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Newsletter: Vol. 3 No. 1 |
IN THIS ISSUE . . . Changing of the Guard at the Executive Director's Office
 Zia Hashmi Concludes Tenure |
 New Executive Director |
| We're on the Web |
 Featured Articles |
 South Asia Chapter |
President's Corner |
| Members' Corner |
Publishing Outlets |
| Announcements |
Grant Opportunities |
At the ATWS Executive Council meeting held during the 14th annual conference in Montgomery last October, Zia Hashmi completed his three year term as Executive Director. Some months before, he had announced his decision not to serve another term. Instead, he wanted to leave this position before retiring from Georgia Southern University so he could facilitate the smooth transition of a new Executive Director. The manner in which he stepped down was entirely in keeping with Dr. Hashmi's selflessness and character.
Shortly after Dr. Harold Issacs of Georgia Southwestern State University founded ATWS in 1983, Dr. Hashmi became a member and an active collaborator with Dr. Issacs, serving as the organization's first President. In addition, Dr. Hashmi hosted the ATWS annual meeting and functioned as the de facto Executive Director until officially assuming the position in 1993.
Dr. Hashmi was successful in gaining Georgia Southern University's on-going commitment to fund: (1) the part-time service of a secretary, (2) office supplies, and (3) an appropriation to print the annual conference program. In exchange, ATWS agreed to make Georgia Southern its executive headquarters with a GSU faculty member serving as its Executive Director.
Dr. Hashmi's tenure as Executive Director saw several important achievements. Membership in the Association increased significantly, and the Association welcomed more international members. A newsletter was started to supplement the semi-annual journal edited by Dr. Issacs. Also, conference proceedings were produced from papers presented at the annual meetings. A highlight of Dr. Hashmi's term as Executive Director was recognition of ATWS in 1995 as a Non-Governmental Organization to the United Nations.
Georgia Southern's chapter is now ATWS's largest, due in great part, to the respect that GSU's faculty has for Dr. Hashmi and his ongoing effort to develop international programs at the university. GSU has extended institutional support so that the Center for International Studies can continue as the site of the ATWS Executive Office.
Dr. Hashmi plans to remain an active member and to continue to serve as a valuable resource for the ATWS. The Association acknowledges the important role that Dr. Hashmi played in the development of ATWS and its current success. On behalf of the members of the Association, we wish to express our gratitude to him for his hard work and dedication over the past years.
Paul Rodell, New Executive Director
When Dr. Hashmi announced his decision to step down as Executive Director, he proposed another Georgia Southern faculty member, Paul Rodell, as his successor. Recognizing Dr. Rodell's work with the Association and the need to maintain Georgia Southern as the site of the ATWS Executive Office, the Executive Board members approved Dr. Hashmi's nomination.
A Look Ahead: By Paul Rodell
I have been a member of ATWS since joining the faculty at Georgia Southern University and I have participated in a number of the Association's annual conferences. I have served as editor and then co-editor of the newsletter. I am a member of GSU's History Department and teach Southeast and East Asian history. My country of specialization is the Philippines - having served there three years with the U.S. Peace Corps.
My work in the Philippines involved agriculture extension for two years on a provincial assignment after which I and then went to Manila to work as an administrative assistant in the Agency's office. Immediately after, I did graduate work at the Asian Center of the University of the Philippines.
Later, I returned to the U.S. and did my Ph.D. work at SUNY/Buffalo. Before coming to Georgia I worked in a unit of the Cornell University Labor School and was the president of a moderate size non-profit organization.
This is a crucial period for ATWS. The Association is poised to expand its membership base and a new generation of leaders is emerging. The mainstay continues to be the annual meeting and the journal that Dr. Isaacs founded and nurtured. The last few years have seen the birth of a proceedings and a newsletter as well. More recently, ATWS has added a web site that already has a wealth of information and, to which, in the not too distant future, even more will be added.
ATWS is a young academic organization with great promise, but there are challenges too. We must continue the growth while still drawing on the expertise of the Association's founders and early leaders. We must move rapidly into the electronic age, even while we maintain and improve upon our annual meetings and the journal. As Executive Director, I welcome this challenge with its opportunities. My primary responsibility is to serve ATWS as an administrator, most specifically the Executive Council. I also would like to get to know as many of the members as possible. I hope to see you in Hartford and look forward to talking to you.
