ATWS Members:
The Association is soliciting proposals for future annual conferences. If you would like to help organize a conference (normally in September, October, or November) and your institution would be willing to help sponsor it, please contact our President, John Hickman, jhickman@berry.edu or our Executive Director, William D. Pederson wpederso@lsus.edu
ATWS Member Philip I. Szmedra Receives Prestigious Award
Philip I. Szmedra, Ph.D., professor of economics at Georgia Southwestern State University, a longtime member of the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS), was recently announced as Georgia Southwestern State University’s 2012-2013 Featured Scholar by President Kendall A. Blanchard, Ph.D.
“Dr. Szmedra is an energetic, creative,and highly productive economist, who brings something special to our School of Business Administration and to the University as well as to his discipline,” said Blanchard. “His work in various parts of the world and the study abroad opportunities he makes available to our students are critical components of our efforts to prepare our graduates to compete in a global environment.”
“Its an honor to be recognized in this way, and I am certainly grateful to the people that selected me,” said Szmedra. “There are other worthy individuals on campus here, and for anyone that has conducted research for a long time, it is nice to be recognized for your work.”
Szmedra’s primary research interests include agricultural economics and public health. Some of his recent work involving diabetes education in the South Pacific has garnered grant funding from the International Diabetes Federation. His research program will use community theater as a way to teach natives about diabetes.
“Other methods of diabetes education aren’t working,” he said. “This approach works in parts of the world that do not have a great deal of entertainment choices. If a theater troop comes to town in the South Pacific, it really does not matter what they have to sell-people are going to be there.”
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Szmedra earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Georgia. He worked as an agricultural economist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 1986 to 1996, except between 1990 and 1992 when he served as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in Morroco. There he worked with the Moroccan
Ministry of Agriculture.
As for the scholar’s role in ATWS, Dr, Harold Isaacs, Ph.D.,founder of ATWS, said,“Dr. Philip Szmedra has been an active member of ATWS for over ten years. He has given numerous scholarly paper presentations at our international conferences, is currently serving his second term as secretary, and, as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Third World Studies (JTWS), reviews manuscript submissions on developing economies. Dr. Szmedra has also been a very frequent participant in the Third World in Perspective Program Seminar Series on the GSW campus, and an extremely successful Director of the GSW Study Abroad Program,” Isaacs said.
Note: Parts of this article appeared originally on the GSW website http://gsw.edu/News/Articles/FeaturedScholar2012_13_Szmedra; and the Americus Times-Recorder, November 8, 2012, Page 1A, and 5A.
THIRTIETH ANNUAL ATWS MEETING A GREAT SUCCESS
The Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS)
was held at Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia, November 11-13,2012. The conclave featured 100 attendees from around the world who participated in 35 panels and round tables that focused on the theme, “Winds of Change; Crisis and Critique in the Third World.”
The conference was co-sponsored by Berry College, ATWS, and Georgia Southwestern State University.
John Hickman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Government and International Studies at Berry College, with the assistance of several departments and organizations on campus, conceived, organized and implemented a tremendously successful meeting .
Special thanks and appreciation are extended to the following individuals and academic entities: Office of the Provost, Berry College; Evans School of Humanities, Arts and Sciences, Berry College; Department of Government and International Studies, Berry College, Georgia Southwestern State University; Graduate School, Howard University; Dr.Harold Isaacs; Drs A.B. and Yvette_Alex Assensoh; Berry College Amnesty International; and Berry College Young Democrats.
The keynote address, “United States Foreign Policy and Global Health Policy: History and Prospects for Action in the Third World,” was presented by Dr. David Bruce Conn, Ph.D.,Dean of the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Berry College.
A number of awards were presented to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the academic discipline of Third World Studies. The recipient of the “Lawrence Dunbar Reddick Memorial Scholarship Award,” for the best article published on Africa in the year 2011 issues of Journal of Third World Studies (JTWS), was Andemariam Kidanemariam, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology, Northeastern State University, Oklahoma, for his outstanding article, “Rethinking Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Africa: The Quest for an Integrated Model,“published in Volume 28, No. 2, Fall 2011 issue of JTWS. First runner-up (honorable mention) winner was William Ehwarieme, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria, for his scholarly article, “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: The Displacement of Ethnicity by Corruption in Nigeria’s Electoral Politics,” Volume 28, No.2, Fall 2011 issue of JTWS; The second runner-up (honorable mention) was Samuel Adams, Ph.D., Professor, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration,” author of “Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation, and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Volume 28, No. 1, Spring 2011 issue.
