Pluralism and Adaptation in the Islamic Practice of Senegal and Ghana: Collaborative Research and Scholarship on West Africa

Recipient: Robinson, David W (East Lansing, MI 48824 USA) in affiliation with Michigan State University

Goal: Creation of a website incorporating translations and annotations of documents written by and about West African Muslims; and syntheses about the history of particular West African Islamic communities.

Description: Scholars in African Studies at Michigan State University and Indiana University will research West African Islamic practice and produce new interpretations to be made available to researchers, teachers, students and the general public. They will explore this practice through four case studies set in Senegambia and Mauritania, on the one hand, and Ghana, on the other. The case studies will provide new scholarship and syntheses on particular Muslim communities as well as transcriptions, translations and annotations of documents and interviews by members of these communities as they cope with division, non-Muslim rule, and changing global environments. This research will bring a critical African dimension to scholarly debates about Muslim faith and practice.

Grant: 196471 / RZ-51053-09,   Division: Research Programs,   Program: Collaborative Research,   Year Awarded: 2009

Technology Transfer at Work in China-Africa Development Assistance: The TAZARA Railway, 1968-1986

Recipient: Monson, Jamie (St. Paul, MN 55105 USA) in affiliation with Macalester College

Goal: A study of the history of work and technology transfer during the construction by Chinese and African workers of the TAZARA railway in Tanzania and Zambia. (16 months)

Description: The proposed research project examines the history of work and technology transfer during the construction by Chinese and African workers of the TAZARA railway in Tanzania and Zambia, including the ten-year period of technical cooperation with China. Technology and labor intersected within a specific historical context that included China's domestic experience of the Cultural Revolution; Tanzania and Zambia's emergence as newly independent African nations in the era of decolonization; and the international rivalries of the Cold War. To illuminate the social and political history of work and technology in China-Africa development assistance from 1968-1986, a team of American, Chinese, and African scholars will, between August 2009 and November 2010, use archival, documentary, and oral history methods to conduct collaborative research in Tanzania and Zambia. The team will present its findings at a series of workshops in those countries, in China, and at a professional conference.

Grant: 196514 / RZ-51096-09,   Division: Research Programs,   Program: Collaborative Research,   Year Awarded: 2009

NEH on the Road: Wrapped in Pride

Recipient: Ronnander, Carrie M (Eau Claire, WI 54702-1204 USA) in affiliation with Chippewa Valley Museum (Eau Claire, WI 54702 USA)

Goal: Ancillary public humanities programs to accompany the NEH on the Road: Wrapped in Pride traveling exhibition.

Description: The Chippewa Valley Museum (CVM) requests $1,000 to support the cost of public humanities programming during installation of Wrapped in Pride in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. CVM has requested a double-booking period to allow sufficient time to engage regional interest and participation in this unusual opportunity. We have already begun to contact the regional African American community for help in planning and program development. Our preliminary plan includes a preview reception, gallery talks and activities for classroom groups, homeschoolers, youth organizations and families; presentations for teachers; and a special section on CVM???s website. We will encourage other area organizations to provide related programming, such as asking area libraries to create book displays and incorporating an exhibit visit into University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire American, African American and art history classes.

Grant: 199939 / MR-50061-09,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: NEH on the Road,   Year Awarded: 2009

The African Origins Portal: Ethnic Roots of Africans Entering the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 1819-1845

Recipient: Eltis, David (Atlanta, GA 30322 USA) in affiliation with Emory University

Goal: The creation of a Web-based resource on the names, cultural identification, and migration patterns of Africans in the trans-Atlantic slave trade between 1819 and 1845.

Description: We know much about the homelands and cultures of European migrants to the Americas. This project will set in motion the discovery of the as-yet unknown backgrounds of millions of their coerced African counterparts by creating an interactive, freely available Web-based resource about the migration histories of Africans forcibly carried to the Americas via the transatlantic slave trade. Using as its base detailed data on 67,000 liberated Africans (from Courts of Mixed Commission slave registers between 1819 and 1845 that documented individuals freed from slaving vessels), this African Origins portal will accomplish two related goals: 1) present and contextualize detailed geographic, ethnic, and linguistic data on movements of peoples and cultures from Africa to the Americas, and 2) foster collaboration between scholars and African Diaspora communities in order to enhance our knowledge of this African migration.

Grant: 189822 / PW-50120-08,   Division: Preservation and Access,   Program: Humanities Collections and Reference Resources,   Year Awarded: 2008

South Africa: History and Culture

Recipient: Corby, Richard A (Monticello, AR 71656 USA) in affiliation with University of Arkansas, Monticello (Monticello, AR 71655 USA)

Goal: A six-week summer institute for twenty-five school teachers, to be held at Cape Town and other locations throughout South Africa, on that country's geography, history, and social institutions.