The Association of Third World Studies now has an established web site on the Internet. This is due to the initiative of Dr. M. Bazlul Karim, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Western Illinois University. The address for the site is: http://www.wiu.edu/users/mfmbk/atws/index.htm. The site provides background information about the ATWS, its officers and editors, as well as a membership directory.
The Association extends its heartfelt appreciation to Dr. Karim.
TOMÁS GUTIÉRREZ ALEA
by Dennis West
Latin American cinema lost one of its greatest directors when Tomás Gutiérrez Alea - "Titón" to his friends - died of lung cancer on April 16, 1996 at age 67. A founder of the Cuban national film institute, ICAIC, Gutiérrez Alea figured prominently in the socially conscious and politically activist movement known as the New Latin American Cinema. He was an innovative and profoundly committed revolutionary filmmaker who experimented with an array of genres and narrative and aesthetic approaches to explore the Third World's grand themes: dependency and underdevelopment, oppression and resistance, imperialism and colonialism, capitalism and socialism, and the many facets of social revolution. His oeuvre represents a level of artistic achievement seldom equaled in the developing nations, where the conditions for film production are frequently precarious.
His biting critiques of Cuba's contemporary revolutionary society, Death of a Bureaucrat, Up to a Point, and Strawberry and Chocolate (co-directed with Juan Carlos Tabío), were presented in a liberal and humane tone from within the revolution. These critiques draw on humor, irony, and satire. They succeed because of Gutiérrez Alea's profound understanding of human nature and his respect for the problems and challenges facing real people in a revolutionary society. His radical masterpiece, Memories of Underdevelopment, will long stand as a stylistic tour de force and as a complex and subtle portrait of an individual swept up in a tide of revolutionary change in the Third World.
Though he was already suffering the effects of his illness, in October of 1993 Gutiérrez Alea journeyed to Tacoma to participate as a keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Association of Third World Studies hosted by Pacific Lutheran University. In his major address, "Another Cinema, Another World, Another Society," Gutiérrez Alea discussed his own filmmaking background and the challenges facing his colleagues throughout the Third World. The address was published in full in the Spring 1994 issue of JTWS.
The Annual
Conference and Seminar of
The South Asia Chapter of ATWS
by K. K. Kusuman
The South Asia Chapter of the Association of Third World Studies has its first annual conference at the Animation Centre, Vellayambalam, Trivandrum on March 18-19, 1996. The conference, chaired by Dr. K. Ramachandran Nair, Professor and Head of the Department of Economics, University of Kerala, was inaugurated by Professor M. Salihu, Acting Vice-Chancellor, University of Kerala. He emphasized the various problems of the Third World and suggested the necessity of finding solutions to them by concerted effort.
The conference was attended by over one hundred scholars from various parts of India. Professor I. Azariah, President, ATWS South Asia Chapter, welcomed the gathering and explained at length the purpose and objectives of the Association of Third World Studies. Dr. K. Ramachandran Nair explained the significant role that is being played by the Third World in contemporary international relations. Analytical and micro studies of the problems of the countries of the Third World, he said, would help scholars in identifying the maladies of the countries that come under this category.
Following the inauguration, four paper sessions were held devoted to different themes. The first session was devoted to the theme, "Secularism and the Problem of Ethic Diversity." It was chaired by Dr. M. Bhaskaran Nair, Professor and Head of the Department of Politics, University of Kerala. The theme of the second session was "Science and Culture" chaired by Dr. V.P. Kulkarni. The third and fourth sessions, chaired by Professor T.P. Rajalakshmy, discussed papers on the "Socio-Economic Problems of Indian Women."
On March 19th there was a valedictory session chaired by Dr. J.K. Samal of Berhampur University, Orissa. It was inaugurated by Dr. Rajkumar, Deputy Director of the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. This was followed by an evaluation of the conference by the delegates.
ATWS is now in its fourteenth year and tremendous change is occurring within the organization. Many of the founding members of ATWS are retiring from successful academic careers making way for a second generation of leaders.
