African Heritage Week planned Oct. 22-27

Ghanian drummer Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng

African Heritage Week at Gettysburg College is planned Oct. 22 to 27 and will feature Tanzanian and Malawian government officials, a renowned Ghanian drummer, a film about Congolese revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba, lectures by faculty members, African cuisine and fashion and the sale of fair-trade goods. All events are open to the public at no charge.

Goodall E. Gondwe, minister of finance in the Republic of Malawi, will speak Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in the third-floor Lyceum of Pennsylvania Hall, the white building at the center of campus. His talk on debt relief and poverty in Africa will be the annual Derrick K. Gondwe Memorial Lecture on Social and Economic Justice. The lecture is named after his brother, Derrick Gondwe, who taught economics at Gettysburg College for 27 years prior to his death in 2004.

Dr. Augustine P. Mahiga, the United Republic of Tanzania's ambassador to the United Nations, will speak Oct. 25 at 11:30 a.m. in the Ballroom of the College Union Building (CUB) on Lincoln Avenue.

The film "Lumumba" will be shown Oct 26 at 8 p.m. in the Bowen Auditorium of McCreary Hall, the brown building attached to the Science Center.

Drummer Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng will be featured at the campus International Club's "Big Night in Africa" Oct. 27 at 6 p.m. in the CUB Ballroom. The event will include African food, an African fashion show and a performance by the campus Bomb Squad dance group.

In addition to informational displays and opportunities to purchase fair-trade goods that benefit African artisans, both daily from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the CUB, the schedule of events (pdf) will include the following.

Monday, Oct. 22
African stories for children, 4 p.m., outside Musselman Library, poor weather location CUB Junction
African stereotypes, anthropology professor Donna Perry, 5 p.m., Room 209, Breidenbaugh Hall, northeast of Musselman Library

Tuesday, Oct. 23
HIV/AIDS in Africa, economics professor Eileen Stillwaggon, 5 p.m., Breidenbaugh 209
African poetry, 7 p.m., CUB Junction

Wednesday, Oct. 24
Slavery and African underdevelopment, history professor Frank Chiteji, noon, CUB 260
Malawian Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe, 7 p.m., Pennsylvania Hall Lyceum

Thursday, Oct. 25
Tanzanian Ambassador to the United Nations Augustine Mahiga, 11:30 a.m., CUB Ballroom
Foreign policy in Africa, economics professor Mark Hopkins and political science professor Caroline Hartzell, 5 p.m., Breidenbaugh 307
Students' experiences in Africa, hosted by the International Club, 6 p.m., Breidenbaugh 209

Friday, Oct. 26
Open meeting of the student racial-justice organization eRace, 3:30 p.m., Breidenbaugh 209
"Lumumba" film, 8 p.m., Bowen Auditorium, McCreary Hall

Saturday, Oct. 27
"Big Night in Africa" with drumming by Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng, dancing, and African cuisine and fashion, hosted by the International Club, 6 p.m., CUB Ballroom.

African Heritage Week is hosted by Gettysburg College's International Club , Africana Studies Program, Office of International Student Advising , and Intercultural Resource Center .

In addition to the Central Pennsylvania Consortium , the week is supported by Gettysburg College's offices of the Provost and College Life; departments of Sociology and Anthropology, Economics and Political Science; Globalization Studies Program; International Affairs Concentration; Sunderman Conservatory of Music; centers for Career Development and Public Service; Student Senate; chapters of Amnesty International and the NAACP; Sudan/Darfur and International Music houses; RISE (Respecting Individual Student Expectations about Alcohol) houses; and Black Student Union. 

Posted Oct. 15, 2007

By Jim Hale 

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