International Studies Program Newsletter Spring '05

Graduate student Ayisha Yahya presents her findings at the April 21, 2005,conference sponsored by the UO Center on Diversity and Community(CODAC). Yahya received a CODAC grant last year to help fund her summer2004 research in Kenya.

Passages

S. Asia tsunami relief 2

Ngugi wa Thiong'o 3

Urdu poem 4

Awards 5

Alumni notes 6

ISP expansion 7

Dance in Brittany 8

Alvaro's Chronicle 9

Inside

Growing up I listened toWhitney Houston and MariahCarey, Tupac Shakur and BiggieSmalls. I loved the Cosbys andthe Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Yet Idid not spend my childhood inthe US—my hometown isNairobi, Kenya. My life is a testament to howintegrated the world has becomethrough the media and pro-cesses of globalization. Moreand more, we share a commonglobal popular culture, drawnmainly from the Western world;we watch the same movies, lis-ten to the same music, and wearthe same clothes. More andmore, diverse nations’ politicaland socio-economic systemsrevolve around a common capi-talist market system. We must question the waysin which we are becoming thesame, as well as what makes us

Ayisha Yahya

The music reaches outacross differentdemographics,...serving as a

unifying element.

different. This debate betweenhomogeneity and heterogeneityis what led me to study the emer-gence of Kenyan hip-hop inNairobi for my master’s finalproject.

New Genre in KenyaIn recent years, young Kenyansbegan making music influencedby American rappers and hip-hoppers. The genre is extremelypopular among the youth, but italso raises important questionsabout its significance in the lo-cal context. Is it unique, or doesit merely imitate Western forms?And how is it representative ofurban Kenyan youth identity asa whole?

I traveled home in summer2004 for 10 weeks, where I talkedto musicians, music producersand music consumers. I listenedto the music and observedyoung people in their daily lives.

I wanted to get not only a senseof what this music means, butof how young urban Kenyansperceive their own lives.

I discovered that the musicindustry is thriving, despitechallenges such as lack of in-vestment or government regu-latory bodies to curb piracy andaid in moving the industry for-ward. My findings also reflectthat we are, indeed, becominghomogenous in many ways—just a look at how youngKenyans dress is enough to re-veal the similarities betweenKenyan and American youth.

New IdentityYet underneath the dominantcurrents of Westernization andglobalization are alternativetrends that seek to reaffirm aunique Kenyan youth identity.Young Kenyans are composinghip-hop-inspired music in locallanguages and addressingthemes that are relevant to theirlives. With their catchy rhythmsand creative lyrics, they assertthat they are “proudly Kenyan.”

And while acknowledgingthe impact the West has had onthem, Kenyan musicians havenot resigned themselves to justaccepting what the West has tooffer—they are creating theirown fusions from the materialsthey have appropriated.

While some people criticizethe new music as mere imitation,others recognize it as an inimi-table cultural product. Manylove the music, and Kenyan art-ists have gained celebrity sta-tus in a nation where, until a fewyears ago, it was rare to hear lo-cal songs on radio.

We have a new brand ofrole models that give us anotherreason to be proud of our na-tion. Moreover, the musicreaches out across different de-mographics, since it is not madefor a particular ethnic group,serving as a unifying element.

Kenyan contemporary mu-sic represents the positionyoung Kenyans occupy, nego-tiating local ideals and Westerninfluences. We are findingspaces in between that are ablend of values and perspec-tives. We are cultural hybrids,with a unique urban identity, andKenyan hip-hop mirrors our hy-bridity.

ISP student studies adaptation of NorthAmerican art form by Kenyan youth.

Hip-Hop in Nairobi—Imitation or Innovation?

2Sara AlbeeIt was a bright, sunny Sundayin Tamil Nadu, South India. I wasenjoying my day off from an in-ternship at a local NGO inAuroville, Tamil Nadu, nearPondicherry.

The moment of the tsunami,the morning of December 26,2004, I was only a few kilome-ters from the Bay of Bengal, talk-ing to my family (it was Christ-mas evening in the US). Near theend of our conversation, a TamilIndian woman came into theshop. She was quite upset—even hysterical—but I couldn’tunderstand what had happened.Showing such emotion in a pub-lic place is very unusual.

On my way home I wit-nessed hundreds of families,mainly small children (so manychildren), walking on the roadin front of my house. They weretraveling inland from two of theworst-hit beachside villagesby foot, bullock cart, anythingavailable. They said that their

houses were full of water andthat many people were dead. Iwas surprised, because it wasn’training, but then I heard that theocean had risen up and thatthere had been anearthquake. Power was downmost of the day, so nobodycould get access to news.