Specifically, the retirement of Dr. Zia Hashmi, our first Executive Director, and Dr. Harold Isaacs, founder, treasurer, and editor of the journal, makes the year 1997 a turning point in the history of ATWS.
At our annual meeting in Montgomery, ATWS elected Dr. Paul Rodell to replace Dr. Hashmi as the executive director. The decision was a good one, as evidenced by the hard work already performed by Paul. We will, hopefully, be able to announce the replacement for Dr. Isaacs, as editor of the journal, at the meeting this October.
Dr. Hashmi and Dr. Isaacs will continue to remain active in ATWS but will no longer carry the mantel of leadership for the organization. If ATWS is to survive and prosper, we need continued active participation of the entire membership. Many individuals have enjoyed the benefits of ATWS membership and the journal without contributing to the organization. I encourage you as members to volunteer for a committee or run for office. Many of you have colleagues who would benefit from membership. Ask them to consider joining. Also, make sure that your library subscribes to the journal. If each of us gets one member to join, our membership will double - it is that simple. In reality, it is the little things that count.
In conclusion, I ask that each of you thank Harold and Zia personally for the years of work they put into making ATWS what it is today. Harold and Zia, thanks for the little things that made a big difference for all of us.
G. Lane Van Tassell, associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, recently spoke by invitation to the 26th Annual Frank Church Symposium on International Affairs at the University of Idaho in Pocatello. Professor Van Tassell was among those speakers from the academic, military, media, political, and diplomatic world who traveled to Idaho for three days to discuss specific problems of current interest in the international arena. Speaking to the 26th Symposium was former senator and presidential candidate George McGovern. Professor Van Tassell had the distinct privilege of responding to Mr. McGovern's address, and he presented the topic "Keeping the Peace - The American Responsibility."
Awatar Singh Sekhom co-authored two articles in the November 1996 (Vol. 6 #2) issue of The Sikhs: Past and Present. The first article is entitled "Sikhs are Sikhs, not Hindus" and the other "Violence in gurdwaras in North America: we will get them (the Sikhs) elsewhere according to M.M.K. Wali, the Foreign Secretary of India."
E. Ike Udogu recently edited a volume entitled "Democracy and Democratization in Africa: Toward the 21st Century" published in the Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. XXXI, Nos. 1-2 (June 1996). He would like to thank the following ATWS members for their contributions to the volume: Pita Agbese, John Mbaku, Joseph Takougang, George Kieh, Julius Ihonvbere, and Bennett Odunsi.
Dr. Udogu also published two books in 1996-1997, Nigeria and the Politics of Survival as a Nation-state (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1997) and Democracy and Democratization in Africa: Toward the 21st Century (Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1996).
Steve Y. Rhee participated in the 3-week "Fulbright Seminar in Germany for U.S. Administrators in International Education 1996" from April 13 to May 4, 1996. From August 1995 - February 1996, Dr. Rhee served as a member of the Ad-hoc Steering Committee for the Asian Festival in Savannah, Georgia.
Dr. Rhee gave a college-wide talk, "Nuclear 'Powder Keg' on the Korean Peninsula: New Phenomenon of the Post-Cold War Regional Instability," on February 8, 1996 as part of the Robert I. Strozier Faculty Series at Armstrong Atlantic State University. He also presented a paper entitled "Thorny Roads to Political Developments in Taiwan and South Korea: The Price of Economic Success" during the "invitational" Korea Dynamism Conference co-sponsored by the Walker Institute of International Studies, the University of South Carolina, and the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEIA) in Columbia, South Carolina, May 10-12, 1996. He was recently elected to the ATWS's executive council and chaired a panel called "The Korean Peninsula on the Brink of the Twenty-first Century" at the October 1996 ATWS meeting. He presented a paper, "The Nuclear Crisis of the Korean Peninsula in 1994," at the Southeast Region Conference of the Association of Asian Studies held January 18, 1997, at the DeSoto Hilton Hotel in Savannah.
