Association of Concerned Africa Scholars

Resolution on the Study of Africa After 9/11

 Whereas we live in a period of increasing conflict and war affecting Americans, Africans and peoples world-wide,

Whereas the defense of democratic freedoms requires the free flow of information, free speech, and open debate,

Whereas we are daily engaged in the discussion and exchange of ideas and scholarship in pursuit of these freedoms,

Whereas recent U.S. government laws and executive policies, most notably the USA Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act, have operated to restrict basic civil liberties and freedom of expression,

Whereas more than 300 U.S. cities and counties and 3 states have passed resolutions opposing the USA Patriot Act,

Whereas laws and policies such as the USA Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act interfere with academic freedom and contribute to a climate of intolerance on our campuses and in our communities,

Whereas there is increasing pressure to align the study of Africa, its peoples and languages with the narrow priorities of military and intelligence operations,

Whereas new security and visa policies based on religious and racial profiling are subverting the free exchange of knowledge with and visits by African scholars,

Whereas increasing numbers of Africans and others, most notably legitimate refugees, are being detained without representation or hearings for long periods of time, and thus are being denied basic constitutional and international human rights; therefore be it

Resolved that we reaffirm our commitment to academic freedom, and call upon scholars as well as college and university administrations to safeguard free speech;

Resolved that we call for the repeal of all recent government laws and actions that restrict civil liberties, free speech, and free association, including the USA Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act;

Resolved that we reaffirm the African Studies Association's long-standing policy of support for the open and transparent determination of research priorities and awards, and against research determined by the priorities of military and intelligence agencies,

Resolved that we call for a visa policy free of racial and religious profiling,

Resolved that we call for expedited hearings for all refugees, an end to indeterminate detention, and the implementation of basic human rights for refugees,

Resolved that the Board of Directors of the African Studies Association implement the above actions by acting without delay to:

(1)   Actively pursue these issues with members of Congress,

(2)   Re-confirm past resolutions on the independence of scholarly work from military and intelligence agencies, most notably the NSEP program and more recent, related initiatives,

(3)   Dedicate plenary session(s) to this subject at the our annual meetings,

(4)   Request the Editors of African Issues and the African Studies Review to prepare special issues on these matters, and

(5)   Form an Executive Commission with adequate resources to compile data and investigate trends on emerging threats to academic freedom, which will make regular reports to the Board and membership, and

Resolved that this resolution be sent without delay to the U.S. President, all members of the U.S. Congress, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Chairperson of the African Union, representative African scholarly associations, and the academic press.

The Undersigned,
(Organizations listed for identification only)
(If you wish to add your name, please send your full name and affiliation to ACAS)

William Martin
Binghamton University

Meredeth Turshen
School of Planning & Public Policy
Rutgers University 

Michael O. West
Department of Sociology
Binghamton University 

Al Kagan
Africana Unit
University of Illinois Library 

Imani Countess

Carol Thompson
Political Science Department
Northern Arizona University 

Kristin Peterson
Center for Afroamerican and African Studies
University of Michigan     

Noah Zerbe
Department of Government and Politics
Humboldt State University 

Daniel Volman 
African Security Research Project

Caleb Bush
Sociology Department
Binghamton University 

Jesse Benjamin
Assistant Professor
St. Cloud State University, MN 

Lynn M. Thomas
Associate Professor
Department of History
University of Washington 

Arlene A. Elder
University of Cincinnati 

Marion E. Doro
Connecticut College 

Edward Steinhart
Department of History
Texas Tech University 

Allison Drew                                 
Department of Politics
University of York

Carol Sicherman
Lehman College
City University of New York 

Jennifer Davis
Interim Executive Director
Washington Office on Africa 

Tamba E. M'bayo
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of History
Michigan State University 

Jeremy Prestholdt
Northeastern University 

Hein Vanhee
Department of Cultural Anthropology
Royal Museum for Central Africa
Belgium 

Carmen McCain
Graduate Student
Department of African Languages and Literature
University of Wisconsin, Madison 

