More News stories about new IAS Director

African Studies at Columbia
Mamadou Diouf, the incoming director of the Institute of African Studies at the School of International and Public Affairs, is visiting campus this week in anticipation of his appointment this coming summer.Diouf, a professor of history and African-American and African studies at the University of Michigan, said he was looking forward to taking over the institute, which has been without a director since 2004. In May, SIPA Dean Lisa Anderson temporarily suspended the institute because of funding and staffing issues. In a meeting Friday, Columbia administrators will formally introduce Diouf to students. While student leaders stated that they were excited about the appointment, they said Diouf would need support and that they could not be the sole providers of that support."I'm extremely excited about his being appointed," said Christabel Dadzie, SIPA '07 and president of the SIPA Pan-African Network. "He wants to make Africa part of the discussion. We have someone who knows what he's talking about."Vice President for Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks said that while regional studies at Columbia have already begun to gain from a more sociopolitical and economic perspective, Diouf would help "catalyze" the interdisciplinary study Africa required."Professor Diouf will be one of the key architects of that reality," he said. "This is a several-part effort now, which of course is to reopen the African Institute, reinvigorate it, provide resources for it, connect better outside the University."He added that he'd like to avoid the understaffing that tugged on former director Mahmood Mamdani's efforts: "We still have to hire quite a number of faculty."Diouf said he was eager to try to tap into the financial and educational resources Columbia, New York, and Africa itself could offer the institute."It's great-this is a great place to be," he said, adding that the institute will connect with students in nearby universities and Africa. For the full story: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/media/storage/paper865/news/2006/12/08/News/African.Institute.Director.To.Visit-2529705.shtml?norewrite200612090927&sourcedomain=www.columbiaspectator.com