<p> This is a study of contemporary jazz culture in post-apartheid South Africa. It demonstrates that the significance of jazz can productively be understood from the perspective of listeners, complementing the necessary attention that has historically been afforded to the creators and performers of the music. It describes the rich social life that has emerged around the collecting and sharing of jazz recordings by associations of listeners in this country. In these social contexts, a semi-public culture of listening has been created, it is argued, that is distinct from the formal jazz recording, broadcast and festival sectors, and extends across various social, cultural, linguistic and related boundaries to constitute a vibrant dimension of vernacular musical life. South African jazz appreciation societies illustrate that collecting may be a global phenomenon but that recordings can take on quite particular social lives in specific times and places, and that the extension of consumer capitalism to places like South Africa does not always automatically involve the same kinds of possessive individualism that they do in other settings, and might even serve as a catalyst for new forms of creativity. The study demonstrates, moreover, that what is casually referred to as "the jazz public" is an internally variegated and often enduringly segregated constellation of scenes, several of which remain quite intimate and, indeed, beyond the view of the "general public." The study foregrounds how one specific dimension of jazz culture &ndash; the modes of sociability with which the music has become associated among its listening devotees &ndash; can assume decidedly local forms and resonances, becoming part of the country's jazz heritage in its own right and throwing into relief the potential breadth, range and contrasts in the ways that jazz writ large can be figured and recontextualised as it is vernacularized around the world. The study recognizes the significant role that jazz appreciation societies play in creating culturally resonant grassroots social settings for this music, documents and analyses the creativity with which they do so, and considers the broader implications of their contribution to the musical elaboration of public space in contemporary South Africa.</p>

<p>This dissertation examines the recent influx of Pentecostal-charismatic churches into the Northern Region of Ghana, a rural, underdeveloped region whose predominantly Muslim population has increasingly become the target of evangelistic efforts undertaken by Christians from the south. Based on ethnographic and archival research, my study considers the locus of this incursion as a densely layered zone of anxieties and emergences, desires and contestations, in which the elaboration of novel horizons of sensibility and experience is refracted through the vicissitudes of the region's social, economic, religious, and political history. I argue that the churches' impassioned campaign to "take back the north for the Lord" - a campaign whose exemplary medium is the evangelistic crusade in which "signs and wonders" are mobilized as particularly potent technologies of conversion - demarcates a complex field of intervention animated by a plurality of forces irreducible to those of strictly religious provenance. An ethos of progress and success fostered by the country's development apparatus; the longstanding prejudices surrounding northerners and "the north" in the Ghanaian national imaginary; the specter of a Muslim threat that surfaces in a post-9/11 world and perpetuates amidst a global war on terror - these are among the contingencies that have come together to render this encounter possible. Yet, far from simply overlaying these historical-political logics with the veneer of Christian discourse, my work charts the dissemination of a faith whereby, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, converts are anointed with a power to conceive themselves and, by extension, the world as nothing less than a totally "new creation." I contend that such practices of salvation, so characteristic of Pentecostalism's proliferation across the continent as a whole, are being recast in ways both subtle and sensational by their transposition into the allegedly pathological space of northern Ghana - as are, I suggest, the lives of the men and women who inhabit it.</p> / Dissertation

<p> Sexual activity among unmarried adolescents is a major public health problem in Nigeria, because unmarried pregnant girls are more likely to have multiple sex partners and are less likely to use contraceptives, putting them at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STD), unplanned pregnancy, abortion, social isolation, and poverty. Teen pregnancy and STD rates are on the rise in Nigeria, yet few data exist on the experience of the adolescents themselves. This phenomenological study was designed to explore the in-depth experiences of 10 pregnant, unmarried adolescent girls aged 16-19, including the factors contributing to their sexual activity. An ecological model served as the conceptual framework to permit individual experiences to be understood in their social and ecological context. Semistructured interviews and Hycner's method of analysis were used to collect and analyze the data. Results showed that the decision to initiate sexual activity among these girls was influenced by many factors, including: the need for financial support and a socially condoned system of "sugar daddies" who support girls in return for sex; peer pressure to have a sex partner; a romantic knowledge of sexual behavior based primarily on the mass media; and inadequate sex education. As a result of their pregnancy, the girls experienced negative reactions from their families and community, and serious psychological and financial concerns about their prospects for future marriage and their child's identity. A comprehensive community-based reproductive health program is called for, with reliable sex education, cooperation from the mass media, and support from family and community members. The social change implication of this study is to potentially lead to a decrease in unplanned pregnancy, STDs, social isolation, and poverty among adolescent girls in Nigeria.</p>

