Loyola welcomes African Studies Association
by Schuyler Williams, A'05, Intern in the Offices of Public Affairs and Publications
Jacqueline Woodfork, Ph.D., assistant professor of history, has been very busy this semester making preparations for the African Studies Association's annual meeting. The meeting, which took place in New Orleans in November, was held jointly with the Canadian Association of African Studies.
Woodfork has been preparing for this event since 2003 and served as co-chair of the local arrangement committee with Donna Patterson, a professor at Dillard University. "Basically, we planned everything that happened here," Woodfork said. The committee's main responsibility was fundraising. "Unlike many academic organizations, African Studies runs on what it collects from dues and conferences," she explained. This means the arrangement committee had to raise all money to sponsor additional conference activities, like a welcome reception, on their own. Woodfork said that the committee asked educational institutions for donations to fund the conference's activities and that, of all those asked to donate money, Loyola was, by far, the most generous. Woodfork said that Provost Walter Harris, Ph.D., and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Frank Scully were quick to support the conference.
Loyola's St. Charles Room was the site of the welcome reception held Friday, November 12, at which Harris welcomed all conference attendants to the city and the university. The Batiste family and Treme Brass Band provided entertainment, and New Orleans' signature dishes like jambalaya and red beans and rice were served. The choice of food sat quite well with attendees, such as those from various parts of the African diaspora, because it was similar to the food they eat at home, which consists largely of rice. Woodfork said visitors also enjoyed seeing the African and French-influenced architecture and culture in the city.
The meeting's theme was "The Power of Expression: Identity, Language, and Memory in Africa and the Diaspora." In addition to various exhibits and vendor booths, there were four sessions with 37 simultaneous panel discussions on both Friday and Saturday, featuring the roundtable discussions about the 15th anniversary of Northwestern University's Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, and documenting the struggles for freedom in southern Africa. Monroe Library Development Coordinator Darla Rushing helped put together an exhibit about African dance in the Monroe Library, and thanks to Damon Batiste and his company, the South African Connection, guests were also treated to a performance by two bands from Angola and Guinea Bissau.
One of Woodfork's goals in planning this meeting was to get people to see what a fascinating and fun place New Orleans is, so they would come back to visit on vacation. She believes she's done that. This year's meeting was the largest ever, and Woodfork attributes that partially to the location. "This was a very successful conference. New Orleans is a good city for the event and its theme. You can see the connection to the diaspora here." Woodfork said she was very grateful to the Loyola community for all its help. "Everybody was great."
Woodfork began teaching at Loyola in the fall of 2001. She received her bachelor of arts degree as an international major in history and French from Middlebury College and her master's degree and doctorate in African history from the University of Texas at Austin. She has spent time as a French and English teacher in the Peace Corps in Liberia, West Africa. Her research interests include modern Francophone Africa, the African diaspora community, and the social and cultural impacts of war. Woodfork currently teaches classes in African, African-American, and oral history. She has developed two new classes African-American Oral Histories, taught in the fall of 2003, and Women in African History, which will be taught in the spring of 2005.
The African Studies Association was founded in 1957. The annual meeting will return to New Orleans in 2009.
