Call for Collaboration with South African Student Leaders

For the past few days we've been hosting visitors from our long-standing partner -- the University of the Western Cape.  Yesterday, Khaya Magopeni made an excellent presentation on "the University-Student Relationship: the Courage to Take a Positive Journey.

Thanks to the Columbia Missourian, you can read about it here.

Two Upcoming International Events - University of Missouri

Two upcoming events at the University of Missouri:

First, tomorrow is International Day.  There are events scheduled throughout the day. 

Second, next Monday, Oct. 4, the International Center is co-sponsoring a session (with MU Student Affairs and the MU Graduate School) that features a very interesting speaker from the University of the Western Cape (South Africa).

Please share these announcements, and I hope you can attend.

Art in South Africa

This morning, I find myself reflecting on a recent trip to South Africa.  Working with Missouri's good partners at the University of the Western Cape is always inspiring. They are doing incredibly ambitious work in spite of serious resource constraints.

On the last day of our visit, we wandered into the South African National Gallery.  I had no expectations, except that it looked like a nice place to visit while waiting for a long flight back home.  If you ever get to Capetown, there are so many things to do.  But don't leave the city without stopping at this museum.

It's filled with contemporary works that are beautiful, vibrant, and genuine.  It reminds me of the palpable creative energy I feel each time I visit the country, and each time I work with our colleagues at UWC.

Summer Reading

In the dog days of summer -- I'm reading two books I can't put down.

The first, is Cognitive Surplus, by Clay Sharky.  This blurb from the publisher provides a helpful summary:

The author of the breakout hit Here Comes Everybody reveals how new technology is changing us from consumers to collaborators, unleashing a torrent of creative production that will transform our world.

This is a short, practical book, and I recommend it to anyone involved in teaching or learning.

The second, is a novel by Marlene Van Niekerk, called Agaat.  Whenever I travel, I try to read works of fiction by local writers.  I chose this book for my recent trip to South Africa.  This is a beautiful and painful story.  It offers great insight into race and gender relations -- in South Africa and through out the world.

Nelson Mandela Day

My thoughts today turn to Nelson Mandela -- the greatest living statesman in the world.  Today, we celebrate his 92nd birthday, and seek to follow his example.

South Africa - After the World Cup

I'm traveling to South Africa shortly to work with our good partners at the University of the Western Cape.

This trip will be in the afterglow of the country's amazing success in hosting the World Cup tournament.

Here's a brief tribute to South Africa published in today's New York Times.

Also -- congratulations to MU law students for their efforts to support community and youth sports while in Capetown.

China's Role in World Food Prices

A good colleague, Pat Westhoff at MU's Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute, provided this excellent guest post on how developments in China may affect food prices through out the world. This work appeared in the New York Time's Freakanomics Blog.

Pat is also the author of a newly published book on the economics of food. If you're concerned about food security -- check this out.

South Africa Higher Education Summit

The University World News provides very practical coverage of last week's summit on higher education in Cape Town, South Africa.

The summit involved representatives from all key stakeholder groups, including government officials, university administrators, faculty, support staff, and students.

Here are six brief but different perspectives that the News published.

An endorsement of stakeholder involvement

A challenge to make higher education more accessible

A report on the persistence of discrimination at universities

A faculty Jeremiad on higher education in shambles

Students speak out

A keynote called Transformation is not for sissies.

Maybe it's time to organize similar events in the US.

Ushahidi - Emergency Response in Haiti

We are co-hosting an important campus lecture next week. Dr. Valerie Kaussen, Associate Professor of Romance Languages & Literatures, will discuss her recent experiences working on Haiti aid efforts following the devastating earthquake of January 12. She will address what she sees as some of the challenges and pitfalls of helping in Haiti's reconstruction efforts as well as share her thoughts on proposed models for Haitian post-earthquake development.

Recently, the New York Times reported on a new approach used for emergency response in Haiti.

A brief excerpt...

Ushahidi suggests a new paradigm in humanitarian work. The old paradigm was one-to-many: foreign journalists and aid workers jet in, report on a calamity and dispense aid with whatever data they have. The new paradigm is many-to-many-to-many: victims supply on-the-ground data; a self-organizing mob of global volunteers translates text messages and helps to orchestrate relief; journalists and aid workers use the data to target the response.

Ushahidi also represents a new frontier of innovation. Silicon Valley has been the reigning paradigm of innovation, with its universities, financiers, mentors, immigrants and robust patents. Ushahidi comes from another world, in which entrepreneurship is born of hardship and innovators focus on doing more with less, rather than on selling you new and improved stuff.
Because Ushahidi originated in crisis, no one tried to patent and monopolize it. Because Kenya is poor, with computers out of reach for many, Ushahidi made its system work on cellphones. Because Ushahidi had no venture-capital backing, it used open-source software and was thus free to let others remix its tool for new projects.

Ushahidi remixes have been used in India to monitor elections; in Africa to report medicine shortages; in the Middle East to collect reports of wartime violence; and in Washington, D.C., where The Washington Post partnered to build a site to map road blockages and the location of available snowplows and blowers.

Think about that. The capital of the sole superpower is deluged with snow, and to whom does its local newspaper turn to help dig out? Kenya.


With every new application, Ushahidi is quietly transforming the notion of bearing witness in tragedy. For a very long time, this was done first by journalists in real time, next by victim/writers like Anne Frank and, finally, by historians. But in this instantaneous age, this kind of testimony confronts a more immediate kind: one of aggregate, average, good-enough truths.

Twenty Years After Mandela's Release

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release from prison -- a key milestone in the history of South Africa and in worldwide struggle for human rights.

We'll never be able to measure the effects of Mandela's leadership.  The New York Times published essays by seven political prisoners who pay him tribute. 

Take time to read these today in his honor.

To learn more about the man, read  A Long Walk to Freedom. 

Fahrenheit 2010 - A Film about the World Cup in South Africa

Next week (Feb. 4-7) marks the 3rd annual Africa World Documentary Film Festival in St Louis, Missouri. One of the films I really look forward to is Fahrenheit 2010. This film takes a hard look at the complex effects the World Cup competition is having on the people of South Africa.

If you follow the World Cup, or if you want to learn about South Africa, this film is for you.

Study in Africa Changes Lives

Research shows that even short-term study abroad changes lives.

For example -- see this story about an MU student's experience in Rwanda.

Last year MU enrolled over 3,000 students who earned academic credit across borders (incoming + outgoing). This is serious work that deserves more attention.

Two New Books on Africa

I'm spending quite a bit of time these days with MU scholars who are managing or pursuing important relationships with African institutions.

If you want to learn more about Africa, this week's New York Times Book Review highlights two new works that might be helpful.

1. Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe
2. A Legacy of Liberation: Thabo Mbeki and the Future of the South African Dream.

Each of these books addresses critical issues that are not widely discussed in the US. Each offers perspective that is at times controversial and/or inaccurate.

Still, I think they're worth reading.