1
Curriculum Vitae
Solomon Addis Getahun
ADDRESS:
Central Michigan University
Department of History
231 Powers Hall
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
Telephone: (989) 774-3592 (Direct), (989) 774-3374 (through the Department)
Fax (989) 774-1156
E-mail: getah1sa@cmich.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EDUCATION:
2005 PhD., African History, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI.
1994. M.A., African History, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
1985. B.A., History, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
PUBLICATIONS: BOOKS
2014 Solomon A. Getahun and Wudu T. Kassu, Culture and Customs of
Ethiopia, a Culture and Customs of Africa Series (Greenwood/ABCCLEO, Feb. 2014)
2013
Joseph W. Scott and Solomon A. Getahun, Little Ethiopia in the Pacific
Northwest (New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 2013)
2007
The History of Ethiopian Immigrants and Refugees in America, 1900-2000:
Patterns of Migration, Settlement, Survival and Adjustment (New York:
LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, 2007)
A History of the City of Gondar (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2006)
2006
PUBLICATIONS: ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS
2013 “Africans and African Americans from East Africa, 1940—Present,” in
Elliott Robert Barkan (Ed.), Immigrants in American History: Arrival,
Adaptation, and Integration (ABC-CLIO, 2013), pp. 687-700.
2013 “Charting Refugee and Migration Routes in Africa,” in Steven J. Gold,
Stephanie J. Nawyn (Ed.), International Handbook of Migration Studies
(New York: Routledge, 2013), pp. 87-96.
2012 “A History of Ethiopia’s Newest Immigrants to the United States:
Orphans,” Journal des Africanistes, Vol. 81, No. 2 (2011) pp. 185-200
2012 “Urbanization and the Urban Space in Africa/Ethiopia,” Journal of
Ethiopian Studies, Volume XLV, December 2012, pp. 117-133.
2012 “Ethiopian Immigrants,” in Ronald H. Bayor (ed.), Multicultural America:
An Encyclopedia of the Newest Americans, (ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Press,
2012), pp. 657-701
2011
“Sedät, Migration, and Refugeeism as Portrayed in Ethiopian Song
Lyrics,” Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2/3
(2011), pp. 341-359
2010 “Contemporary ‘Voluntary’ and ‘Forced’ African Migrations,” in Hakeem
I. Tijani et al., (eds.) The African Diaspora: Historical Analysis, Poetic
Verses, and Pedagogy (New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010),
pp.189-208
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Curriculum Vitae
Solomon Addis Getahun
2009
2009
2007
2007
2007
2006
2005
2003
2002
1997
" Ethiopia in the New Millennium: Issues of Democratic Governance,"
Forum on Public Policy (Summer 2009), pp. 1-18
"A History of Sport in Ethiopia," in Svein Ege, Harald Aspen, Birhanu
Teferra and Shiferaw Bekele, ed., Proceedings of the 16th International
Conference of Ethiopian Studies (Trondheim, 2009), pp. 409-418
“Determinants of Ethiopian Refugee Flow in the Horn of Africa, 19702000,” in Toyin Falola and Niyi Afolabi (eds.) The Human Cost of African
Migrations (New York: Routledge, an Imprint of Taylor & Francis Books,
Inc., 2007), pp. 359-380.
“Brain Drain & Its Impact on Ethiopia’s Higher Learning Institutions & the
Military Academies between 1970s & 2000,” in Rubin Patterson (ed.),
African Brain Circulation: Beyond the Drain-Gain Debate (Leiden: Brill,
2007), pp. 167-184.
McAdoo, Young & Getahun, “Emerging Patterns and Characteristics of
Parenting, Marriage and Socialization of Native African Americans,
Contemporary African, and Caribbean Immigrants,” in Yoku Shaw-Taylor
and Steven A. Tuch (eds.), The Other African Americans: Contemporary
African and Caribbean Families in the United States (New York: Rowman
Littlefield Press, 2007), pp. 83-116.
