambo Patricia L. Paton Matthew Turner Kevin Cleaver Shinjiro Kobayashi Rohan Quince Veronica Udeogalanya JamesW.Cox Christophe C. Kougniazonde Scott S. Reese Bedford N. Umez Patricia Darish George Lamptey Peter Rogers Timothy Wangusa Suhashni Datta-Sandhu Azzedine Layachi Judylyn S. Ryan Harry West Elizabeth Defilippo Michael Levin Janice M. Saunders Rhonda Williams G. Demolin John Lucas Emmett Schaefer Elvira Felton Williams Daniel Deybe Lorna L. Lueker Sally Scott Doris K. Williams Samia El Hadi EI Nagar Damazo Out Majak Dianna J. Shandy Eric T. Young Catherine Elkins Takyiwaa Manuh Kathleen A. Siachitema Scott M. Youngstedt Uzoma Esonwanne J. Paul Martin Eliakim M. Sibanda Rebecca Zeigler Ezekial Ette AND NEW LIFETIME MEMBERS Ali Mazrui Lou Witherite WE THANK ASA ENDOWMENT CONTRIB UT 0 RS (who contributed between March 1 and June 1) Donors Tavy D. Aherne David L. Easterbrook Curtis E. Huff Aliko Songolo &: Emilie Ngo- Nancy Ambruster Harvey M. Feinberg Jeanne Koopman Nguidjol Yaw Agyei Asamoah Alan Feinstein Harry W. Langworthy B. Marie Perinbam Mario Azevedo Tyrone Ferdnance N'zinga Luyinduladio Cora Ann Presley David Iyam &: Ruby A. Roger Cocking Peter Malanchuk William Cyrus Reed Bell-Gam John Harbeson Daniel McCall Elisha P. Renne Penelope Campbell Marieta Harper Josephine F. Milburn John Allen Rowe S. Terry Childs Ed Hawley Robert &: Mildred Mortimer John F. Sullivan Larry Diamond Bonnie K. Holcomb Mohame Haji Mukhtar Stevens P. Tucker Special Donors Abena Busia Edwin N. Wilmsen Patricia Darish & David Binkley Friends of ASA Martin A. Klein David Robinson J. Gus Liebenow Roslyn A. Walker Norman Miller Benefactor of ASA Ruth S. Morgenthau OBITUARY Mohamed Orner Beshir died in Khartoum on 29 January force behind a series of books about the south, The Southern 1992. Universally known to his English-speaking friends Sudan: Background to Conflict (1968), The Southern Sudan: simply as M.O.B., he created an unforgettable impression From Conflict to Peace (1975), Diversity, Regionalism and Na­ on those who met him. Passionate and eloquent, he was tional Unity (Uppsala, 1979), and Southern Sudan: Regional­ never happier than when discussing topics dose to his ism and Religion (1984). Some of his reflections on the con­ heart-in particular the nurturing of a Sudanese national cept of a Sudanese identity will appear shortly in a book of consciousness and the protection of human rights. conference proceedings, Religion and National Identity in Af­ He was born in Karima in the northern Sudan in 1926 rica (Northwestern University Press, 1992). His contribu­ and gained his higher education first at University College tions to the study of broader questions in African politics (formerly Gordon College) Khartoum and later at Queen's are to be found in The Mercenaries in Africa (1972), Israel and University, Belfast, where he earned a BSe in Economics in Africa (1974), and Terramedia: Themes in Afro-Arab Relations 1956 and finally Linacre College, Oxford. His professional (1982). career spanned secondary school teaching, university ad­ Although M.O.B.'s writings are a monument to his ministration and diplomacy before he became a professori­ broad-ranging mind and liberal humanism, he was no al fellow at the University of Khartoum's Institute of Asian mere armchair scholar. He was active behind the scenes in and African Studies in 1974. The following year he became promoting dialog between northern and southern Sudan in Dean of that university's Graduate College and for ten the 19605 (particularly at the roundtable conference of years was very active in organizing conferences and pro­ 1965) and early 1970s (crowned by the Addis Ababa Ac­ moting the publication of Khartoum PhD theses in the hu­ cords of 1972) and in bringing about the first major interna­ manities and social sciences. In the mid-1980s he em­ tional conference on Arab-African relations in Abu Dhabi barked upon a project that in many ways was the in 1976. He was a tireless champion of human rights in the fulfillment of his lifelong interest in education. After much Sudan and was one of the founders of the Sudan Human lobbying and fund-raising, he was able to open the doors Rights Organization. of the first private university in the Sudan-the Ahlia Uni­ We shall miss the warmth of his friendship and the in­ versity, Orndurman, which emphasized vocation education spiration of his commitment to a liberating vision of the Su­ with departments such as Computer Science and Business dan and of African-Arab relations. Management. He made a special effort to encourage and find scholarships for Southern Sudanese students. John Hunwick M.O.B. was a prolific writer. His concern with education R.S. O'Fahey is reflected in one of his earliest published works, Educa­ tional Development in the Sudan, 1898-1956 (Oxford, 1969) and in later monographs published