I went to the beach to seewhat was going on; maybe a littlecrazy, in retrospect. Others hadthe same idea, and what was leftof the beach was crowded. Theocean was about 20 feet fartherinland than usual, and the first30–40 feet was dirty brown, withrandom things floating in thewater. This stream of brown ex-tended for many kilometersnorth and south. That wasabout 11 a.m. The tsunami hadhit at about 9 a.m.

The devastation was heart-breaking. Along the 20 kmstretch where I was (north ofPondicherry), more than 300people had died and many losthomes and fishing boats. But in

the face of this devastationpeople and organizations helpedin dramatic ways. Indiansbrought food and clothing fromall over India. Inland villagersgave everything they could.People united to help, regard-less of caste or other affiliations.

held up by the police for severalhours and then forced to giveour donations to a politicalparty that, supposedly, woulddistribute it. (The political par-ties were often accused of sell-ing the rice, and even if they didnot, they used the donations togain votes). Wealthier villagerswho weren’t affected by thetsunami could pay bribes to getgovernment aid. Granted, eventhey don’t have much and aresimply trying to survive. But allthis can cause extreme frustra-tion for those trying to help.

Despite this, people and or-ganizations are helping in sig-nificant ways. Less than an hourafter the tsunami struck,Auroville (the internationaltownship in which I was stay-ing) began what would becomea large relief effort, working in24 tsunami-affected villages.Auroville is now involved inlong-term rehabilitation work.

Continued on p. 8

TsunamiTsunamiTsunamiTsunamiTsunami in South IndiaInterning ISP Student Joins in Relief Effort

A major concern,especially for theyouth, is obtain-ing alternativejobs. Fishing isscary now formany of them.

On behalf of the International Studies Program faculty and staff,a hearty congratulations to all of our students: those graduatingthis spring, those continuing in the Program, and those who’vefinished but remain a vital part of ISP’s “extended kinship group.”Over the years it’s been our great pleasure to work with an amazingrange of bright, talented, energetic and passionate students, gradand undergrad. Some of you are working your way through theprogram now, injecting your enthusiasm and curiosity into thecourses and conversations that are International Studies. To thosewho have already left your mark, we are grateful for your legacy andfor the impact you now have in the wider world.

International Studies thrives because we are a community ofengagement: a cluster of scholars, students and citizens of a global-ized world who share a commitment to deep knowledge of otherregions and lifeways, to opening minds and hearts to ideas, beliefs,

practices and values at first distant and unfamiliar, later enrichingand empowering. We as faculty, students and staff know that inter-national diversity, bridging cultural, racial, religious and regionaldivides, and overcoming ignorance and mistrust with knowledgeand empathy are vital as we make our way through the complexitiesof a shrinking global community. While we strive for this in ourclasses and activities here in leafy, comfortable Eugene, our greatertask is to take what we learn out into the wider world and to bringthe lessons of internationalism back home to enrich and transformthis place, too.

Thanks to all of you for your commitment to International Stud-ies, for staying in contact with the Program, for sharing your accom-plishments and joys, and for standing with us as we continue tomake the University of Oregon and Eugene examples of cross-cul-tural understanding and openness to the world beyond our shores.

Dennis GalvanMessage from the Director

The corruption and bureau-cracy of the government waswidespread and sickening in theface of so much loss. I witnessedthis while helping deliver riceand cooking pots to one of theworst-hit areas on the Indiancoast, Naggapattnam, six hourssouth of Pondicherry. We were

2 ~ ISP ~ Spring '05

Ngugi wa Thiong'oKenyan writer and scholar speaks to UO audience

on the significance of language in colonial settings.

Kenyan novelist Ngugi waThiong’o gave a public lectureat the University of Oregon onMarch 30 titled “Planting Afri-can Memory: The Role of aScholar in a PostcolonialWorld.” The address was co-sponsored by the InternationalStudies Program; ISP graduatestudent Ayisha Yahya, a nativeof Kenya, introduced the ac-claimed scholar.

One of Ngugi's concerns isthe role of language in coloniza-tion and neocolonialism. In 1977he was detained in a maximum-security prison for producingthe co-written play I Will MarryWhen I Want in the African lan-guage of Kikuyu. The play wasstaged in a village about 100 kmfrom Nairobi at the initiative ofNgugi and some of his col-leagues from the University ofNairobi. They chose Kikuyubecause it was they language ofthe community and they wantedto connect with the villagers.

compose his first novel inKikuyu. Devil on the Cross metwith great popular success whenit was published in 1980. But in1982, while traveling abroad,Ngugi learned that the govern-ment was again planning to ar-rest him. He chose not to return,and in August 2004 he made hisfirst trip home in 22 years.

