Fulbright Scholar in UI- Matthew H. Brown

Matthew H. Brown is a PhD candidate in the Department of African Languages and Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in theU.S.A. He earned his Master’s Degree in the same department, focusing primarily on postcolonial literary studies, though also studying linguistics and the Yoruba language. The title of his Master’s thesisis: Peripheral Destinations: The Chronotope of the Road as Postcolonial Space-Time in Soyinka and Serote. In 2009, Matthew won a Fulbright-Hays fellowship, as well as the Ebrahim Hussein fellowship,to study the Nigerian popular film industry. He will spend 10 months in Nigeria, 1 month in South Africa, and 1 month in London collecting information about the Nigerian film industry and its international distribution and consumption. Here at the University of Ibadan, Matthew is working with Dr. Duro Adeleke in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages and Dr. Hyginus Ekwuazi in theDepartment of Theater Arts. He and his wife, Sarah, will be at UI until mid December, 2010. Matthew enjoys practicing Yoruba, as well as eating iyan with egusi. Sarah’s favorite Nigerian food is moin-moin.

OIP Holds Roundtable on Strengthening University Structures for Internationalization

A Roundtable on "Strengthening University Structures for Internationalization" organized by the Office of International Programmes took place on 12 March, 2010 at MacArthur ICT/Digital library Conference room. It was facilitated by Professor Arthur Sussman, the Vice President of MacArthur Foundation and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law. It was attended by The Registrar, the Librarian, Deputy Registrars, Directors of Institutes and Centres, Dean of Faculties and members of the Academic Links Board. The roundtable was chaired by Professor G.O.S. Ekhaguere, the MacArthur Grants Liaison Officer. Professor Sussman’s talk centred on the role of the University administration in the internationalization of UI. He talked about the importance of creating openings for members of staff to travel out so that they can be means of informing others about UI and he advised the University to maintain contacts with Universities and organizations abroad. He suggested that the University should use UI alumni and Nigerians in diaspora to optimize the international presence of UI. He advised that the University should explore ways of making International students and visitors ambassadors of UI. He concluded by stating the need to provide adequate information about UI to international students and visitors. The roundtable was very interactive, as the participants asked questions, made suggestions and voiced their opinions on important issues.

My Stay in UI - Regan Buck Bardeen

I am a doctoral candidate in African History at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a Fulbright scholar at the University of Ibadan, I am conducting research on the development of a reading public in southwestern Nigeria, between 1920 and 1980. I am especially interested in the ways people accessed and utilized books outside of formal education settings. UI is a wonderful place to be based for research; I spend a great deal of time at the National Archives, located on campus, or in Kenneth Dike Library. I also conduct interviews with publishers and booksellers throughout the city. I love traveling in the region and can't wait to see more of Nigeria in the coming months. When I'm at home in the Staff Quarters, I enjoy learning how to cook Nigerian food - especially my favorite meal, eba with egusi.

New Funding to Support Research Leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Medical Research Council has launched a new scheme to support African Research Leaders. This is a highly prestigious award, jointly funded by the MRC and the UK's Department for International Development (DfID), for non-clinical and clinical researchers of exceptional ability. The aim of the scheme is to strengthen research leadership and capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, by attracting and retaining researchers of high ability. The scheme will be launched as a pilot in the first instance, aiming to award support for two or three Research Leaders.

Please see the attached link at your earliest convenience and pass onto anybody who you think would be interested in this scheme.
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/Fundingopportunities/Calls/index.htm

Opportunities- Scholar-In-Residence Programme

The Graduate Institute, Geneva is pleased to announce the creation of a Global South Scholar-in-Residence programme. As part of this programme, academics from Africa, Asia and Latin America will be invited to the Institute for a period of one semester.Candidates are invited to apply to the programme. Successful applicants will be able to take advantage of their period in residence to update their teaching curricula, participate in teaching courses, further their research projects and contribute to enriching the intellectual life of the Institute.Priority will be given to university teachers – with a preference for women and junior academics - who will seek to apply the benefits of their stay at the Institute upon returning to their own institutions.Thanks to the generous support of a Swiss foundation that wishes to remain anonymous, the Institute will welcome three participants each semester who will spend between three and five months at the Institute.

