The Transnational Studies Reading and Working Group (TSRWG)

The Transnational Studies Reading and Working Group (TSRWG) facilitates scholarly exchange between faculty members of our Department of English and those of other departments on the history, directions, and potentials of the field of transnational studies. The group intends to reach these objectives through meetings and conversations on bibliographies, articles, books, films, music, and other resources that will expand our knowledge of the cutting-edge field of transnational studies and allow us to better help our students, who have similar interests, take part in the conversations.

While it will be housed in the English Department, the TSRWG intends to be an inclusive group and will, thus, invite faculty and students of various departments and disciplines from across Kent State University, who do research on or are interested in transnational studies, to join the research collective. Moreover, instead of being a top-down model with ideas and directives coming from any singular entity, the TSRWG will be a bottom-up model of inquiry in which faculty members themselves define the meaning of transnational studies and the objectives and orientations of the group.

Please address any questions to Dr. Babacar M'Baye, who is one of the group's facilitators, at the following email address:

bmbaye@kent.edu

The group’s address is:

http://tsrwg.blogspot.com/

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Babacar M'Baye, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of English and Department of Panafrican Studies
(Office Address)
113 Satterfield Hall
Kent State University
Kent, OH 44240
Tel: 330-672-1742
Fax: 330-672-3152
bmbaye@kent.edu

Presentations

PREVIOUS PRESENTATION:

Many scholars have given presentations to the Transnational Studies Reading and Working Group (TSRWG) since its founding in 2012. Previous presentations include:

“Reading Lessons in Seeing: Mirrors, Masks, and Mazes in the Autobiographical Novel”

Dr. Michael A. Chaney (English, African and African American Studies, Dartmouth College) 

March 3, 2017, 1-2:30 p.m. (114 Satterfield Hall)

Viewing of the film I Bring What I Love (about the Senegalese music star Yousef Dour)

October 28, 2016, 12-2 p.m. (114 Satterfield Hall)

“Agency and Peacebuilding: A Local Zones of Peace Approach.”

Dr. Landon Hancock (Conflict Management and Political Science, Kent State University)

April 17, 2015, 12:30-1:30 p.m. (114 Satterfield Hall)

“Egypt’s New Transition: Counterrevolutionary State Violence as a Constitutive Process.”

Dr. Joshua Stasher (Political Science, Kent State University)

March 13, 2015, 12:30-1:30 p.m. (114 Satterfield Hall)

"‘Wild Irish’ and ‘Redskins’: Decolonizing Irish and Native American Identities." 

Heather Brown, A.B.D. (English, Kent State University)

November 7, 2014, 12-1 p.m. (114 Satterfield Hall)

“Langston Hughes: Wanderer of the Harlem Renaissance.” 

Joshua Murray, A.B.D. (English, Kent State University)

February 21, 2014, 12-1 p.m. (127 C Oscar Ritchie Hall)

"A Poet Remembers Diop.”  

Professor Mwatabu S. Okantah (Pan-African Studies, Kent State University)

October 4, 2013, 12-1 p.m. (127 C Oscar Ritchie Hall)

"Corruption in Africa - Bad Institutions & Military Rule and Religion."

Dr. Nicole Bissessar (Economics, Kent State University Ashtabula and Trumbull)

April 26, 2013, 12-1 p.m. (127 C Oscar Ritchie Hall)

"English as a Lingua Franca in an age of Globalism."

Dr. Sarah Rilling (English, Kent State University)

February 22, 2013, 12-1 p.m. (114 Satterfield Hall)

“Writing Protest:  Rejection of Nationalism in Empirical Japan”

Doug Sheldon. M.A. (English, Kent State University)

October 26, 2012, 12-1 p.m. (215 Satterfield Hall)

"Encroachment of the World Market in Remote Pacific Communities."

Dr. Richard Feinberg (Anthropology, Kent State University)

September 28, 2012, 12-1 p.m. (127 C Oscar Ritchie Hall)

"A Different Pan-Africanism: Globalization, Mobility, and Situational Identities."

