With the wide range of opportunities for funding, and a focus on higher educational linkages and collaborations in Africa, UNT is poised to facilitate faculty interest in the region; to this end UNT International created “Task Force-Africa” a University round-table presentation and workshop focusing on academic or other research interests in Africa.  This workshop was an opportunity for faculty to share their research ideas and initiatives with each other in an open forum, and explore the availability of funding for these projects from outside sources.

This was the first in a series of such events; each will focus on different geographic regions of the world. These groups will continue to meet ensuring alignment of University initiatives throughout the world while exploring opportunities for collaboration, discussing the University’s priorities in the region and how projects align with institutional goals.

Proposals

Dr. Charles Blankson, Department of Marketing and Logistics: Poor Rural African Individuals’ Buying Behavior and Attitudes towards Possessions and Consumption of Death Rituals (Ghana)

Dr. Marc Cutright, Department of Higher Education: Professional Development (Uganda)

Dr. Steven Friedson, Department of Music: Raising money for fishing village through comparative music, dance, and religious tradition (Ghana)

Dr. Janice Holden, Department of Higher Education:  Train the trainers for youth counseling of PTSD, War and AIDS (Uganda)

Dr. Mitch Land, Department of Journalism: Expansion of current media development program in Mozambique (Nigeria)

Dr. James Meernik, Department of Political Science: Transitional justice after violent civil war (Rwanda)

Leslie Robertson, Department of Visual Arts: Keeping local artistic traditions alive through Information, display, and research (Uganda)

Dr. Guido Verbeck, Department of Chemistry: Advancing ion optics and field portable mass analytical spectrometers (Rwanda)

Dr. David Wojnowski, Department of Teachers Education: Traditional and scientific conceptions of snakes in Kenya: Alternative perspectives for teaching (Kenya)

Summary

Dr. Earl Gibbons of UNT-International opened the meeting explaining the importance of internationalization, and collaboration to the future growth of UNT. He then reinforced the significance of collaborative opportunities, like Task Force Africa, to the support of the strategic vision of the university.

Dr. Steven M. Friedson of the Department of Music started off the presentations by introducing his work in Ghana. He explained his research of comparative music, dance, and religion; and described the amount of community support he has received in the remote fishing village he studies in annually. In addition to the research, he has helped raise money to expand the value of education in said village. Lastly, he announced that due to the efforts of his study, the village has sent its first student to college.

Dr. Cutright of the Department of Higher Education then spoke on the initial and current emphases for the Center for Higher Education’s five initiatives. First is the funded establishment of master’s degree programs in higher education leadership in association with universities in Africa. Second is to develop a community college structure. Third, is to create a work college on 300 acres of donated land. Fourth is contribute UNT’s efforts to establish a national resource center and funded research agenda in transfer student education and success. Finally, enlarge on-going professional development in the region.

Next Dr. Janice Holden of the Department Higher Education, introduced her research assistants from Uganda, and presented the idea of developing a train-the-trainers program for child counseling in Uganda. Uganda is a war-torn nation and many of the youth need counseling for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and AIDs. The idea is to not only provide counseling for children, but to train counselors, and train counseling instructors to train other counselors in Uganda.

Dr. Mitch Land of the Department Journalism broadcasted his work in Mozambique to the group. He described western journalism as only looking at a current situation quickly and leaving just as the situation has ended, resulting in a very brief and incomplete view. Currently, work has been done to train several local students in Mozambique on western journalism, as to provide a more in-depth look at any African situation. Dr. Land’s plan is to spread out this type of education all over Africa and build a stronger, more focused approach to African media.

Lesli Robertson of the College of Visual Arts announced her work in Ugandan bark cloth. This three phase program develops isolated artistic knowledge and enlarges its understanding. The key point of this project is to keep the artistic traditions alive through information, display, and research.

Dr. Guido Verbeck of the Department of Chemistry stated his combined efforts on field portable mass analytical spectrometers with the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology in Rwanda. The field portable mass analytical spectrometer can identify bacteria, food, and many other micro-organisms; it has practical implications in many fields to include agriculture, hydrology, biology, and chemistry.

Dr. Blankson of the Department of Marketing and Logistics explained his work with rural communities needs for goods, and their perceptions of banks. He stated that rural banks in Ghana are flourishing whereas they may be suffering elsewhere. He also announced his work with small businesses in Ghana, and explained how Ghana is an economic stepping stone for the rest of Africa.

Dr. Wojnowski of the Department of Teaching Education spoke about his work isolating alternative teaching methods using snakes in Kenya.

The following researchers talked about their work in the region, and the development of future proposals in the region. Dr. McPhearson of the Department of Economics explained his work with micro-enterprises in Uganda, and their affects on the national economy. Dr. Ishmayan, spoke about his future research proposal in the area of African Initiatives Project involving twenty-five young political science students at UNT. Dr. Meernik of the Department of Political Science added that UNT’s political science department will be developing a transitional justice course for Rwanda modeled after the current UNT/ICTY course at The Hague.

Strategic Partnerships Inc. made comments on each proposal based on potential funding for, and joint possibilities that may exist within the university.

Regina Hill then talked about the City of Dallas’ stance on Africa, and opened a doorway for further work on African economics.

Overall, the Task Force achieved its goal of bringing together researchers from UNT for a more focused approach to Africa.