The winner of the “Cecil B. Currey ATWS Book Award,” was Abdul Karim Bangura, Ph.D., Professor of Research Methodology and Political Science at Howard University, for his excellent study, African Mathematics: From Bones to Computers, published by University Press of America, 2012. Honorable mention winners were: Olivia Bennett and Christopher McDowell, Displaced: The Human Cost of Development and Resettlement, Palgrave, 2012; Carolina Matos, Media and Politics in Latin America, I.B. Tauris,2012; and Natsha Hamilton-Hart, Hard Interests and Illusions: Southeast Asia and American Power, Cornell University Press, 2012.
The Toyin Falola ATWS Africa Book Award winner was Raymond Jonas, Ph.D., Giovanni and Amne Costigen Professor of History, University of Washington, for his superlative study, The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire, published by Harvard University Press in 2011.
The “ATWS Outstanding Leadership and Service” award was presented to John Hickman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Government and International Studies, Berry College, for “his outstanding contributions to the growth and development of ATWS as a professional organization.”
Excellent entertainment was provided by the Berry Jazz Combo, and Kofi Mawuko and Band.
Newly elected ATWS officers are: Lisa Saye, Ph.D.La Verne University (CA), Vice-President-President-Elect; Olufunke Fontenot, Ph.D., Georgia College and State University, Executive Council Post #3; Mueni wa Muiu, Ph.D., Winston-Salem State University, Chair, Teaching Committee; and Guy Martin, Ph.D., Winston-Salem State University, Chair, Information Services Committee. The other members of the Executive Council are: John Hickman,Ph.D., Berry College, President;Lauren Eastwood, SUNY College at Plattsburgh, Immediate Past President; Doyin Coker-Kolo, Millersville University, Treasurer; Philip I. Szmedra, Georgia Southwestern State University, Secretary; William Pederson, Louisiana State University Shreveport,Executive Director; Harold Isaacs, Ph.D., Georgia Southwestern State University, Editor, Journal of Third World Studies (JTWS); William Head, Ph.D., Chief Center Historian, Warner Robins Air Logistic Center; Executive Council Post #2; Jyotirmaya Tripathy, Ph.D., Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Executive Council Post #1; and Michael R. Hall, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Chair, Nominations and Elections Committee.
FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING OF SOUTH ASIA CHAPTER
The 15th Annual Conference of the Association of the Third World Studies (ATWS) South Asia Chapter commenced on 24th May 2010 at the University Students Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
The themes of papers of the present Conference concerned mainly on Problems of Marginialised sections in developing countries. Besides papers including topics like issues of cross border terrorism and internal pressure groups, Science and technology, health problems, Global warming and scientific advancements in Asian countries and Artistic traditions of the Third World Countries- attainments and prospects etc.
The Conference and National Seminars were inaugurated by Dr. Adimurthy, Associate Director VSSC, a great space scientist and the key note address given by Dr.James R Daniel (Rtd. Principal, Scott Christian College, Tamilnadu. Mrs P Vasumathy Devi, Organising Chairperson, Programme committee and Head, Department of History, University of Kerala welcomed the delegates. Mrs. Helen Azariah, President, ATWS, South Asia chapter gave the concluding remarks and Dr. B Sobhanan, Former Prof. & Head, Dept. of History, University of Kerala offered the felicitations.
Most important papers having very relevant and useful themes like the different and cheap methods of power generation in areas where electricity has not reached were presented by Dr. V S Praveen, Director, Renewable Energy, Noorul Islam University. The nuances of Nano Science and practical uses of Nano Technology were brought to the knowledge of everybody by Dr. Biju,Lecturer in the Department of Physics, University of Kerala. Global warming and dangers of climatic changes were discussed and practical solutions given by environmentalist. Dr. P Samraj. He warned how if you don’t protect nature, our posterity would be saying “here is the earth, but where is the soil?.” He brought out the factors severely endangering biological diversity. The effect of climatic changes on the poor were analysed crisply by student scholars like Lijo Jose who suggested solutions and guidelines of action for inclusive growth.
