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Debra Boyd Buggs, Associate Professor, Department
of English and Foreign Languages, Winston-Salem State University,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Lecturing and Research: African American and American
Literature; Malian Literature and Film
Host: Ecole Normale Superieure, Bamako, Mali
October 2000-August 2001
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Debra
Boyd-Buggs is a third-time Fulbright scholar. She previously received
a student Fulbright grant to research in Senegal, and a Fulbright
Scholar lecturing grant to Niger at Abdou Moumouni Dioffo University.
Her most recent Fulbright grant to Mali has proved to be the most
unique. The university where she had anticipated teaching, Universite
du Mali, has been engaged in a strike since her arrival. Where
as some would consider this a problem, Boyd-Buggs has turned it
into an opportunity.
Since she arrived in Mali, Boyd-Buggs has taken Bambara lessons
and can now function at a basic level in one of the local languages.
In October of 2000 she was an official guest at RECAN (Recontres
Cinematographiques de Niamey) where her first film, "L'Homme
de la boucle du fleuve Niger: Un portrait de Keletigui Abdourahmane
Markiko," was shown.
During Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration programs sponsored
by the American cultural center, Boyd-Buggs organized an international
choir to sing Negro spirituals and protest songs. Ambassador Michael
E. Ranneberger was so impressed, he invited the choir (La Chorale
de la Fraternite) to sing at his residence for President's Day.
Boyd-Buggs has received several invitations to make presentations
at local schools. She visited an alternative elementary school,
"Institut d'Education Populaire" in Kati, Mali where
songs are used as tools of learning and empowerment. She taught
the children songs and answered questions about life in the U.S.
Boyd-Buggs has also visited Lycee Fadiga in Bamako, Mali, where
she lives to speak to students about the African-American holiday,
KWANZAA.
Because there are no regular classes to teach, Boyd-Buggs had
plenty of time to do research, which had led to the editing of
her second film in cooperation with CESPA (Centre Services Production
Audiovisuelles). In addition, she has interviewed writers and
filmmakers, making progress on her book manuscript.
Please contact us
if you would like to submit your own story and/or photographs.
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