Agenda 03 - 09 November 2019

Promovendus: R. Kalisa. Titel proefschrift: Hospital Based Audit of Obstetric Care and Birth Preparedness in rural Rwanda. Promotor prof.dr. J.J.M. van Roosmalen, prof.dr. T.H. van den Akker, prof.dr. S. Rulisa. Onderdeel Faculteit der Bètawetenschappen; Categorie Aard- en levenswetenschappen

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Promovendus: B.J. Nolens- van der Horst. Titel proefschrift: Reintroduction of vacuum extraction in a tertiary referral hospital in Uganda. Promotor: prof.dr. J.J.M. van Roosmalen, prof.dr. T.H. van den Akker, dr. J. Byamugisha. Onderdeel: Faculteit der Bètawetenschappen; Categorie Aard- en levenswetenschappen

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PhD Student: Virginia Beavon Ham.  This study provides a comprehensive look at the tonal system of a Kwa language—how pitch levels in the Saxwe language provide a means of distinguishing between the meaning of individual words, as well as how pitch plays a role in communicating grammatical differences. While a number of Kwa languages have been analyzed as having two underlying tones, Saxwe has a three-tone system—likely a result of the historical contact between a two-tone Gbe language which had consonant-related lowering effects and a three-tone Yoruboid language. Included in the analysis is a series of phonetic studies of the details of tone production in Saxwe. The research includes a look at the phenomena known as automatic downstep and non-automatic downstep, both of which involve successive lowering of pitch levels within an utterance. This language presents an interesting case study for examining tone because there are so many tonal factors at play which influence how the words in a sentence will be produced. The study also notes the surprising variation that is sometimes observed among speakers as they produce pitch levels in speaking

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In this special event, Dr Harry Wels and Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald will have a curated conversation with Professor Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast (2016), a New York Times Bestseller. Charles Foster is a phenomenon; he does not fit any format. Read his books, and you will agree! In 2016 Prof. Foster received, together with ‘goat man’ Thomas Thwaites, the satiric Ig Nobel Prize, a prize for unusual or trivial scientific research that make people laugh first, but afterwards makes them think twice. The ASCL seminar on 7 November will not try to mold Professor Foster into any regular expectation of an academic seminar either. The seminar will be a ‘curated conservation’ in the sense of ‘carefully chosen’ as the dictionary defines the word ‘curated’. The heart and carefulness of the conversation will be a series of radical reflections on qualitative research methodologies that rely on taking participant observation and empathy in the field to its limits. These reflections will be related to what they might mean for a perspective on African Studies that increasingly includes non-human animals. The conversation will take place in the framework of the Collaborative Research Group Trans-species perspectives on African Studies, of which Dr Wels is the convenor and Prof. Gewald a member.

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