The developing countries like India face problems which are mainly agricultural. Women’s Movements should come for saving the environment, Dr.Samraj exhorted. He also presented the gist of paper by Dr. Richad Kennedy of TNAU, Peechiparae, Tamil Nadu. Tribal security has been threatened as a cost of development. The problems of terrorism, human rights and national security were analysed in detail and solutions provided. Developments in space science and practical application were analysed by Engineer scientists. Climatic changes even social climate have affected the poor sections of society.
Paper on “Panchayati Raj institutions and sustainable development” emphasized the importance of local governments in both rural and urban areas and the sustainable ecological development programmes were brought forth. The problems of the disabled children and aspects of the rehabilitation of the disabled and social responsibility towards them were discussed in detail. Factors behind women empowerment like labour welfare measures for women, the constitutional provisions for SC/ST sections of society and other problems related to terrorism were presented and studied in the Indian context. Several significant aspects of the artistic traditions and attainments of the developing countries like India were deeply analysed and conclusions derived.
The 15th Annual conference of ATWS South Asia Chapter proved to be a very significant seminar on the topics of contemporary relevance. The need of creating social awareness on the evils of alcoholism and drug addiction especially in states like Kerala was vehemently discussed with special reference to its impact on the poor. Reputed Scientist and Director of Center for Bio Informatics, Dr. Achuth Sankar S Nair gave the valedictory speech. Sri Malayinkeezh Gopalakrishanan, former News Editor, Mathrubhumi Daily also spoke. Cash prizes were given to the best two research papers presented in the sessions.
More than hundred delegates – Students and teachers participated in the deliberations and it was a useful time. Certificates were distributed to paper presenters. The edited volume for last years proceedings could not be brought out due to financial paucity. Yet it seems to be done as an out let for budding scholars engaged in research activities.
With regards
P Vasumathy Devi
Head, Department of History, University of Kerala
Vice-President & Programme Chairperson
Association of Third World Studies, South Asia Chapter
Kariavattom Campus,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala,India – 695581
E-mail:Vasumathy.devi@rediffmail.com
“CALL FOR BOOKS”
2012-2013
Cecil B. Currey Book Award
ATWS wishes to announce the formal request for submissions of books for the Cecil B.Currey Book Award for 2012-2013. This award is named in honor of one of the foremost experts on the war in Vietnam. Topics on any part of the Third World are acceptable. ATWS members are encouraged to have their works published and submit them for the book award. The award will not necessarily be given out each year, but only when the committee determines that a book of considerable merit is submitted. Publications must be 2012 through May 15, 2013.
Submission deadline is May 31, 2013.
Qualifications:
l.Only monographs and studies will be considered. Please do not submit anthologies or edited works
2. If an individual wishes to be considered s/he must send a letter of application to the committee chair, Dr. William P. Head, Chief Historian, USAF Warner Robins ALC Robin s AFB, GA 31088 E-mail: William.Head@Robins.af.mil Persons interested in entering the competition must submit a copy of their book to EACH of the members of the committee – please mail them yourself or have your publisher send copies.
Committee members are:
Dr. William P. Head, Committee Chair, Chief Historian, USAF Warner Robins
ALC Robins AFB , GA 31088. E-mail: William.Head@Robins.af.mil
Dr. Paul Magnarella, 134 College View Dr., Swannanoa, NC 28778. E-mail: pmagnarella@warren-wilson.edu
Dr.Philip Aka, Department of History and Political Science, Chicago State
University, 9501 S. King Drive, Chicago, IL, 60628-1598. E-mail:
philip_aka@hotmail.com
Dr. Paul A. Rodell, Department of History, Georgia Southern University, Post
Office Box 8054, Statesboro, GA 30460-8054.
rodell@georgiasouthern.edu
CALL FOR BOOKS THE 2012-2013 TOYIN FALOLA ATWS AFRICA BOOK AWARD
The Toyin Falola Africa Book Award, in honor of Toyin Falola, one of Africa’s outstanding historians and intellectuals, will be given for the best book on Africa published in 2012-2013. Book submissions must be published 2012 through June 30, 2013. The deadline for submission of entries is June 30, 2013. The award will not automatically be given each year, but only whenever the committee decides that a book of considerable merit has been submitted. ATWS members are encouraged to enter their publications into the competition. The recipient will receive a plaque, citation, and a $500 cash award.
Qualifications are:
- Only monographs and studies will be considered. Please do not submit anthologies or edited works.