Today Ngugi is distin-guished professor of Englishand Comparative Literature anddirector of the InternationalCenter for Writing and Transla-tion at the University of Califor-nia at Irvine. He continues to callattention to colonialism and lan-guage. In his UO address hehighlighted the central role oflanguage in memory. “Languageis the courier of memory. With-out memory we cannot negoti-ate our relationship with nature,our relationships with otherpeople….We cannot navigateour relationship with our ownbody and our own mind.”

Displacing MemoryColonizers, Ngugi said, have in-variably imposed their languageon the colonized. They thuscontrol both land and language.“You control the memory of thatcommunity....You name, youown,” he says.

He cited, for example, placenames such as Queenstown,Williamstown, New England andNew York. Presumably, he ob-served, these places had namesbefore the Europeans came. Byimposing their own names, theEuropeans were “planting onememory over another.”

Ngugi says colonialismcontinues when scholarly prac-

tice implies that the understand-ing of the history or culture of apeople must be mediated by En-glish; the message is, “knowl-edge is real knowledge when itis coded in English.”

Ngugi described Europeanfield workers who employ a lo-cal informant. Usually, notes aretaken in English; if they are not,they are translated into Englishand the original, he said, is de-stroyed. The English documentbecomes the “primary source.”

“This is upside down. Weare continuing the colonialproject…not because we areusing English or French, butbecause we are placing one lan-guage over another.”

Ngugi’s past teaching positions include Yale University, Amherst Collegeand New York University. He has been a guest lecturer at many otheruniversities and received numerous prominent awards.

Amanda Bird

Ngugi discontinued com-posing in English because “Ihad to find a way of connectingmyself to myself.” He calls Afri-can scholars to take up this pro-cess of connecting themselveswith their memory.

For European and Ameri-can scholars, Ngugi urged sen-sitivity to the existence and va-lidity of other languages.

Ngugi’s other publicationsinclude Weep Not Child (1964),The River Between (1965), AGrain of Wheat (1967), Petals ofBlood (1977), I Will Marry WhenI Want (play, 1977), andDecolonising the Mind: ThePolitics of Language in AfricanLiterature (1986).

"You name,You own."

Official OppositionThe play was enormously suc-cessful; people came from allaround to view it. But theKenyan government feared dis-cussion of political issues in alocal language would fomentdissent. The play was stopped,and three weeks later, Ngugiwas arrested. He was detainedfor over a year with no trial.

While in prison, Ngugi uti-lized pieces of toilet paper to

Spring '05 ~ ISP ~ 3

Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) was born in Sialkot, Paki-stan, but his poetry is admired in both Pakistan and In-dia. He studied English literature and philosophy inLahore and lectured in English at Amritsar. After WorldWar II, he became a journalist, eventually editing The Pa-kistan Times. He was sentenced to four years in prison in1951 on political charges. While in prison he wrote Dast-e-Saba and Zindan-Nama.

In his poems, Faiz intertwines themes of romantic loveand contemporary social issues. His poetry has beentranslated into Russian, and he received the prestigiousLenin Award for Peace from Soviet Russia. His poetry col-lections include Naqsh-e-Faryadi (1943) and Dast-e-Tah-e-Sang(1965).

Translation by Amarah Yasmeen Niazi. Amarah is a first-year gradu-ate student in International Studies. She is from Pakistan and has aMaster's in Defence and Strategic Studies from Quaid-e-AzamUniversity Islamabad, Pakistan.

Faiz's poem and biographical information obtained from http://www.msci.memphis.edu/~ramamurt/faiz.html and www.faiz.com.

Last night came into my heart your forgotten memoryLike spring sprouting out on barren landLike fragrant breeze blowing on a desert sandLike a patient getting unexpected solace out of misery.