<p> This thesis explores the utility of using performance, specifically activating theatre, both as a reproductive health intervention and as an ethnographic tool for exploring the reproductive health worldview of 17 adolescent girls, all peer counselors at a state-run all-girl boarding school in Rift Valley Province, Kenya. The study is grounded theoretically in the traditions of action research, critical ethnography, performance theory, and dialogic expression. I facilitated a week-long activating theatre workshop that included warm-ups, bridge work, improvisation, and activating material. The workshop, which was video recorded, was analyzed alongside a reflective journal and audio recorded semi-structured interviews and a post-workshop focus group for core themes and categories using grounded theory. My analysis shows that the use of activating theatre is an effective tool for understanding the reproductive health perceptions of adolescent girls, for encouraging them to openly discuss their reproductive health issues, for increasing their sense of agency, for improving their decision-making skills, and for helping them critically assess the social and historical roots of reproductive health issues. The project web site which includes workshop video clips is at http://purityjerop.wix.com/kapkenda-performance.</p>

abstract: This thesis examines the 1994 Rwandan genocide with a specific emphasis on the rape of Tutsi women as a weapon of genocide. From the perspective of scholarship in trauma studies, an account of the conflict and colonialism leading up to the genocide is offered in order to demonstrate the historical making of the ground of collective trauma in Rwanda. Further, this thesis examines the discursive means of the perpetuation of collective trauma in the form of the Hutu demonization of Tutsi women. Shortcomings in the justice system emerging from the genocide are also discussed as a perpetuation of trauma. Finally, projects of justice and healing among Tutsi women are examined in an account of survival and resiliency. In conclusion, women that survived the genocide have navigated through societal and governmental systems to provide better lives for themselves, their families and the society. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2011

<p> The Nigerian government has emplaced counterterrorism policy measures to combat Boko Haram terrorism since the group became violent in 2010. However, there is a gap in the understanding of how these policies were developed and implemented. Such knowledge may offer suggestions as to how these policies can be improved. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and describe the development and implementation of counterterrorism policy towards Boko Haram in Nigeria during 2009&ndash;2015. Scott&rsquo;s institutional theory and Baumgartner&rsquo;s punctuated equilibrium theory constituted the study&rsquo;s theoretical foundation. Interview data were collected from individuals selected using a purposive and criterion sampling strategy who played prominent roles in the development and implementation of the policy as well as those who were its beneficiaries. Data were analyzed using content analysis and coding. Key findings from this study provide an understanding of how the policy was developed and how it is being implemented and might be improved. Recommendations include the development of a holistic strategy involving both soft and hard approaches. Collaboration between stakeholders in the security sector and key community leaders in northeast Nigeria is crucial to active counterterrorism effort. The insights from the study on Nigeria&rsquo;s past counterterrorism policy development and implementation may assist policy makers in making improvements in their mechanisms and strategies for actively fighting Boko Haram terrorism in Nigeria. Policy makers in other African countries may also find the outcomes of this study useful as they provide a potential blueprint for counterterrorism policy development and implementation.</p><p>