“Brain Drain & its Impact on Ethiopia’s Higher Learning Institutions:
Medical Establishments and the Military Academies between 1970s and
2000,” Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 3
(2006), pp. 257-275.
“The Evolution of Gondar’s Public Health College and Training Center:
Che-Che-La from an Italian Consular Office to a Medical College,” Journal
of Northeast African Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2001), pp. 77-104.
“The History of Addis Alam,” in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.), Encyclopaedia
Aethiopica, Vol. I (Wiesbaden: University of Hamburg, 2003), p. 91.
“Brain Drain and its Effect on Ethiopia’s Institutions of Higher Learning,
1970s-1990s,” African Issues Volume 30, N0. 1 (2002), pp. 52-56.
“Addis Alem: The Nucleus of Gondar (1630s-1970s),” in Katsuyoshi Fukui,
Eisei Kurimoto, Masayoshi Shigeta (eds.) Ethiopia in Broader Perspective:
Papers of the XIIIth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Kyoto,
12-17 December 1997. In Three Volumes (Kyoto: Shokado Book Sellers,
1997), Vol. I, pp. 3-15.
WORK EXPERIENCE: COURSES TAUGHT
Fall 2004-Present: Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI.
HST 379: South Africa: Race, Class and Gender in 20th century S. A
HST 392: Global Perspectives on Non-Western History: Africa
HST 176: The African Experience (Introduction to African History)
HST 376: Issues in African History: Ethiopia and the Horn
HST 377: History of West Africa
HST 576: Colonialism in Africa
HST 496/791 Seminar on Slavery in Comparative Perspective
HST 496/791 Seminar on the History of the New African Diaspora
HST 697: Colloquium, Crisis of the Nation-state in the Horn of
Africa
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Curriculum Vitae
Solomon Addis Getahun

2000-2002

2002
1996-1998
1994-1995:
1993-1994:
Also, serving or served as graduate advisor, member of the History
Department Curriculum & Graduate Studies Committees; the
University’s Broadcasting & Senate Committees; served as Program
Coordinator for African Studies Association, November 2011.
HST 203, US History since 1877, Michigan State University
Designed an online African history curriculum with the African
Studies Center at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
HST213, African American History, Lansing Community College
HUM 150, Survey History of Africa, Lansing Community College
History of World Civilizations, American History since 1875; and A
Survey History of Africa, Seattle Central Community College,
Seattle, WA
African/Ethiopian History, Addis Ababa University, Bahir Dar
Teachers' College (University), Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.
African/Ethiopian History, Addis Ababa University, Kotebe
Teachers' College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
PAPERS PRESENTED AND CONFERENCES ATTENDED
2013 “Ethiopians in the United States and Israel: A Comparative Study,” A
Brown-Bag Presentation, Jewish Study Center, Michigan State University,
Monday, October 21, 2013
2013 “The Red Terror: the Family as Collateral Victims,” at the African Union
Human Rights Memorial Project Consultative Meeting, 28-29 September,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (By invitation)
2012 “The Transformation of the Azmari, Liqa-maquwas, from the Despicable to
the Admirable and sought after profession, “ at the International Azmari
Conference at the Center for World Music (CWM), University of
Hildesheim, Germany, January 6-8, 2012
2011 “The Independence of South Sudan and its Politico-Military implications in
the Horn of Africa,” at the 54th Annual African Studies Association (ASA)
Conference in Washington, DC in November 16-19, 2011
2011 “A History of the Red Terror in Gondar, 1977-1979,” at Violence in African
and South-Asian history, held at Erasmus University, the Netherlands,
November 11-12, 2011
2011 “Race in America: the Ethiopian Immigrant Experience,” at “Race, Gender,
Culture: Creating Identities within Cross-cultural, Historical Contexts,”
held at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, June 16 and 17, 2011.