- An individual who wishes to be considered must send a letter of application to the committee chair, Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura, The African Institution, 7532 Eighth Street, Washington, D.C. 20012 E-mail: theafricaninstitution@verizon.net
- Publishers are permitted to nominate an author’s book as long as the above rules are observed.
- An individual seeking the award is responsible for sending a copy of his/her book to each member of the committee.
Committee members are:
Dr. Abdul Karim Bangura, committee chair, The African Institution, 7532 Eighth Street, Washington, D.C. 20012. E-mail: theafricaninstitution@verizon.net
Dr. James T. Gire, Department of Psychology, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA 24450. E-mail: GireJT@vmi.edu
Dr. Jose Arimateia da Cruz, Department of Criminal Justice, Social and Political Science, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA 31419-1997. E-mail: dacruzjo@mail.armstrong.edu
Dr. Ishmael Munene, Center for Education Excellence, Northern Arizona University, Flagg Staff, AZ 86011-5774. E-mail: Munene@nau.edu
Lawrence Dunbar Reddick Scholarship Award
Named in honor of the late Lawrence Dunbar Reddick, professor of history and friend of several post-colonial leaders, the Reddick Award is given annually to the best article to appear in the Journal of Third World Studies, the flagship journal of the ATWS. The award was established during the ATWS presidency of John Mukum Mbaku as a result of the initiative and funding provided by A.B. Assensoh and Yvette Alex-Assensoh, both of Indiana University, Bloomington. A selection committee is named each year to pick the recipient.
Dr. Reddick, a prolific scholar who wrote the first authorized biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Crusader Without Violence), died a few years ago in New Orleans, Louisiana.
THE ATWS ANNOUNCES THE 2013 ISAACS AWARD COMPETITION FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
At its 2001 meeting the Association of Third World Studies (ATWS) instituted The Harold Isaacs Award competition for graduate students. The Award is named in honor of the Association’s founding president and aimed toward supporting research focusing on the various problems facing “Third World” peoples. The Award will be made to the top graduate paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Association. The Award is designed to encourage high quality research and writing among graduate students who have an interest in Third World studies. All candidates MUST have their papers accepted for presentation at the meeting in order to be eligible for the competition AND they MUST be present at the 2013 ATWS meeting to deliver their paper. The winner will be presented with a $400 check award and plaque at the annual meeting’s banquet. Other selected graduate student papers may also be presented with Certificates of Excellence AND they must be present at the 2013 ATWS meeting to deliver their paper.
The selection procedure is as follows: students will submit abstracts of their papers according to established procedures of the Association (see Call for Papers on ATWS website, http://apps.gsw.edu/atws/ Paper submissions MUST follow “Guidelines for Submission of Manuscripts” for Journal of Third World Studies (JTWS). Click-on Journal of Third World Studies on the ATWS website. Upon acceptance for presentation at the 2013 meeting, the student will send an electronic copy of the completed paper to the Education Committee Chair. The deadline for receipt of the papers is 30 SEPTEMBER 2013. The current chair is Dr. Mueni wa Muiu, Associate Professor of Political Science, Department of Social Sciences, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC 27110. E-mail: muium@wssu.edu and two other ATWS members will compose the Graduate Student Award Selection Subcommittee.
Interested graduate students must submit papers that (1) demonstrate originality in terms of research area and/or interpretation, 2) contribute to the intellectual debates within the subject area in which they are framed, and 3) present well-substantiated arguments. Please note that submissions should be near ready for publication. The winning paper will be published in the Journal of Third World Studies after any revisions suggested by the Review Subcommittee.
For more information, please check out the ATWS website at: http://apps.gsw.edu/atws/
ATWS Membership
Membership is open to any person interested in Third World Studies.
Membership benefits include an annual subscription to Journal of Third
World Studies (JTWS), the ATWS Newsletter, and an invitation to
participate in the annual meeting at a reduced registration rate.
Membership Fee Levels
* $30 for student membership
* $30 for third world resident
* $30 for retiree membership
* $60 for regular membership
* $90 for husband & wife membership
* $75 for sustainer membership
* $100 for patron membership
* $150 for third world resident life membership
* $400 for individual life membership
* $600 for husband & wife life membership
* $1000 for institutional membership
We will include your name in our membership directory once we receive your membership dues. Please make checks payable to: Association of Third World studies, Inc., and send to:
Dr. Doyin Coker-Kolo
Treasurer, ATWS
School of Education,
P.O. Box 1002,
Millersville University,
Millersville, PA 17551