Objectives

Academics participating in this programme will be able to take advantage of their stay at the Institute:

• To update and strengthen the curriculum of their course through close contact with colleagues working in the same discipline or area of expertise;


• To further a personal research project by taking advantage of the plethora of expertise available in the Institute’s research centres and programmes, as well as the library's resources, one of the most important European repositories in the field;


• To participate in teaching courses (depending on the needs of the study plan, they may be called upon to teach a course for the entire semester);
  Interact with the Institute's students and faculty, as well as with international, public and private-sector actors from the Geneva area.

Benefits

Academics will benefit from the following advantages:

• The Institute will cover the costs of travel and visas for participants as well accommodation costs;


• It will offer a monthly stipend to compensate for the loss of income in the institution of origin and to cover subsistence costs in Geneva ;


• Participants will be provided with a work space, and access to the Institute's library and IT facilities.

Conditions for applications

Candidates must hold a PhD and have a full time tenure-track or tenured position in an academic institution in Africa, Asia, or Latin America .Their teaching and research activities and interests must fit with theInstitute’s disciplines and fields of expertise (internationalaffairs, development studies, international economics, internationalrelations, international law, international history and politics).

Procedure

The deadlines for applications are 31 March, for the autumn semester (mid-September to mid-December), and 31 October for the spring semester (mid-February to end May)
Applications must be sent to the Director by e-mail: in-residence@graduateinstitute.ch or regular post:

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Director

Global South In-Residence Scholars

Rue de Lausanne 132

PO Box 136

CH-1211 Geneva 11

They must include:

• A letter of motivation stating the reasons for the application, the preferred semester, and the Institute's discipline or area of expertise in which the candidate is interested;


• A work plan detailing the proposed activities to be completed during the candidate’s time at the Institute (update of teaching curriculum,
  research project, etc.);


• A curriculum vitae and a list of published works;


• Two letters of recommendation.
  http://graduateinstitute.ch/corporate/institute/visiting/in_residen... http://graduateinstitute.ch/corporate/institute/visiting/in_residence_en.html
  

OIP Announces Roundtable

Office of International Programmes announces a Roundtable on Strengthening University Structures for Internationalization to be facilitated by Professor Arthur Sussman, Professor of Law, University of Chicago and Vice President of MacArthur Foundation. It is scheduled as follows:
Date: 12 March, 2010.
Venue: Conference Room at the ICT/Digital Library Building, MacArthur Foundation, University of Ibadan.
Time: 9.00 a.m. – 11.00a.m.
We look forward to seeing you.

OIP holds a Roundtable on Establishing International Collaborations for Training and Research

A Roundtable on "Establishing International Collaborations for Training and Research"organized by the Office of International Programmes took place on 9 February, 2010 at MacArthur ICT/Digital library Conference room. It was facilitated by Professor Arthur Sussman, the Vice President of MacArthur Foundation and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Public and International Law, Faculty of Law. It was attended by members of the Academic Links Board and members of the Academic Staff of various departments. The roundtable was chaired by Professor A.A.B. Agbaje, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic). Professor Sussman’s talk centred on the need for the University to have the vision of being a Mega Global University. He talked about the importance of establishing international collaborations that will be purposeful and mutually beneficial. He advised that such collaborations should be built with the experience obtained from previous ones. He also advised Grant seekers to read the terms of reference of an organization to be sure their proposal fits into it before submitting their proposals. Prof G.O.S Ekhaguere was the Lead Discussant and he talked about Mac Arthur Foundation's shift in focus from individual projects to projects that involve partnerships.

International visitors from the American Councils for International Education

Three International visitors came to UI between 21 - 25 January, 2010 to discuss the commencement of a flagship programme for the study of Yoruba Language in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan. They are Professor Antonia Folarin Schleicher, the Director of the National African Language Resource Centre at the University of Wisconsin-Madison accompanied by Mr. Ashford Njogu a Senoir Program Officer at the American Councils for International Education, Washington D.C., USA and Armine Poghikan a Senior Manager at the American councils for International Education. The programme is expected to commence in June, 2010 and eight students from the USA will be taking courses in Yoruba for eight weeks.

The visitors came to the Office of International Programmes (OIP) to inform the Director, Dr. Bola Udegbe about the establishment of the programme. They were warmly received.