The lecture, "From Slavery to War to America: The Somali Bantu Journey," is one of several events being held to inaugurate the re-establishment of USC's African Studies Program. Menkhaus earned his doctorate in government and international studies from USC and is a consultant to the United Nations and the U.S. State Department.

The lecture, which will be held in the Visitor Center inside McKissick, also will coincide with the opening of a photography exhibit featuring the Somali Bantu community in Columbia. The photographs, taken by Alan Wieder, a USC associate professor of education, will be on display at the Visitor Center through Dec. 1. (Click here to read about the photography exhibit and to see several images.) Wieder's photographic work includes publications and exhibitions on children in southern Africa, Asia, India, and the United States.

Fifty Somali Bantus relocated to Columbia in February, and 70 more are expected to arrive in the city over the next year. They are part of 12,000 Bantus who are being relocated from refugee camps in Kenya to the United States.

Other events for the African Studies Program include:

• "Economic Development and Competitive Strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sept. 23–25. Cosponsored by the Moore School of Business and Daniel Management Center, the workshop is intended for economic and business professionals. For more information, contact Bill Spink, Moore School of Business Division of Research, at 803-730-7932.
  
• “The Force of Post Colonial History: Prose, Poetry Performance,” 6–7:30 p.m. Sept. 30, Gambrell Hall, Room 153. Readings from their novels by Francophone African writers Alain Mabanckou and Ken Bogul. Part of the 2004 Southern Comparative Literature Conference. Free.
  
• Panel discussion, "Rwanda: How to Remember Genocide,” 1:30–3:30 p.m. Oct. 1, Humanities Building, Room 302. The discussion will feature presentations by faculty members from Bowdoin College, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Florida. Free.
  

USC's African Studies Program will involve faculty from across the campus who do research and writing on a region of the world that many people in the United States have shown some interest in but don't know much about, said Ron Atkinson, coordinator of the African Studies Program.

"The program will provide information about this vast, sometimes troubled, and endlessly fascinating part of the world," he said. "There is definitely student interest here. For example, there are few, if any, universities in the country that teach African history to as many students as we do here at USC."

For more information about the program, call Ron Atkinson at 7-6199.

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