Yassaman Saadatmand published an article, "Separate and Unequal: Women in Islamic Republic of Iran," in the Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. She also presented a paper, "The Impact of Socio-economic Factors on the Demographic Changes in the Islamic Republic of Iran" at the Mid South Academy of Economics and Finance in February 1996 and a paper, "Ersatz Feminism: The Impact of Socio-economic Factors on the Population Policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran," at the 14th Annual Conference of the Center of Iranian Research and Analysis in England in March 1996. Finally, she served as faculty advisor to the Armstrong Atlantic State University student delegation during the Southeast Model League of Arab States held in March 1996.
Gary Kline has been named the Board of Regents Distinguished Professor of Teaching and Learning for 1996-97 at Georgia Southwestern State University. Dr. Kline will be organizing workshops and other faculty development opportunities designed to help faculty members develop new techniques for teaching basic skills and utilize various technologies that are now available.
Nancy W. Shumaker has been selected to complete Marcia Jones's unexpired term as chair of the Information Committee. Dr. Shumaker is an associate professor of Spanish and assistant director of the Center for International Studies at Georgia Southern University. She also serves as the director of Summer Study Abroad in Costa Rica, editor of the Secolas ANNALS, journal of the Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies, president-elect of the Foreign Language Association of Georgia, and past president of the Georgia Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. She has taught at Georgia Southern since 1982. Her research interests are: women and development, ecotourism, and literature by contemporary Costa Rican women writers.
Shafik H. Hashmi, professor of political science at Georgia Southern University, received a $2,500 grant from the American Council of the University System of Georgia. He will research "Democratization in Muslim and Catholic Societies." Prof. Hashmi has published an article, in collaboration with Garth N. Jones, entitled "Pakistan: Personnel Administration in an Obsolescing Imperial Tradition" in the Journal of Asiatic Society (Vol.41, No.1, 1996).
The South Asia Forum Quarterly publishes commentary on matters concerning the Indian subcontinent. Material for publication should be submitted at least a month prior to the month of publication. Submissions can be sent in ASCII formation to Dr. Mohsin R. Siddique, Editor, SAFQ, 4615 Morgan Drive, Chevy Chase, Maryland 20815.
The Association for Economics and Development Studies on Bangladesh is a body of North American based economists with active interests in the economic development of Bangladesh. Its major focus is on policy, and it plans to publish a series of Policy Briefs and a Workshop Paper Series. The contact address for the Association is as follows: Mr. Shahabuddin M. Hossain, AEDSB, 8602 Aqueduct Road, Potomac, Maryland, 20854. His e-mail is shossain@imf.org The AEDSB's homepage address is http://www.usi.edu/bets/quddus.htm
Paul Magnarella has been commissioned to put together an edited volume on human rights, democracy and democratization in the Middle East to be published in the Contemporary Perspectives on Developing Societies Series, Avebury Press. Those wishng to participate in the seminar or to contribute chapters on one or more Middle Eastern countries should contact: Paul Magnarella, Anthropology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; telephone: 352-395-4453; fax: 353-393-6929; or email: paulmag@anthro.ufl.edu
The Journal of Psychology in Africa publishes articles on all aspects of applied and theoretical psychological research within the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, and Afro-Latin America. Manuscripts are published in any one of three languages: English, French, or Portuguese, with multilingual abstracts. Papers are peer reviewed by an international panel of associate editors. For further information, contact Dr. Karl Peltzer, JPA Chief Editor, Psychosoziales Zentrum fur Auslandische Fluchtlinge, Hinter den Ulmen 15, 6000 Frankfurt/M. 50, Germany; telephone: 0 69-5200 81.
The International Association of Africanist Scholars is the only organization that is international in scope whose members are either of African decent or are engaged in research and study of issues and topics of concern to the broad Afro community. The Africanist Association provides members with services to facilitate study, research, teaching, and professional development. Africanist Association membership, covering individuals in over 50 African countries, roughly 30 Caribbean islands, the United States, Canada, Europe, and Central and South America, is composed of scholars in all fields conducting research and teaching in colleges, universities, and other academic institutions. Some members pursue vocations outside of academia. Contact the Association at 7676 New Hampshire Avenue, Suite 306, Langley Park, MD 20783; Tel. 301-431-3161; fax: 301-431-2195.
