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Achebe Symposium: A Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Arrow of God
Department of African American Studies,
College of Arts &Sciences, Syracuse University
Crowne Plaza Hotel: 8.00 a.m.-6.00 p.m., Friday, October 17, 2014
Thursday, October 16
3.00 p.m. onwards: Arrival of Guests - check into the hotel
6.00-7.30 p.m.: Welcoming Reception CFAC, 805 East Genesee St.
All official participants are urged to attend
Friday, October 17
8.00 a.m. Registration and Informal Networking
8.10 a.m.: Review of the day’s program (Main Conference Room)
Co-conveners and official participants
8.30-9.00 a.m.: Opening Ceremony (Main Conference Room)
All official participants are expected and urged to attend
Co-Chairs: Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo and Herb Ruffin (Symposium Co-conveners)
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Introductory remarks by Co-Conveners: Mĩcere Gĩthae, Mũgo, Meredith Professor for Teaching
Excellence and Herb Ruffin, Associate Professor; Department of African American Studies, SU
Welcoming remarks by AAS Chair, Kishi Animashaun Ducrѐ, Associate Professor, African
American Studies, Syracuse University
Welcoming remarks by Interim Dean of A&S, Karin Ruhlandt, Distinguished Professor of
Chemistry, Syracuse University
Symposium Opening by Vice Chancellor & Provost, Eric F. Spina, Professor of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University
9.00-9.10: Transitional Break
9.10-9.45 a.m.: Keynote Address
Speaker: Biodun Jeyifo, Professor of Comparative Literature and of African and African American
Studies, Harvard University on, "Arrow of God: Intimations for the Post-Globalization Wave of
Writers."
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9.45-10.00 a.m.: TEA BREAK
10 a.m.-12.00 noon: Roundtable I, followed by Q/A and discussion.
The art of Arrow of God: illuminations on publication, translation and literary criticism.
Chairperson: Janis A. Mayes, Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies, SU
Presenters:
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Nana Ayebia Clarke, Managing Director, Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd., London, “Celebrating
Achebe’s Legacy – A focus on Arrow of God in Chinua Achebe: Tributes and Reflections.”
Wangũi wa Goro, Critic and Translator, Independent Scholar, “The Translation Turn and
Renaissance.”
Maureen Ngozi Eke, Professor, Department of English, Central Michigan University, “The Art of
Arrow of God.”
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Cornell University: TTA
Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo, Professor, African American Studies, Syracuse University, “The flowering
of Orature in Arrow of God.”
Kevin P. Morris II, Graduate Student, AAS Fellow, Pan African Studies Program, AAS
Department, SU, “Language and the Art of Resistance in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God.”
Miriam Kyomugasho and Goshu Wolole Tefera, Graduate Students, Pan African Studies
Program, AAS Department, SU, “Chinua Achebe: the Modern African Griot.”
12.00-1.15 p.m. LUNCH BREAK
1.15-3.15 p.m. Roundtable II, followed by Q/A and discussion.
The Applicability of Arrow of God: illuminations on trans-disciplinarity and relevance.
Chairperson: Simon Gikandi, Professor, Department of English, Princeton University
Presenters:
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Seth N.Asumah, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Political Science & Chair, African
Studies Dept., SUNY Cortland, “Arrow of God as a tool for analysis in Comparative Political
Science.”
Abena Busia, Prof. of English and Chair of the Dept. of Women’s & Gender Studies, Rutgers
University, TTA
Nana Ayebia Clarke, Managing Director, Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd., London, “There was a
Writer: The Making of Chinua Achebe – Tributes and Reflections.”
Simon Gikandi, Professor, Department of English, Princeton University, TTA
Cheryl Sterling, Associate Prof., Director of Black Studies, City College, CUNY, “Man, God and
the Cosmos in Arrow of God: From Literature to Theory.”
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Mecke Nagel, Professor, SUNY Cortland, “The art of restorative justice vs colonial punishment
with its focus on prisons (engendering social death), referencing Arrow of God.”
Olufemi Taiwo, Professor, AS&RC, Cornell University, “Philosophy and Arrow of God.”
Betty Wambui, Professor, SUNY Oneonta, TTA
3.15-3.25 p.m.: Short Break
3.30-4.30 p.m. Roundtable III, followed by Q/A and discussion.
African Literature 50 Years from now: illuminations on “hopes and impediments.”
Chairperson: Abena Busia, Professor, African American Studies, Rutgers University
Presenters:
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Okey Ndibe, Professor, Department of African American Studies, Brown University.
Novelist, Journalist and Achebe scholar. TTA
Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Cornell University, TTA
Vincent Odamtten, Professor, Department of English, Hamilton College, "To Bring Back The
Promised Immunity".
4.40-5.40 p.m. “Last Word” - Achebe Family:
Summary and illuminations on symposium and global AOG 50th Anniversary Celebrations
Speaker: Chidi Achebe, MD, MPH, MBA, President AIDE – African Integrated Development
Enterprise. Private and Public Practice Physician, Boston Area Health Centers and Hospitals.
5.45-6.00 p.m.: Closing remarks and vote of thanks by the symposium organizers.
6.00-6.20 p.m. Socialization, Networking and Transitional Break
6.30-8.30 p.m. Dinner at CFAC, 805 East Genesee Str.
Artistic Tributes
All official participants are expected and urged to attend
Saturday, October 18: Departures
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Co-organizers:
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Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo, Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence, Department of African
American Studies, SU.
Herb Ruffin, Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies, SU
Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo
Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence
Department of African American Studies
Syracuse University
Tel: 315 443 4302; Fax: 315 443 1725
Herb Ruffin
Associate Professor
Department of African American Studies
Syracuse University
Tel: 315 443 4302; Fax: 315 443 1725