A Poet of PakistanA Poet of PakistanA Poet of PakistanA Poet of PakistanA Poet of Pakistan

The students and staff of the International Studies Program would like to express appreciation to those whohave contributed their financial support in the past year:Evan Andersen ~ Melissa Atkinson ~ John Blickenstaff ~ David Bow-man ~ Tina Buikat ~ Robert Carey ~ Alisa and Foster Cunningham ~Maria De la Vega and James McKillop ~ Juanita and Samuel Devereaux~ Kathleen Diaz and Efrain Diaz-Horna ~ Marian and Frank DinsmoreII ~ Linda Dolejs ~ Barbara Dumbleton ~ Marijke and Ikani Fakasiieiki~ Patricia Fink ~ Bradley Gearhart ~ Elizabeth Orjala Gerot and MichaelGerot ~ Hannah and Daniel Goldrich ~ Jane Wahlstrom Grodem andJon Grodem ~ Gail Gunther ~ Janet and Ronald Hartwig ~ MerryHornreich ~ Margaret Jack ~ Bonnie Jones ~ Barry Kelley ~ Amy andJohn Kinard ~ Elisabeth Linder ~ Louise Marandas ~ Maxine Martin

and Joseph Fretz ~ Shelley Merello ~ Jan Meyboom ~ Diana andPatrick Mills ~ Bryan Moore ~ Eliza and John Morehead ~ Lise Nelson~ Patricia and Ray Nicola ~ Jodie Hatchett O’Kelly ~ Mary and DavidPalm ~ Barbara Paredes-Sumner and Ivan Sumner ~ Amanda Powell~ Regina Psaki and Marc VanScheeuwijck ~ Kariman and Brent Renison~ Ann and Robert Ridgley ~ Andrew Rothgery ~ Lisa and Randall Sias~ Kirk Simmons ~ John Sirevicius ~ Rebecca Raedeke Sprecher andDavid Sprecher ~ Carrol and Carl Staley ~ Luis Verano ~ Lisa SandauWenzlick and Michael Wenzlick ~ Marliese and John White ~ LockheedMartin Corporation ~ Shell Oil Company Foundation

If you would like to help support the International StudiesProgram, donations can be sent to:

UO FoundationPO Box 3346Eugene, OR 97403-0346

Please specify whether your contribution is for the ClarenceThurber Endowment (dedicated to student scholarships andprofessional development) or the International Studies Gen-eral Support Fund.

4 ~ ISP ~ Spring '05

Awards ...Thurber Grant for Philippines Research

George and SusanFugelsang Scholarship

A youth in the Philippines holds a sign: "Victim of thedecreasing education budget." Photo by Michael Viola

I am a junior International Studies major, with a concentration in Interna-tional Education. My minor is Spanish. I recently returned from studyingabroad in Querétaro, Mexico, for six months. It was one of the best experi-ences of my life! I am extremely close to my Mexican host family, and we e-mail each other a few times a week. In fact, I’ll be visiting them sometime thissummer and next Christmas. I fell in love with the Mexican culture and people.

I grew up in Woodburn, Oregon, which is an extremely diverse commu-nity. My mom is an Old Believer Russian, so I grew up in two differentcultures: the Old Believer culture and mainstream American culture. I wouldlike someday to live abroad and teach in international schools.

After graduation (June ‘06), I hope to participate in the Teach for Americaprogram, as well as join the Peace Corps. I really love opening myself up tonew ways of thinking and living.

My sister, Sasha, is one year younger than I and also a student here atthe U of O. In my free time (when I have any!), I like to read, watch moviesand spend time with my family and friends.

I am a second-year graduate student in International Stud-ies. In 2004 I received a Thurber Grant that enabled me tospend three months in the Philippines studying Tagalogand exploring potential graduate work. While there, I notonly formed close connections with University of Philip-pines faculty, who helped direct my research in imposedforms of “development” and colonial education, but alsolinked up with Filipino community groups actively engagedin campaigns for social justice and self-determination.

My trip was associated with the Philippine StudiesProgram. This extensive research program is developed byPhilippine Forum, a nonprofit organization that collaborateswith the University of the Philippines. After I returned toEugene, six of us who had participated in the program be-gan to discuss how we could do more than just learn aboutthe Philippines through our research and graduate work.

We decided to organize a conference with the focus of“advocating, educating and celebrating,” addressing is-sues relevant to Filipinos in the US and abroad. The con-ference took place at California State University, DominguezHills, Feb. 18–21. It was a success; students, activists andindividuals from all over the US attended workshops andlistened to guests speak on “Turning Knowledge into Ac-tion.” Specifically, speakers advocated for Filipino WorldWar II veterans in the US who, instead of receiving military

My majors are International Studies, German and Spanish,and my minor is in the Honors College. I studied abroadwinter 2003 in Seville, Spain, and have participated in twointernational internships offered through the U of O. Thefirst took place summer 2002 in Ludwigsburg, Germany,with a cross-cultural training firm. I assisted with orienta-tion seminars, researched issues of cultural conflict spe-cific to the countries handled in the orientations, marketedto potential clients over the phone and served as an officeassistant. Last summer I interned with FINCA Peru, a com-munal banking organization in Ayacucho.