Description: A six-week summer institute to be conducted in South Africa. The institute will feature a rigorous academic program of lectures at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, extensive field study throughout South Africa, and a thorough follow-up program. As most American teachers are not academically prepared to teach about Africa, this program in South Africa will enable the twenty-five participants to gain cognitive and affective knowledge of South Africa and its people. The teachers will develop curriculum materials to use in their classrooms when they teach South Africa and thus promote the teaching of the humanities.

Grant: 191984 / ES-50222-08,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Institutes for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2008

African Dimensions of the History and Cultures of the Americas (Through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade)

Recipient: Miller, Joseph (Charlottesville, VA 22904-4180 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629 USA)

Goal: A six-week seminar for fifteen college and university teachers on Africa and the trans-Atlantic slave trade before c.1800.

Description: The 2009 version of ROOTS updates successful Seminars (2003, 2005, 2007) to enable original scholarly research on trans-Atlantic relationships involving Africans in the 16th-18th centuries (the "era of the Atlantic slave trade"). It focuses on the human strategies of engaging Atlantic commercial impulses in Africa; the human experiences of uprooting, isolation, and eventual enslavement for those taken across the ocean; and the human meanings and memories of Africa among the survivors in the Americas. The 15 participants will integrate these humanistic perspectives, and the most current work on Africa and African-Americans, into research projects of their own during the seminar in Charlottesville VA. Planned outcomes focus on the production of original scholarship that will lead the current academic movement in all disciplines toward trans-regional integration and facilitate teaching in American classrooms in those forward-looking terms.

Grant: 192043 / FS-50208-08,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2008

African Healing Journeys

Recipient: Ryan, Kathleen (Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA) in affiliation with University of Pennsylvania

Goal: Planning for a traveling exhibition on African healing practices and their relationships to cultural values, past and present.

Description: The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) will develop an innovative exhibition entitled African Healing Journeys, which will focus on cultural responses to illness and disease among African peoples. The aim is to educate the American public about the value of and potential role for traditional knowledge in dealing with contemporary health challenges in Africa, with larger implications about the importance of ?traditional? views of healing among various cultures in the United States today. The exhibition will incorporate about 300 artifacts from Penn Museum?s 10,000 African holdings, along with photographs, botanical illustrations, video clips, and oral and written testimonies. The exhibition has an anticipated opening date of 2012 at the Penn Museum; and it will subsequently travel to other venues (TBD) around the United States.

Grant: 189931 / GE-50018-08,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: America's Historical and Cultural Organizations Planning,   Year Awarded: 2008

Roots: Teaching the African Dimensions of the History and Culture of the Americas through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Recipient: Miller, Joseph (Charlottesville, VA 22904-4180 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629 USA)

Goal: A five-week summer seminar for fifteen school teachers on the African context of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Description: The 2008 version of ROOTS updates successful Seminars (2004, 2006) and proposes to enable teachers to pursue original research and/or develop curricular materials on trans-Atlantic relationships involving Africans in the 16-18th centuries (the "era of the Atlantic slave trade"). It focuses on the human strategies in Africa of engaging Atlantic commercial impulses, the human experiences of uprooting, isolation, and eventual enslavement for those taken across the ocean, and the human meanings and memories of Africa among the survivors in the Americas. The 15 participants will integrate these humanistic perspectives, and the most current work on both Africa and the African-American, into their own projects during the seminar in Charlottesville, VA. Planned outcomes include the production of curriculum materials so Seminar participants may teach these subjects more effectively and develop presentations and perspectives to offer colleagues in broader professional contexts.

Grant: 187034 / FV-50148-07,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2007

Roots: African Dimensions of the History and Cultures of the Americas (Through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade)

Recipient: Miller, Joseph C (Charlottesville, VA 22904-4180 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629 USA)

Goal: A six-week seminar for fifteen college and university teachers on Africa and the trans-Atlantic slave trade before c.1800.

Description: The 2007 version of ROOTS updates very successful previous seminars, to enable original scholarly research on trans-Atlantic relations involving Africans in the 16th-18th centuries (the "era of the Atlantic slave trade"). It focuses on the human strategies of engaging Atlantic commercial impulses in Africa, the human experiences of uprooting, isolation, and the eventual enslavement for those taken across the ocean, and the human meanings and memories of Africa among the survivors in the Americas. The director and visiting experts will guide 15 participants in integrating these humanistic perspectives, and the most current work on both Africa and the African American, into their own research projects during the seminar in Charlottesville VA. Planned outcomes focus on the production of original scholarship that will lead the current academic movement toward trans-regional integration and facilitate teaching in those forward-looking terms in American classrooms.