Dr. Wendy Wilson-Fall (Pan-African Studies, Kent State University)

February 24, 2012, 12-1 p.m. (127 C Oscar Ritchie Hall)

 “Identity in Transnational Spaces: Organizing by Caribbean Immigrants in Canada and

the United States.”

Dr. Amoaba Gooden (Pan-African Studies, Kent State University)

April 20, 2012, 12-1 p.m. (127 C Oscar Ritchie Hall)

“A Comparative Research of the Nation-State identities of Ireland and Korea.”

Dr. Yeon in Kim, A.B.D. (English, Kent State University)

January 27, 2012, 12-1 p.m. (215 Satterfield Hall

Call-for-Papers (Conferences)

CALLS FOR PAPERS, CONFERENCES, EVENTS OF INTEREST

CALL FOR PAPERS: LITERARY TRANSNATIONALISM(S)

(http://bcla.org/2015/02/26/call-for-papers-literary-transnationalisms/)

FEBRUARY 26, 2015 BCLA WEB EDITOR

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) will be hosting a conference entitled ‘Literary Transnationalism(s)‘ on 8-10 October 2015.

From the organisers:

In recent approaches to literary studies we notice a turning away from an (almost) exclusive attention to national literatures in favor of a variety of “transnational” approaches. One may here think of world literature and geocriticism, but also of the so-called “-phone” studies, i.e. anglophone, francophone, hispanophone, or lusophone, but increasingly also sinophone and other linguistically-inspired categories, often from a postcolonial perspective, in the case of literatures in European languages, but sometimes also from an “imperial” point of view, as has sometimes been argued with respect, precisely, to sinophone developments. But it is equally possible to consider not necessarily linguistically but rather culturally, historically, or geographically related areas such as “Europe,” the Americas (often now referred to as “hemispheric America”), the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, the Atlantic or the Pacific Rim, the Indian Ocean, or the Silk Road. There is room for both synchronic and diachronic reflections on any or all of these approaches.

The conference will bring together a number of leading international theoreticians, critics and literary historians. Confirmed participants include: David Damrosch (Harvard University), Djelal Kadir (Pennsylvania State University), Longxi Zhang (City University of Hong Kong), Svend Erik Larsen (Aarhus University), Hans Bertens(Utrecht University, President of the International Comparative Literature Association), Ottmar Ette (University of Potsdam), César Domínguez (University of Santiago de Compostela), Jean Bessière(University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle), Elleke Boehmer(University of Oxford).

The organisers would like to offer participants the opportunity to test their own insights, theories and proposals in an intensive exchange of views with these internationally recognised authorities. At the same time the international experts will be invited to not only consider their own specialty, but to at least partially adopt a meta-stance, reflecting on their own approach next to and in relation to the other approaches highlighted.

Proposals for 25-minute papers should be sent to Dagmar Vandebosch  and/or Theo D’haen. Deadline for abstracts is 15 March 2015. Early submission is encouraged.

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Call for Papers:

American Studies in a Transatlantic Perspective: Critical Regionalism in Politics and Culture

The Bavarian American Academy invites applications for its 5th international summer academy for doctoral students and junior faculty May 20 to June 3, titled “American Studies in a Transatlantic Perspective: Critical Regionalism in Politics and Culture” in Munich and Nuremberg. Program see http://www.amerika-akademie.de

Posted: January 23, 2013, Conferences

http://www.theasa.net/opportunities/item/american_studies_in_a_transatlantic_perspective_critical_regionalism_in_pol/

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Call for Papers:

7th Biennial Conference of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD)

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
October 30 - November 2, 2013