Adeline Masquelier
Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
Tulane University 

Christopher C. Lowe
Independent Historian of Africa
Portland, Oregon 

Ghislaine Lydon, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of History
University of California Los Angles

Nancy Schwartz, Ph.D.
Independent Scholar
Cedar Falls, Iowa 

Mark D. DeLancey
Assistant Professor of Art History
School of Art and Art History
James Madison University 

Stephen Wooten
Assistant Professor
University of Oregon 

Michael Ralph
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Anthropology
University of Chicago 

Allen Isaacman
Department of History
University of Minnesota 

Dominique Malaquais, Ph.D.
Professor of Visual Culture and Africana Studies
Sarah Lawrence College 

Dennis Brutus
Professor Emeritus
Department of Africana Studies
University of Pittsburgh 

Dan Connell
Communications Department
Simmons College 

Barbara M. Cooper
Department of History
Rutgers University 

Roberta Ann Dunbar
Department of African and Afro-American Studies
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Emily S. Burrill
Ph.D. Candidate, African History
Stanford University 

Brooke G. Schoepf
Department of Social Medicine
Harvard Medical School 

Julian Jonker
University of Cape Town 

Robert G. White, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Government and Politics
Humboldt State University 

Dr. Mechthild Nagel
Associate Professor
SUNY Cortland 

David M. Hughes
Assistant Professor Human Ecology
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey 

Larry W. Yarak
Texas A&M University 

Mojúbàolú Olúfúnké Okome, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
Brooklyn College, CUNY 

Meshack Owino
Department of History
Bloomsburg University 

Richard A. Schroeder
Associate Professor and Graduate Director
Rutgers University 

Robert Eugene Smith
retired from Wittenberg University 

Dorothy L. Hodgson
Associate Professor & Gradauate Director
Department of Anthropology
Rutgers University

Edward A. Miner, PhD
International Studies Bibliographer
University of Iowa Libraries

Anne Pitcher
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
Program Director, Core Cultures
Colgate University 

Courtenay Sprague
Carnegie Corporation of New York 

Sean Jacobs, PhD (University of London)
Independent Scholar
New York 

Ali A. Mazrui, D.Phil. (Oxon)
Director
Institute of Global Cultural Studies
Binghamton University, SUNY 

Hans E.  Panofsky
Curator of Africana Emeritus 
Northwestern University

Lahra Smith
Graduate Student
University of California, Los Angles 

James L. Giblin
Professor
Department of History
University of Iowa 

Debora Johnson-Ross, PhD
Dept of Political Science and International Studies
McDaniel College

Beth A. Buggenhagen
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
University of Rochester 

Catherine Bogosian
Assistant Professor
Department of History
Wayne State University

Ken Harrow
Professor of English
Michigan State University

Michael P. E. Hoyt
Independent Scholar 

J. Jeffrey Hoover 
Université de Lubumbashi, Université Méthodiste au Katanga 
General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church

Nafeesa Tarajee Nichols
PhD Student
Department of African Languages and Literature
University of Wisconsin Madison

James R. Scarritt 
Political Science and Institute of Behavioral Science 
University of Colorado at Boulder

Ron H. Pahl
California State University, Fullerton

Dr. Abena P. A. Busia
Department of English
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Dr Margaret (Peg) Snyder
Independent scholar

Frank Holmquist 
Hampshire College 
Amherst, MA

Ann O'Hear 
Humanity Books

Caitlin Love Crowell 
Ph.D. Candidate, History
Yale University

Michael Ralph 
Doctoral Candidate 
Department of Anthropology 
University of Chicago

Imelda Hunt
Ph.D Instructor
African American Culture and African American History
Owens College
Toledo, Ohio

David E. Skinner 
Professor of History 
Santa Clara University

Ned Bertz 
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of History 
University of Iowa

Catharine Newbury 
Department of Government 
Smith College

Yin Min Kyi
Northern Arizona University

Jeanne Koopman
African Studies Center
Boston University

If you wish to add your name, please send your full name and affiliation to ACAS

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