Grant: 182083 / FS-50116-06,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2006

South Africa: Continuity and Change

Recipient: Corby, Richard A (Monticello, AR 71656 USA) in affiliation with University of Arkansas, Monticello (Monticello, AR 71655 USA)

Goal: A six-week institute for twenty-five social studies teachers to study the history and culture of South Africa to be held in Cape Town and other locations in South Africa.

Grant: 176876 / ES-50116-05,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Institutes for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2005

Roots: Teaching the African Dimensions of the History and Culture of the Americas

Recipient: Miller, Joseph C (Charlottesville, VA 22904-4180 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629 USA)

Goal: A five-week seminar for fifteen school teachers on the Atlantic context of African history during the period from the first European contacts with sub-Saharan Africa to the end of the forced migration of slaves from Africa to the Americas.

Grant: 176862 / FV-50089-05,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2005

The Lightkeepers: Illuminating History at the North Point Lighthouse

Recipient: Rewolinski, Cynthia (Milwaukee, WI 53201-0930 USA) in affiliation with North Point Lighthouse Friends, Inc. (Milwaukee, WI USA)

Goal: Consultation to plan a revised historic site tour plus exhibits and public programs about the lighthouse that guided generations of immigrants into the port of Milwaukee between 1855 and 1930.

Grant: 177140 / GM-50544-05,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in,   Year Awarded: 2005

South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid, Building Democracy

Recipient: Kornbluh, Mark L (East Lansing, MI 48824 USA) in affiliation with Michigan State University

Goal: A materials development project on the history of apartheid in South Africa, including the perspective of ordinary citizens as well as prominent leaders, for use primarily in high school and middle school social studies classes.

Grant: 170490 / EE-50076-04,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development,   Year Awarded: 2004

Roots: African Dimensions of the History and Cultures of the Americas

Recipient: Miller, Joseph C (Charlottesville, VA 22904-4180 USA) in affiliation with Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4629 USA)

Goal: A six-week summer seminar for college teachers to examine the complexities of African cultures enmeshed in the slave trade, as well as the lives and memories of the enslaved and their children in the Americas.

Grant: 171925 / FS-50051-04,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2004

Kenya: Continuity and Change

Recipient: Corby, Richard A (Monticello, AR 71656 USA) in affiliation with University of Arkansas, Monticello (Monticello, AR 71655 USA)

Goal: A six-week institute for 25 history and social studies teachers on Kenyan and East African history and culture, to be held in Kenya.

Grant: 95680 / ES-23175-02,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Institutes for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2002

AASLH Endowment Campaign.

Recipient: Davis, Terry (Nashville, TN 37203 USA) in affiliation with American Association for State and Local History (Nashville, TN 37203-2991 USA)

Goal: Endowment for an additional humanities staff position and new humanities programs.

Grant: 141479 / CH-20734-01,   Division: Challenge Grants,   Program: Challenge Grants,   Year Awarded: 2001

The Majimaji Rebellion: New Perspectives and New Directions

Recipient: Monson, Jamie (St. Paul, MN 55105 USA) in affiliation with Carleton College (Northfield, MN 55057 USA)

Goal: To support field research and a conference leading to a history of the Majimaji rebellion (1905-07) in Tanzania.

Grant: 161794 / RZ-20778-01,   Division: Research Programs,   Program: Collaborative Research,   Year Awarded: 2001

Teaching the African Humanities at Texas Southern University

Recipient: Maddox, Gregory H (Houston, TX 77004-0000 USA) in affiliation with Texas Southern University (Houston, TX 77004 USA)

Goal: A workshop and lectures on the African humanities for faculty members at this historically black university.

Grant: 157708 / HI-20892-01,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Presidentially Designated Institutions,   Year Awarded: 2001

Translation and Annotation of THE CHRONICLE OF SUSENYOS, EMPEROR OF ETHIOPIA, 1607-1632

Recipient: Larebo, Haile M (Atlanta, GA 30314 USA) in affiliation with Morehouse College

Goal: To support a translation and annotation of the CHRONICLE OF SUSENYOS, EMPEROR OF ETHIOPIA, 1607-1632.

Grant: 161760 / RZ-20669-00,   Division: Research Programs,   Program: Collaborative Research,   Year Awarded: 2000

Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South: An Historical Exhibition

Recipient: Tillman-Hill, Iris (Durham, NC 27705 USA) in affiliation with Duke University (Durham, NC 27708 USA)

Goal: To support a curator and consultants in collaboration with the Museum of the New South to develop an interpretive plan for a traveling exhibition on the Jim Crow South.

Grant: 156318 / GM-26177-00,   Division: Public Programs,   Program: Museums and Historical Organizations, Humanities Projects in,   Year Awarded: 2000