New Book Releases
Available From: Kogan Page, C/O Business Books Network, 163 Central Avenue, Suite 4, Dover, NH 03820, TEL 603-749-9171, FAX 603-749-6155, E-Mail: bizbks@aol.com
Available From: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1800 30th Street, Suite 314-(D1-312), Boulder, CO 80301-1026, TEL 303-444-6684, FAX 303-444-0224.
The Western Consortium for Public Health is seeking suitable candidates to work on population, family planning, and reproductive health programs in USAID/Washington or to serve as advisors to ministries of health and other organizations involved in international development assistance. Interested persons should contact the Population Leadership Program at: ihp@cats.ucsc.edu or (408) 427-4965.
Paul Magnarella is organizing a symposium entitled, "Towards Justice, Peace and Human Rights: A Symposium Honoring the Memory of Mario D. Zamora, past president-elect of the IUAES" for the 14th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences to be held July 26 - August 1, 1998 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The symposium will include papers from different world regions on either macro or micro levels from any anthropological sub-discipline or theoretical perspective. Contact address: Paul Magnarella, Anthropology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; telephone: 352-395-4453; fax: 353-393-6929; or email: paulmag@anthro.ufl.edu
The Contemporary Perspectives on Developing Societies Series and the Public Choice and Developing Societies Series of Avebury Publishers, Inc. are looking for authors. Are you working on a book-length manuscript that addresses issues related to developing societies? Are you currently engaged in research that may contribute to one of our volumes? Then talk to Dr. John Mukum Mbaku, general editor of the above series. We are specifically looking for participants in the following projects: Civil-military Relations in Developing Societies: A Post-Cold War Perspective (Volume I: Africa; Volume II: Latin America and Caribbean; Volume III: Asia and Pacific; Volume IV: Middle East); Gender Politics and Economic Development in the Third World (Volume I: Africa; Volume II: Latin America and Caribbean; Volume III: Asia and Pacific; Volume IV: Middle East); Bureaucratic Corruption in Africa: A Handbook; Human Rights and Democracy in the Third World; Religion, Democracy and Development in the Third World: Post-Cold War Perspectives; The People's Republic of China and Prospects for Peace and Development in the Asia-Pacific Region; Economic Reform in India: Problems and Prospects; Population Growth and Development in the Third World: The AIDS/HIV Pandemic and the Future of Health Care in the Third World; and Economic Reform in Africa: Problems and Prospects. Please contact: Dr. John Mukum Mbaku, Department of Economics, Weber State University, 3807 University Circle, Ogden, UT 84408-3807.
The Third World Academy of Science has announced travel grant opportunities for scientists in developing countries who wish to visit scientific institutions in countries other than their own for the purpose of establishing joint research projects. You may contact them at twas@ictp.trieste.it or you may visit their web site for more information at www.ictp.trieste.it/TWAS/TWAS.html
The World Bank is offering salaried summer assistantships through its summer employment program to US or Canadian citizens or permanent residents who are enrolled in a full-time graduate study program. Eligibility includes: strong computer skills, knowledge of World Bank Group languages (eg. Arabic, Russian, Spanish, French) fluency in English and relevant work experience. For more information, you may contact them at sprogram@worldbank.org or visit their web site at www.worldbank.org for more details.
The International Development Research Center (IDRC) is offering internships to developing country nationals pursuing a graduate degree program of research in one of six priority areas including food security, sustainable employment, and equity in natural resource use. You may contact them at info@idrc.ca or visit their web site at www.idrc.ca
The Institute of Turkish Studies Inc. is offering matching seed money grants for the establishment of new university positions in the field of Turkish studies for the 1998/99 academic year. Awards are contingent upon matching university participation for at least a three year period. You may contact them at tel: 202-687-0295 or fax: 202-687-3780.
The North American Fund for Environmental Cooperation (NAFEC) has announced an August 1 deadline for its next funding round to support citizens of Canada, US or Mexico to improve environmental quality. Contact them at nafec@ccemtl.org for more information.
The Compton Foundation is offering environmental projects grants to address the adverse environmental consequences of population growth, especially in Mexico, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa. Grants may be for regional, national or international activities. You may contact them at tel. 415-328-0101 or fax 415-328-0171.