(By invitation)
2011 “The Jasmine Revolution and the Reaction of the Ethiopian Diaspora,” at
Circuits and Connections: A Symposium on Africa and the African
Diaspora, the University of California San Diego, May 26-May 27, 2011 (By
invitation)
2010 “Ethiopian Secular Music, Migration and Memory, 1970s-2010s,” at
Memory and Migration Conference, University of Vienna (Austria), May
19-21, 2010 (By invitation)
2009 "Religion and Gender: Predicaments of Ethiopian Jewish Refugee Women
in Sudan," at Society for the Study of Ethiopian Jewry Conference, Gondar
Ethiopia, November 5-8, 2009
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Curriculum Vitae
Solomon Addis Getahun
2009
2009
2008
2008
2007
2007
2006
2005
2005
2001
2000
2000
1999
1999
1998
“A History of Ethiopian "Colonial Soldiers," the Trinbuli, in Italian North
Africa, 1910s-1930s," at the XVII International Conference of Ethiopian
Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, November 2-5, 2009.
" Ethiopia in the New Millennium: Issues of Democratic Governance," at
the Oxford Roundtable, “Social Justice: Human Rights, Poverty and
Financial Resources," Harris Manchester College, Oxford, England, July 19July 24, 2009 (By invitation)
“A History of the Trinbuli, Labor Migration from Ethiopia to the Italian
Colony, Libya, between 1910s and 1930s,” at the 50th African Studies
Association Conference, Chicago, IL, November 13-15, 2008.
“Ethiopian Folk Music and its Portrayal of Migration & Refugeeism in the
Ethiopian Society, 1930s to Present,” at the Radclieff Institute for Advanced
Study, Harvard University, Cambridge (MA), April 11-15, 2008. (By
invitation)
"Ethiopian Immigrant Soccer in America: A History of Identity Politics
and Nationalism,” at the 16th International Conference of Ethiopian
Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, (2-6
July, 2007)
“Reflection on Migration and Refugeeism as Depicted in the
Ethiopian Popular Culture, Music,” at Popular Culture as a Means for
Diasporic or Transoceanic Conversation Conference, the University of
Texas, Austin, (March 30-April 1, 2007)
“Ethio-Sudanese Relations and the Pattern of Refugee Flow in the Horn of
Africa (1970s-1990s), at Movement, Migration, and Displacement in Africa,
African Diaspora Conference, at The University of Texas, Austin, March
24-26, 2006.
African Studies Association Conference, 48th Annual Conference,
Washington, DC., November 17-20.
American Historical Association, 119th Annual Conference, Seattle, WA.
January 6-9.
Helped organize and chaired secession at the Diaspora Paradigms: New
Scholarship in Comparative Black History, Michigan State University,
Dept. of History, September 20-23.
“Internal Ethnicity among Ethiopian Immigrants in U.S.” at the 43rd
Annual Conference of the African Studies Association, Nashville,
Tennessee, November 15-19, 2000
“Probable Causes of Tension within Ethiopian Marriages in USA” at the
Social Science History Association Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Oct. 26-29.
"Probable Causes of Tension Among Ethiopian Immigrant Families: The
Case of Seattle" Looking Backwards; Looking Ahead: Sociology in the Next
Millennium. The Michigan Sociological Association Annual Fall
Conference 1999, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Oct. 16, 1999)
“The History of Ethiopian Immigrants in the USA, 1970-1990s,” at the
42nd African Studies Association Conference, Philadelphia.
The 41st African Studies Association Conference held at Chicago, Il. Oct. 2931, 1998
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Curriculum Vitae
Solomon Addis Getahun
1998
The Oromo Studies Association Conference, Seattle, Washington. July 2325, 1998.
1995 “Addis Alem: the Nucleus of Gondar, 1630s- 1970s,” at the IIIrd Annual
Seminar of Bahir Dar Teachers’ College, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia;
1994 “The History of the Peoples Militia, the Revolutionary Army of Ethiopia,
1976-1981.”
