Public Relations Club - Kentucky State University

Seniors Kelly Clifford and Kaylee Chesser,
both English majors, maintained a 4.0 GPA
throughout.
Namcy Barry gives words of wisdom to
the senior class.
Pres. Sias and Board of Regents break ground on the new research facility.
KSU’s 120th Commencement
will honor
Dr. Carl Smith Mrs. Della
Jones, 105, KSU’s oldest
living alum.
Darryl Jones recieves a student of
the year award from Career Counseling
& Placement.
African Studies Conference (SIRAS) Celebrates 10th Anniversary
Dr. Egbunam Amadife,
Founder of SIRAS
Why did you see the need for a scholarly
conference centered around African
Studies
Having been involved in a similar
Roundtable conference in Raleigh,
NC, from where I came to KY, when
I got here, I saw a need to develop an
academic forum that would engage
colleagues and others in scholarly
discussions on Regional Politics as the
basis for International Relations. I was
also interested in attending professional
conferences and began to inquire and
learned about the Annual Pan-African
Studies Conference, hosted by Indiana
State University, Department of African
and African American Studies. I joined
the conference, began to attend, and made
a number of professional presentations.
So after few years here, I began to
think of how to continue my scholarly
discussions and build an academic
community that would bring together
a critical mass of outstanding faculty
and students. The focus in part, was
to facilitate intercultural, social and
political dialogue between the Africans
and the Diaspora. I spoke to some
colleagues and wrote a small grant that
was funded and it took off in 2000.
How has it changed (or grown)
over the last 10 years
I think it had grown a lot from a few
participants in the first three of four
year to participants coming from
all over. Another thing that helped
in its growth is that it is one of the
few such roundtable that continue
to encourage and feature student
research, giving them an opportunity
to present their work in a professional
setting as well as interact with other
students and professors. This year
16 KSU students and 9 graduate
students from other institutions
presented.
Do you think this conference is
helping to bring Africans and
African Americans closer
The over all goal is to harmonize
relations between the two groups
as evident in the different themes
we address every year. Yes, I think
it is slowly but surely paying off as
we begin to have more of the people
from the Diaspora participating. (see
attached themes and distinguished
speakers)
What do you expect in the next 10
years
While we are appreciative of the
University’s support of SIRAS so
far, I think that having survived for
ten years in spite of challenges
and competitions, demonstrates its
resilience and usefulness. I think
KSU should take full ownership
by increasing its resources to the
program especially at this time
that other institutions wants it to
be rotational or take it over. SIRAS
does not only bring international
recognition to the University (see
attached) , but it also enhance
the liberal studies mission of the
University, expose KSU students,
staff and faculty to international
scholars, educators, diplomats, and
students from other colleges, and
help stimulate and attract interest in
the development of the new African
Studies program to be directed by Dr.
Cynthia Shelton, to name but a few. I
think SIRAS has a lot of potentials for
KSU if handled properly.
Please add any comments.
Since this is an interdisciplinary
conference with a number of
instructional components related, it
is our hope that more KSU faculty
members will, in the interest of our
students, get more involved and
encourage students to participate
more. We need to take full advantage
of the caliber of participants and
academic discourse SIRAS avails
us.