I am particularly interested in studying internationaldevelopment aid and am writing my Honors College thesison a comparison between USAID and the BMZ (Germanaid ministry). I have received a Fulbright grant to continuethis research in Berlin next academic year.

Fulbright and College of Arts andSciences Awards

benefits, are to thisday receiving wel-fare checks. Speak-ers also discussedPhilippine cultureand its history,marked with colo-nialism as well asresistance.

With the aca-demic and financialassistance of theInternational Stud-ies Program I havebeen able to net-work and build re-lationships withscholars, activistsand communitymembers who areworking to createpositive changeswithin Filipinocommunities in theUS and abroad.

Michael Viola

Cortnie Shupe Elizabeth Rose Sprauer

Spring '05 ~ ISP ~ 5

Notes from all over ...Notes from all over ...Notes from all over ...Notes from all over ...Notes from all over ...Alumni

Kitte Chen (BA ‘01)Kitte is teaching special educa-tion in California with the Teachfor America program.

Agatha Schmaedick (BA ‘00)March 9, 2005"I’m still busy in the workers’rights world; I now live in Wash-ington DC and work for theWorker Rights Consortium,though I spend about half of theyear in Southeast Asia. I’ve beendoing factory assessments,mainly in Indonesia, Thailand,and the Philippines, and just re-cently helped get the WRC’s pro-gram in China started. I miss Or-egon, though.”

Miguel Olivares (MA ‘93)August 13, 2004"I have been with the Departmentof Commerce for seven years asan International Trade Special-ist. I thought I might share mygratitude for having been withthe International Studiesprogramme!"Excerpt from the Export News forFlorida, US Export AssistanceCenters, August 2004:“Miguel moved to the Ft. Lau-derdale US Export AssistanceCenter after six years with theDepartment of Commerce’s Inter-national Buyer Program in Wash-ington DC, where he partneredwith several major US trade exhi-bitions to maximize their interna-tional attendance and exposure.As part of the Ft. Lauderdaleteam, Miguel brings his promo-

tional skills to help local firmsfind international partners andincrease their export sales. Theindustry sectors he is workingwith include: Education andTraining, Sporting Goods andFitness Equipment, ConsumerGoods, and Apparel."

Kim Giusti (BA ’04)May 1, 2005"I am interning for five monthsat the Deutscher Bundestag(German Parliament). There are 95interns from 21 countries (includ-ing 10 Americans) living togetherin East Berlin.

Each of us is working for anindividual representative, writingspeeches and letters, attendingmeetings and doing any otherwork necessary to keep theBundestag representatives ontop of the current political situa-tion in Germany. I am working forRepresentative Ulrich Adam,from the CDU party. Over the nextthree months, my main task willbe to research the Office ofHomeland Security in the US,translate that information intoGerman and help the Chief ofStaff in my office write a strat-egy paper on the topic. This pa-per will be submitted to theBundestag for discussion andmight very well lead to creationof a similar office in Germany.

Other aspects of the pro-gram include a trip to the con-stituency of the representative,a “Laenderabend” (a party thateach country will put on to rep-resent its culture) and invitationsto many events here in Berlin.

After the internship ends onJuly 31, I plan to travel for the

rest of August, and then I’ll bemoving to Vienna to start ateaching assistantship year on aFulbright Grant. I was also ac-cepted to the MAGES programat Georgetown University andplan on attending that the yearafter to get my Master’s degreein German and European Stud-ies."

Judith Friedman (BA ‘05)May 3, 2005"Since January I have been inQuito, Ecuador, working forUNIFEM’s Andean Regional of-fice.A letter I wrote last week...The tire burning, gas throwing,highway blockades, hornhonking, massive marches andrioting seem to have subsided inQuito today. Last Wednesday(April 13th) the people of Quitowent on strike to protest (nowex-presidente) LucioGutierrez. Roads were blocked,water was turned off, publictransportation came to a halt, and

Lucio declared a state of emer-gency in Ecuador.

Our staff was reduced tothose who could walk to work(five of us, I was included).Things continued to escalate inthe following days...buses andbuses of indigenous people werebrought in by the government,essentially bribed to supportLucio and his cronies—thoughinterviews revealed that they hadlittle idea of what they were sup-posed to be doing inQuito. Though the internationalpress has neither accurately cap-tured the subtleties nor the in-tensities of the situation, theprovocative images of Quitowith fires, police, army, gas andchaos are quite real.