Transformative Visions: 
Confronting Change and Creating Opportunity in Africa and the African Diaspora

http://www.aswadiaspora.org/ASWAD_2013_CFP_01.html

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Histories of Violence: War and Memory Location: Illinois, United States Call for Papers Date: 2013-05-10 Date Submitted: 2012-10-18 Announcement ID: 198031

http://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=198031 Hello HAW -- I'd be grateful if you'd circulate this CFP on the HAW list. Best, Jessie Kindig Call for Papers: Histories of Violence: War and Memory The Northwestern University Critical American Studies Working Group seeks presenters and participants for a day-long Histories of Violence symposium on Friday, May 10, 2013. This event will be held at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. Histories of Violence constitutes a new intellectual movement that intersects with multiple fields of interdisciplinary inquiry, including American Studies, Literary Studies, Ethnic Studies, History, Theater Studies, Anthropology, and Performance Studies. Defined by particular narrative, archival, and pedagogical questions, emerging work in Histories of Violence recognizes the non-linearity and in/visibility of violent experiences while seeking to empower witnesses, survivors, and descendents of violence. This symposium explores Histories of Violence through the theme of War and Memory. Specifically, we seek papers that address the long and broad aftermaths of war, including those that mobilize the figures of veterans, refugees, colonial subjects, and sex workers. We are interested in the transnational circulation of violence, weapons, tactics, and symbols, as well as the relationship between violence and power both in the United States and in transnational context. How do people remember violent experience, and what are the social costs of such memories? What legacies of American violence continue to shape identity, projects of empire, and political discourse? Can we read the relationship between state and interpersonal violence in memory? Lisa Lowe (Tufts University, Department of English) will be the featured keynote speaker. The symposium will be organized as a set of roundtable discussions; rather than deliver papers in a traditional panel format, presenters will share pre-circulated conference-length papers with symposium participants. Lunch and dinner will be provided. We invite paper abstracts of no more than 300 words, sent as e-mail attachments to historiesofviolence@gmail.com. Please include your contact information and affiliation, as well as any unusual audio/visual requirements. The roundtables will be assembled by conference organizers. The deadline for submissions is November 28, 2012. For those who wish to attend but not to present, please send an e-mail of interest.

Critical American Studies Collective Northwetsern University Email: historiesofviolence@gmail.com

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CFP ASEN Conference 2013: Nationalism and Revolution Location: United Kingdom Call for Papers Date: 2012-11-30 Date Submitted: 2012-10-19 Announcement ID: 198052

CFP ASEN Conference 2013: Nationalism and Revolution Location: United Kingdom Call for Papers Date: 2012-11-30 Date Submitted: 2012-10-19 Announcement ID: 198052 The Association for Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) is pleased to announce the call for papers for the 23rd ASEN Annual Conference: Nationalism and Revolution. The conference will take place from the 9-11th April, 2013 at the London School of Economics. All the information on the Call for Papers is available online (http://tinyurl.com/ASEN2013CFP) and you can submit your abstract here (http://tinyurl.com/ASEN2013abstract). Abstracts are accepted until November 30, 2012. Confirmed keynote speakers include: John Breuilly, Charles King, John Lonsdale, Karma Nabulsi, Stein Tønnesson and Sami Zubaida. Proposals are invited for papers focusing on the following themes: CONCEPTUAL-THEORETICAL • Theories of nationalist revolution • Class conflict, nationalism and revolution • Popular nationalism and revolution • Nationalist ideology and revolution • Nationalist ideology and counter-revolution • Elite nationalism and revolution HISTORICAL • Nationalism and the “great” revolutions (English, French, Russian, Chinese) • Revolutions and national liberation movements • Revolution and the diffusion of nationalism • Internationalism, nationalism and revolution • The art and media (printed, visual, etc.) of nationalism and revolution CONTEMPORARY • Nationalism, revolution and the collapse of communism • Radical nationalism (left and right) as revolutionary – e.g. European cases • Popular national resistance to dictatorship – e.g. in the Middle East • State nationalism as anti-revolutionary Successful submissions will be announced in January 2013. The ASEN conference team looks forward to reading your abstract! Carys Moseley and Pheroze Unwalla ASEN 2013 Conference Chairs London School of Economics Email: asen.conference2013@lse.ac.uk Visit the website at http://www2.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/units/ASEN/Conference/Conference2013.aspx

