A Fiddle's Deep Roots

Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje is an international expert on things she once snubbed, with articles on gospel and spirituals and a new book on fiddling, "Fiddling in West Africa: Touching the Spirit in Fulbe, Hausa, and Dagbamba Cultures."

Can People Power Change Kenya?

Resolving the election crisis of 2007-08 is one thing, argues GRCA Research Associate Stephen Ndegwa, and addressing underlying injustices is quite another. Ndegwa and an engaged UCLA audience debate the likelihood of significant change from below.

Hip Hop Working Group

The Graduate Quarterly profiles UCLA students who are looking at a global movement in music from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

Former Cape Verdean President Sees Africa Standing Up

Antonio Mascarenhas Monteiro, who served two five-year terms as Cape Verde's first president elected under a multiparty system, tells a UCLA audience that Africa is no lost cause, but a continent striving towards peace and democracy. He discusses Cape Verde's relations with China and other emerging powers.

'The Art of Women's Masquerades in Sierra Leone'

This Fowler Museum exhibition runs from Dec. 9 through April 27, 2008.

6 Who've Cared About Darfur's Victims

Burkle Center Website, Oct. 30, 2007

South African Heritages and Their Owners

On a trip to Cape Town, Laura Foster, an attorney and UCLA doctoral student in women's studies, discovers that intellectual property rights are not marginal concerns for marginalized and historically oppressed communities. They're near the center of efforts to reclaim and reaffirm cultures.

Fowler to Showcase African Writing

"Inscribing Meaning: Writing and Graphic Systems in African Art" — on display at the Fowler Museum from Oct. 14 through Feb. 17, 2008 — features more than 100 important and visually compelling works of art.

Promises in AIDS Fight Not Met

Focusing on Africa, former UN envoy Stephen Lewis expresses amazement at the passivity of the international community as the HIV/AIDS epidemic traumatizes women, creates orphans, and continues on its decades-long path of devastation. Listen to a Podcast of his speech.

Roots of Epidemic Still Go Unaddressed

Debrework Zewdie, the director of the Global HIV/AIDS Program at the World Bank, argues that efforts to fight the pandemic will come up short as long as "fundamental drivers" such as poverty, gender inequality, and the marginalization of high-risk groups are not dealt with. Listen to a Podcast of her speech.

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