Vassar College to host Sudan Studies Association conference, April 6-8

The Vassar College Program in Africana Studies will host the Sudan Studies Association's 19th annual conference titled "Africa's Sudanic Core: At the Millennium" from April 6-8 in the New England Building at Vassar.

On Thursday, April 6, at 4:30 p.m., Abdullahi Ali Ibrahim, president-elect of the Sudan Studies Association, will deliver opening remarks followed by Norman Fainstein, dean of the faculty at Vassar, and Constance Berkley, lecturer in Africana studies at Vassar and a founding member of the Sudan Studies Association. The Sudan Studies Association is an independent professional society founded in the United States in 1981. Membership is open to scholars, teachers, students, and others with interest in the Sudan. The association exists primarily to promote Sudanese studies and scholarship.

El Tayeb Salih, author of "Season of Migration to the North," thought to be the most important Arabic novel of the twentieth century, will be the guest speaker for the Saturday luncheon, April 8, at 1 p.m.

The plenary session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday will include Don Peterson, the former ambassador to the Sudan and a former ambassador to Somalia, and Muddathir Abdel-Rahim of the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization.

Abder Rahman Abu Zayd Ahmed, secretary general and president of the University of Juba and cofounder of al-Ahlia University will speak on education in the Sudan at the plenary session.

Among the sessions planned are discussions of "Islam in the Political Process," "Strategies for Survival," and "Rituals of Power."

The Office of the Dean of the Faculty, the anthropology, art, English, history, philosophy, political science, and religion departments, and the Urban Studies Program cosponsors the conference. For a complete schedule of events and additional information, call the Program in Africana Studies at (845) 437-7490. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Cathy Jennings at (845) 437-5370, as far in advance as possible to request appropriate and reasonable accommodations.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Thursday, April 6th, 2000.