Call-For-Papers (Publications)

CFP: Transnational security challenges in Africa in the 21st century

The Journal Cadernos de Estudos Africanos, the bi-annual Journal of the
Lisbon University Institute’s Centro de Estudos Africanos/ISCTE - IUL,
welcomes contributions for its special issue on:

Transnational security challenges in Africa in the 21st century

In the past decades, the dynamics associated with globalization and
transnationalism have exacerbated the proliferation and the visibility of
a myriad of non-state actors’ capacity to develop and maintain
transnational relations

In this context, the special issue follows the definition of transnational
relations as relations across national borders that engage at least one
non-state actor and/or those activities which take place outside the realm
of a national government or inter-governamental organisation (Josselin &
Wallace, 2001, p. 19).

In the africanist literature transnational relations have been extensively
analysed in their various dimensions (economic, political, social and
cultural). Transnational economic and social actors, such as transnational
companies, have been particularly under focus. However, the implications
of a variety of non-state actors’ transnational relations for
international security in Africa have received scant attention. Indeed,
scientific production and reflexion on non-state actors engaged in
transnational relations have tended to be limited, such as: diaspora
formations; think tanks; terrorist groups and those involved in
transnational organized crime, among others.

The special issue starts from the theoretical assumption that both the
understanding and the analysis of the strategies, tactics and influence of
the aforementioned actors (in terms of their impact on security dynamics
in Africa) require a multi-sectoral approach of the concept of
international security. This approach takes into account the following
sectors: military, economic, political, social and environmental.

Cadernos de Estudos Africanos ‘ aim for this issue is to publish articles
that will contribute to the debates on: 1) the implications and the impact
of transnational relations for the understanding of international security
dynamics in Africa and 2) the key questions which remain absent from the
international agenda. In the post-9/11 era of international relations,
important transnational phenomena such as piracy and narco-traffic
(comprised within the intensification of transnational organized crime)
and terrorist attacks (perpetrated by groups with links to the
transnational militant islamist movement) have tended to remain at the
centre of most concerns related to security in Africa. However, other
transnational dynamics and key-questions have been overlooked or
unsatisfactorily addressed.

This special issue particularly welcomes articles which address the
following questions:

- The definition of the actors, their strategies and tactics
and/or their influence in relation to the saliency of the key issues with
regards to international security in contemporary Africa;
- The historical background with regards to continuity and
changes in terms of the central place of transnational relations to the
understanding of security dynamics in contemporary Africa;
- The analysis of the implications and the impact of
transnational phenomena for the understanding of security dynamics in
Africa in the light of case-study’s findings. The aim is to confirm or
question the potential or, in contrast, the limitations of the focus on a
selection of actors and key questions which have tended to dominate the
international agenda.

The Journal will accept proposals and publish articles in Portuguese,
English, French or Spanish.

Guidelines for authors:
http://cea.iscte.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=1&lang=en
(in English)

http://cea.iscte.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=1
(in Portuguese)

The final articles should be submitted to: alexmagnolia.dias@gmail.com
& alexandra.dias@iscte.pt

All the articles will be peer-reviewed.
The deadline for submission is: 4 July 2011
Lisbon, 28 April 2011

Transnational Studies Bibliography

(Please suggest additional other sources to add to this bibliography)

General Bibliography

-DeGroat, Judith and Mansour Bonakdarian. “Area Studies/Transnational Studies in the Classroom.” Radical History Review.76 (2000): 208-211.

Bibliography Available on other Websites

-The Irish and Scottish Diasporas in Historical Context: A Bibliography of Comparative and Transnational Studies

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/riiss/RIISSdiasporaBibliography.shtml