In a nutshell, the presidentwas overthrown...congress wasousted, and now the vice presi-dent is attempting to appease elpueblo ecuatoriano. In spite ofthe singed streets, the barricadedbuildings, the ruined governmentoffices (el ministerio debienestar social was burntdown), the heavily armed policeand army patrols, and the gen-eral animo de la gente, thingsare calm here again.”

6 ~ ISP ~ Spring '05

The University of Oregonrecently received a grant of$160,000 from the federal Depart-ment of Education to be usedduring the academic years 2005–07 to expand its undergraduateAfrican Studies initiative.

The grant proposal, com-posed by ISP professorsStephen Wooten and DennisGalvan, calls for addition of Afri-can studies classes, acquisitionof African language study mate-rials, enhanced library holdingsand study abroad opportunities,and expansion of intellectual re-sources through lectures, semi-nars and an artist-in-residence.

Maram Epstein, head of theOregon Consortium for Interna-tional and Area Studies (OCIAS),

comments, “This grant will makeit possible to establish a certifi-cate and perhaps minor in Afri-can Studies, so that interestedstudents can take full advantage

merely facts, are important: “It’snot just about knowing whereAfrica is, how poor people are,how many people are dying ofAIDS.” Rather, how do the ac-

In addition to Swahili lan-guage courses through theYamada Language Center, tuto-rials in Bamana/Dyula andWolof, two West African lan-guages, are to be established.

In order to sustain initialdevelopments, the initiative willneed to obtain funding from do-nors, foundations and endow-ments. Wooten says one crite-rion in determining Title VI grant-ees is the likelihood ofsustainability, and he is confi-dent that the programs to be es-tablished will invite investors.

Wooten says the programis "good for our diversity.Tohave a truly international anddiverse campus, we really needa focus on that part of the world.It’s a great step forward for us.”

Three UO professors joined In-ternational Studies this year.Bruce Blonigen, Carlos Aguirreand Richard Kraus have beenadvising students and assistingwith program operations sincesummer '04.

They also serve on gradu-ate thesis committees and helpmanage Block C professionalconcentration areas. It is hopedthat in the future they will eachteach one ISP course a year.

ISP Director Dennis Galvanfeels the addition of Blonigen,Kraus and Aguirre increases theprogram’s intellectual collabora-tion with other departments. Hesays they have already contrib-uted significantly, assisting in ex-panding and redesigning sum-mer course offerings and revisit-ing undergraduate course re-quirements.

Carlos Aguirre is associate pro-fessor of history and director ofLatin American Studies. He hastaught at universities in Peru,Puerto Rico and the US. He haspublished two books, and hisawards include an AmericanPhilosophical Society ResearchGrant ('97), a John SimonGuggenheim Foundation Fellow-ship ('99) and the UO ErstedAward for Distinguished Teach-ing ('02).

Bruce Blonigen holdsKnight Professorship in the Eco-nomics Department. He is also aFaculty Research Fellow withthe National Bureau of EconomicResearch and associate editor ofthe Journal of InternationalEconomics. Blonigen’s awardsinclude two National ScienceFoundation grants (1998–00 and2004–06) and the UO ErstedAward for Distinguished Teach-ing'03).

UO Receives Grant for Undergraduate African Studies ExpansionAmanda Bird

Amanda Bird

Carlos Aguirre

Richard Kraus

Bruce Blonigen

Richard Kraus is a professor ofPolitical Science and director ofthe UO Honors College. He haspublished three books and spentsix years in China, living inFujian, Nanjing, Taiwan andHong Kong. He has taught in sixUS institutions since 1974, in-cluding the Johns Hopkins Uni-versity-Nanjing University Cen-ter for Chinese and AmericanStudies (1995–97).

of our faculty andstudy abroad oppor-tunities.” The Afri-can Studies initiativeconsists of a commit-tee composed ofprofessors with ex-pertise in varioussubjects related toAfrica.

Misenga Makambo, fourth-year undergraduate student fromthe Democratic Republic ofCongo, hopes the new classeswill heighten students’ aware-ness of the issues facing Afri-cans. She feels solutions, not

tivities of NGOs andforeign governmentsimpact the politicalsituation in Africa?

The first yearwill see addition oftwo classes, withthree more plannedfor the near future.“Africa in Oregon”

will help students see and ap-preciate the local influence of Af-rican culture. “African Experi-ences” will enable students whohave participated in overseasstudy and internships to exploreand discuss their experiences.