<p> Women living in northern Nigeria face a herculean challenge of overcoming direct and indirect violence. These include domestic violence, political instability, social inequality, and the threat of Boko Haram. Boko Haram is an extremist militant group that has been known to kidnap, rape, and torture women and young girls as means of terrorizing the Nigerian community. Northern Nigerian women have also faced challenges within their own community as they are barred from participating in public activities, are under-represented in government, forced into early marriages, and are often victims of domestic violence. This study examines the lived experiences of women peacebuilders living in northern Nigeria as they negotiate regional conflicts and manage the peacebuilding process. Seven northern Nigerian females between the ages of 30 to 60 were recruited to participate in this study. All came from diverse backgrounds but shared a commonality of peace building and conflict management within their respective communities. The goal of this study was to better understand the meaning of these experiences and to uncover how these women handle these daily challenges. Feminist standpoint and structural violence theories provide the theoretical framework to dissect the essence of their experiences. The study adopted Clark Moustaka&rsquo;s approach towards conducting transcendental phenomenological research methods and procedure. The results of the study will inform project design and policy formulation and serve as a source for future research and interventions by development agencies and other stakeholders interested in peace within the region.</p><p>

<p> This study used qualitative methods to investigate the phenomenon of nonparticipation of Somali parents in their child&rsquo;s school-based autism treatments including the lack of follow through at home. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were used to engage six (<i>n</i> = 6) Somali parents in a discussion about their perceptions, experiences, understandings, and feelings about their child&rsquo;s school-based autism treatments. Upon analysis eight major themes emerged in relationship to the research questions. These themes were: (1) parents reported schools were not providing treatments, (2) felt child was not receiving a proper education, (3) felt schools were not helping prepare child for future, (4) reported schools ignored or were unaware of their child&rsquo;s strengths, (5) reported they had not received any instruction for treatment follow through at home, (6) would prefer different treatment options, (7) did not feel school providers were sensitive to their needs or the needs of their child, (8) reported experiencing racism from school-based providers and administrators. In addition, four unsolicited themes emerged from the data. These additional themes were: (1) noticed symptoms and sought medical/professional help early in child&rsquo;s development, (2) reported symptom onset in relationship to vaccines, (3) declined further vaccines after symptom onset, (4) reported a lack of trust in researchers, research institutions, and research results. It was an unexpected result that the parents in this sample would differ from other studies. Parents in this sample reported highly Americanized complaints about the type, timing, duration, quality, and expectations of their child&rsquo;s school-based ASD treatments. These results highlight the need for a better understanding of acculturation levels, the need to enhance communication between schools and Somali parents, and a need to rebuild trust in this vulnerable population. </p><p>

abstract: This ethnography follows mobile trajectories on roads in Nairobi to investigate how the transformation of transport infrastructure has affected people’s everyday mobility. I follow diverse mobile actors, including pedestrians, handcart (mkokoteni) workers, and minibus (matatu) operators, whose practices and ideas of moving are central to understand the city’s ordinary mobility. I also situate their everyday ways of moving in the rules, plans and ideas of regulators, such as government officials, engineers and international experts, who focus on decongesting roads and attempt to reshape Nairobi’s better urban mobility. Despite official and popular aspirations for building new roads and other public transport infrastructure, I argue that many mobile actors still pursue and struggle with preexisting and non-motorized means and notions of moving that are not reflected in the promise of and plans for better mobility. This ethnography also reveals how certain important forms of ordinary mobility have been socially marginalized. It explores what kinds of difficulties are created when the infrastructural blueprints of road “experts” and the notions that politicians promote about a new urban African mobility fail to match the reality of everyday road use by the great majority of Nairobi residents. By employing mobile participant observation of the practices of moving, this study also finds important ethnographic implications and suggestions for the study of mobile subjects in an African city where old and new forms of mobility collide. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Anthropology 2016

This paper explores the relationship between security concerns and political development in three case studies: Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, and Senegal. It first analyzes the foundations of political institutions within the three states by exploring the creation of nationalist leaders in the pre-independence era, and how their personal development within these years affected their governance style after independence. Afterwards, the discussion separates into the three distinct case studies. The purpose of this analysis is to first outline the major developments within each country in the political field, highlight the major security concerns within the country, and then analyze how these two sectors have affected the other, or if they have not, why there has been little connection between the two.