 |
| Sarah Anyang Agbor and Anne
Tanyi-Tang in traditional African
dress on opening night of “Madmen
& Specialist” |
Sarah Anyang Agbor, the department’s
Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence for
AY 04-05, maintains her fast pace
of activities, both on campus and
off. In mid-February Anyang Agbor
flew to Houston to deliver a paper
at the National Association for African-American
Studies conference on “Autobiography
in African, Afro-American and Caribbean
Novels: Comparative Perspectives.”
Her paper addressed depictions of
women in novels by Alice Walker, Bessie
Head, Buchi Emecheta, and Jamaica
Kincaid. “I was especially interested
to assess works by these authors that
might be characterized as Bildungsroman,
that is, a novel which follows the
growth and development of the protagonist
from childhood to early adulthood,”
Anyang Agbor explains.
In mid-March, Anyang Agbor was the
invited speaker at the Multidisciplinary
Research Seminars sponsored by the
Office of Research Services. She spoke
on “Death and Dirge Culture in
Cameroon,” the subject of her
PhD. dissertation defended at Ibadan
University, Nigeria, in 1998. A few
days later in March she spoke to kindergarten
students at St. Gregory’s School
on Western Africa, its people, food,
and dress.
March also saw the curtain rise on
the University Players’ production
of Wole Soyinka’s “Madmen
& Specialist,” directed
by Anyang Agbor and co-directed with
her friend and colleague, Anne Tanyi-Tang,
a Fulbright Research Fellow at CUNY
this year. “Sarah’s presence
in the McDade Center for the Literary
and Performing Arts has been a real
plus for our Theatre program,”
says Rich Larsen, associate professor
and director of Theatre. “In
addition to the course she’s
teaching this term on Modern African
Drama, her direction of Soyinka’s
play is exactly the kind of opportunity
for global awareness the University
is committed to providing its students
today and in the years ahead.“
 |
After the March 11 evening performance,
a “Talk Back” session arranged
by the Study Abroad Office and the
Theatre program drew a large audience
and sparked spirited discussion. Joining
Sarah and Anne as discussion leaders
were Darla Germeroth, associate dean
of CAS, and assistant professor of
occupational Moses Ikiugu, therapy.
Anyang Agbor also gave a presentation
on Soyinka’s play, its social-cultural
and political background, at the International
Forum sponsored by the Associate Provost
and the Office of International Programs
and Services.
“Sarah’s possessed of great
energy,” says John Meredith Hill,
professor and contact person during
her stay at the University, “and
it’s a challenge to keep abreast
of her week-to-week engagements. I
think she was in Texas again for a
conference in April, then she’s
off to other national meetings around
the country in May, June and July.
She’s a fine scholar-in-residence,
and many other academic communities
around the country have also had the
benefit of her enthusiasm and energy.
I’m delighted she was able to
be with us at Scranton this year.”
Photos courtesy of Lynn Springer,
Department of English, University
of Scranton.
|