Spring '05 ~ ISP ~ 7

International Studies Program Adds Faculty Members

DanceThe Soul of Dance

Some people call it le redoutable pouvoirde la danse, “the irresistible power ofdance.” The value of a dance can be reducedto its choreography to the same degree thatthe value of a word can be reduced to itsspelling. We must look at its soul. Dancecan convey the everyday life of individuals,their sense of organization in society, therange of their feelings, their most profoundsecrets and instincts.

The occasions for dancing in Brittanyare many, but we will concern ourselves hereprimarily with dance and work. It isworth mentioning that farmers dance a greatdeal!

Families in Brittany frequently helpeach other with farmwork, lending one an-other manpower, tools, animals and muchmore. The beneficiary is only required totreat the assistants as well as possible.There is much joy and pleasure in such “workparties.” Participants think more about thepleasure than about the hard work awaiting.Music and dancing are provided during andafter the work day. Some specific examples:• Les battages (cutting of the hay andstraw): Every day ends with a dance, often aronde, or “ring.”• Les récoltes de Betteraves et depommes de terre (harvesting of beets, andpotatoes). This could last a whole monthand gather many people from different vil-lages. Two or three times a week there is unefête de nuit, a festou noz. Sometimes peopledance all night long.• In lower Brittany, the l’ambleudadeged du consists of trampling the spelt withbare feet. In some places it is done solo, but

in others it is a collective dance. There is noprecise dance, as the conditions are intense.Hemp is dealt with in the same way.• Inauguration of a new threshing flooris also a great occasion for dancing, servingthe useful purposeof flattening the soil.• Another occasion for dance is the re-fection de l’aire à battre (al leur nevez), todispose of the old soil and turn up new clay.The goal is to flatten the soil under the clogs

Dancing is part of raison d’être in Brit-tany, especially among the farmers. Neitherthe youth of some participants nor the drink-ing of cider suffices to explain the trancespeople enter while dancing. Women, 70 yearsold of age, marked by years of exhaustingfield labor, already carrying under their hatsthe face of death, can be seen letting go tothe dancing drunkenness and freedom.

On my last journey to Brittany, one warmnight, I entered a Fest-Noz in a small villagein the south of Brittany. I soon found my-self surrounded by people of all ages, hold-ing hands or elbows and progressing to thesound of the bombarde and the biniou. Witharched backs, agile feet and precise foot

Life and in Brittany

of the dancers to the sound of gavottes,jibidis and jabadaos. It is a very intricate,long and hard process. At the end the work-ers/dancers are served a meal, along withwine, cider and more dancing!

In the winter people also gather to makebaskets and clothes, always incorporatingmuch dancing and singing.

Through dance, people have a senseof belonging to a family, a clan, a village andthe land. It is a ceremony in which ties be-tween people are manifested and strength-ened.

Tsunami, continued from p. 2I worked in the livelihood aspect of this

work and assisted in creating a proposal fora high-quality vocational training institutethat made more than 130 seats available totsunami-affected villagers. A major concernamong them, especially the youth, was ob-

taining alternative jobs. Fishing is scary nowfor many of them. The livelihood project co-ordinated and helped improve several exist-ing training centers in the area. I liked thisproject; it addressed immediate needs ofthose affected by the tsunami as well as long-term needs of the whole area.

Sara Albee recently returned from morethan a year interning at an Indian NGOaddressing village water issues. She is writ-ing her senior thesis on Auroville’s reliefprogram. She can be reached atjessabella@poetic.com. For more informa-tion on Auroville see www.auroville.org.

steps, the elders led the ronde and tookthe youth into another realm of life. It

truly was the extreme experience of commu-nity and culture.

Stephanie Chappell is an undergraduateInternational Studies student. Originallyfrom France, she has been raising her son,Romain, in the US. The two of them are de-voted to urban homesteading, until theyfind their way back to the countryside.Stephanie is passionate about folk danc-ing, gardening and working with children.

Bibliography:Alford, Violet, ed. Handbook of EuropeanNational Dances. Max Parrish & Company,1950.Galbrun, Erwanez. La danse Bretonne. 1965.Guilcher, Jean Michel. La traditionpopulaire de danse en Basse Bretagne.Mouton & Co., 1963.Jaffe, Nigel Allenby. Folk Dance Of Europe.Folk Dance Enterprises, 1990.Pierre, Alan and Daniel Cario. La danseBretonne. Coop Breizh, 1999.

8 ~ ISP ~ Spring '05

Stephanie Chappell

Mi Crónica

Alvaro y sus traviesos hijos Maria Antonia ( 9) y Josemaria(6), mas conocidos en Eugene como Maria y Jose.Sudamerica esta llena de Marias!