1993 Book Review: "Yidras la Bale Tariku."
1992 “The History of the Sillassie (Fit Ber) Market of Addis Ababa, 1880s-1940s.”
1991 “South Africa: Transition from Apartheid to Democracy.”
1990 “The office of the Chief of Staff and His Relation With His Subordinates
and the Emperor, Haile Sillassie I, 1960-1961”
1990 “Colonized Eritrea as a Neighbor, c.1890s-1950s”.
1990 Secretary for the XIth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia.
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS:
2014 Fellow at the Schusterman Center for the Israeli Studies, Brandeis
University, June 16-July 10, 2014.
2012-2013
Fulbright Scholar, Ethiopia (August 2012-July 2013)
2011 Recommended as a number one candidate for NEH grant by CMU
2007 Provost Award for Junior Faculty Research, Central Michigan University
(2007)
2006 Faculty Research and Creative Endeavors, Central Michigan University
(Summer 2006)
2004 Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Michigan State University (Fall 2004)
2002 Fulbright Student Fellowship, Ethiopia (2002-2003)
2002 KCP (Kings-Chavez-Parks) Fellowship, Michigan State University (20022005)
2001 Summer Acceleration Fellowship, Michigan State University (Summer
2001)
1998 Minority Competitive Doctoral Fellowship, Michigan State University
(1998-2000)
VOLUNTARY SERVICE:
2014 International Research & Exchange Board: Washington Fellowship for
Young African Leaders Initiative (Reviewer)
2014 University Professional Education Curriculum Committee (Member)
2014 Guest Speaker: “The Implications of the Victory of the Battle of Adwa,”
Ethiopian Community Mutual Association, Chicago, Il, March 1, 2014
2013 Department Graduate Studies Committee (Member)
2013 Served as a chairman and commentator to Fulbright Students from Africa,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 2013.
2013 Guest lecturer: University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia, April, 2012
2012 Guest lecturer: Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia, October 2012
2011 Volunteer Judge: Michigan Historical Society, Central Michigan University,
Mt. Pleasant, MI
2006 African history, guest speaker, 10th grade history class, East Lansing High
School, (Feb. 9) E. Lansing, MI
2006 Volunteer Judge: Michigan Historical Society, Grand Valley State
University, Allendale, MI
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Curriculum Vitae
Solomon Addis Getahun
2005:
Volunteer Judge: Michigan Historical Society, CMU, Mt. Pleasant, MI
Feb. 27, 1998: University of Washington, Center for the Study of
Demography and Ecology, on “The History of Ethiopian Immigrants in
Seattle.” (Guest Speaker)
1998 University of Washington, African Studies Seminar, on “the History of
1999 Ethiopian Immigrants in Seattle.” April 2, 1998 (Gust speaker)
1997 Vashon Island, Great Decisions Group, on “Africa: A role for the US.”
(Guest Speaker), Feb. 24, 1997
1996 Tutoring: Catholic Community Services of King County, Youth Tutoring
Center, Seattle, WA. Tutored elementary and middle school bilingual
students at Rainier Vista
1996-1997: Tutoring and editing Ethiopian Community Mutual Association
(ECMA) newsletter; Counseling, interpreting and translating Amharic or
English texts, ECMA, Seattle, WA
1986-1990 Red Cross Youth: Ethiopian Red Cross Society. Served as a Red Cross
Youth Leader, organized and trained Red Cross Youth Clubs, gave First
Aid services, organized and participated in Summer and Super Summer
Comps, participated in relief and rehabilitation programs, rendered
interpretation services to delegates from sister organizations of
Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland.
RELATED SKILLS:
 Language: Amharic, an elementary knowledge of Tigragna and Italian
 Webpage designing, MS Office (Word, XL, PP), Adobe Acrobat (PDF),
Photoshop and SPSS
 First Aid/CPR.
HOBBIES:
 Music
 Indoor games (swimming, table tennis, and chess)
 Art: drawing objects and nature.