Glossaryrecorcholis—"Oh, my gosh!" Commonly used in the captions ofthe North American films instead of the “f” word.nadie puede—"Oh, my gosh!" Very popular during the 1990s.Cuadrado—jerkganso—nerdhueveo—Chilean verb: “I'm telling you the truth” (foul language).Ijole—"Oh, my gosh!" In the Mexican movies from the 1940s.chilindrina—Mexican female comedian.

Por Álvaro LlanosEn mi estadía en Eugene he construido mi pequeña diáspora

donde leo los diarios chilenos en Internet y conservamos parte denuestra cultura. Vivo en una suerte de casa-chilena-bicultural. Porfavor amigo, no se imaginen esas películas en las que los inmigrantestienes la casa llena de banderitas, artesanías y recortes alusivos asu terruño. Lo respeto pero no va conmigo (sorry). Tampoco seimaginen que tomo tequila y que escucho rancheras (Ijole, que no).Tampoco piensen que hablamos español como en las telenovelas yque yo grito “recorcholis” cuandome golpeo un dedo o algo me salemal. No tengo tan mal gusto comopara poner una Venus de Milo deyeso en el living ni colgarbanderitas chilenas y mantelito deplástico como decoración defondo. Nadie puede...digo yo.

En mi relación matrimonial nosoy el típico machote de Jalisco.Soy afortunado. Estoy casado conuna mujer atractiva, independientee inteligente, no con la“chilindrina.” Con los niños tengouna relación más horizontal que ladel padre autoritario. Mis hijossaben que son chilenos y que aquíson extranjeros y parte de unaminoría. Se los suelo recalcar.

Ellos se comunican en inglésy yo con ellos en spanglish o agrito peleado (depende de comose estén portando). Hablamos –como sea- y eso es lo que vale. Seeducan acá y han asimilado todas las costumbres de la culturadominante norteamericana. Yo he tenido que transar un poco. Nopuedo ser tan “cuadrado” en el sentido de educarlos “a la chilena”y que sean los “gansos” de la clase (ya conmigo se copó la cuota degansos en la familia). Ellos a su vez han tenido que ajustarse a suspapás que ponen ciertas reglas y les hablan un inglés con cincovocales (atroz). Por mi parte, he tenido que acostumbrarme porejemplo a la manera como comen los gringos, mezclando dulce yamargo en el mismo plato, costumbre que mis hijos han asumido.Mis papas son por el contrario tan fijados en la forma. Se desmayansi los ven tan agringados o si nos vieran los domingos comiendofrente a la TV viendo películas.

Mi esposa y yo somos técnicamente estudiantes notradicionales. Somos padres lo mejor que podemos en un horario aveces de locos. Cuando yo era chico el almuerzo, y no es hueveo...

[Beep], era un casi un rito. Mis papás le ponían tanto color quecualquiera diría que almorzábamos con la reina Isabel día por medio.Mi mamá adoctrinaba primero a las nanas, se esmeraba por cadadetalle de forma, por ejemplo que las fuentes quedaran en la mesade arrimo, que había que retirar la mantequilla y lo salado antes queviniera el postre etc. Mis papás le ponían tanto énfasis al uso de loscubiertos, a la loza, al “servicio a la redonda” a la derecha ¡Nuestrosalmuerzos parecían una copia tercermundista de Versalles!

Ciertamente no había malaintención en eso. Cada uno tratade hacerlo lo mejor posible. Con mimirada de adulto les doy las graciaspor todo lo que me dieron. Tambiénporque nunca pasé ningunavergüenza por malos modalesmientras comía con extraños.Honestamente para mí el almuerzoo cualquier comida uno tiene queaprovecharlas para compartir loque ha pasado en el día, lo buenoy lo malo, también para hacerplanes y ver como están los niños.Me encanta llegar a la casa yconversar con mi esposa, a vecescomer sentado en mi sillón regalón.Este es un momento de relajo dondeincluso temas difíciles puedenencontrar solución. Y bueno, comopapas hay que esforzarse para queel cansancio no nos gane ypodamos ser modelos paranuestros hijos. El tiempo pasa tan

Alvaro Llanos es abogado chileno y finaliza su Masters en "Inter-national Studies.” Su especialidad es cultura popular, LatinoAmerica y derecho civil. Tambien escribe cronicas en periodicoshispanos del area de Eugene.

rápido que no vale la pena perderlo en detalles! He dicho!

Spring '05 ~ ISP ~ 9

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