Mission Statement 

The goal of the seminar series is to bring together researchers here at New York University and the immediate vicinity, who have some interest in Africa, ( there are more of them than you may think). Although I myself an African (from Ghana), I do not work directly on Africa   (I spend most of my time on theoretical economics). I found myself wishing aloud in front of my Dean at the time  (Jess   Benhabib) for more seminars on Africa. He fold me to stop the talking and do something about it! The rest as they say is history.

In discussing the idea of a seminar to faculty here at NYU, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of interest in such a seminar series. I particularly liked the enthusiasm of a graduate student working on Africa. He told me that he often felt he was working by himself off in a corner somewhere, knowing few others working on Africa.

The mission of this seminar is to bring all social scientists from all corners together for what the Zulus call an Indaba - a gathering of chiefs for a conversation on matters of state.

-- Yaw Nyarko, NYU

Speakers and Dates for Fall 2004

• Sept. 14^th, 2004  Kevein Munshi (Brown) "Women as Agents of Change: Female Incomes and Household Decisions in South India" (with Nancy Luke), (Room 715)
• Oct 12^th, 2004 Adam Przeworski (NYU) "Some Historical, Theoretical, and Methodological Issues in Identifying Effects of Political Institutions" (Room 715)
• Oct 19^th, 2004 Raquel Fernandez  (NYU) "Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility"(Room 715)
• Oct 28^th, 2004 Michael Kremer (Harvard) "The Globalization of Household Production" (Room 601)
• Nov 2^nd, 2004 Michele Tertlitt (Stanford) TBA (Room 715)
• Nov 11^th, Mini-Conference on Aid Versus Trade: Bill Easterly, Jonathan Eaton. (Room 601)
• Nov 18^th, 2004 Erica Field (Harvard) TBA (Room 601)
• Nov 23^rh, 2004 David Weil (Brown) TBA (Room 715)
• Dec. 2^nd, 2004 TBA (Room 601)

Venue

All seminars will be held at New York University at 269 Mercer Street either in Room 601 or Room 715 as indicated above. The talks will begin at approximately 6pm and run between an hour and an hour and a half. Just before the talk, at about 5:30pm, at the Africana Center (room 601 of 269 Mercer St), there will be an informal "wine and cheese" with the speaker of the day to which you are cordially invited.

The E-Mail Announcement List
If you are on the e-mail list you will receive one short announcement approximately every other week about the upcoming seminar event. To receive this subscription send a message to yaw.nyarko@nyu.edu

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Spring 2004

• March. 12^th, 2004 Lant Pritchett  (Harvard) "Boom Towns and Ghost Countries: Geography, Agglomeration, and Population Mobility. " (click here for paper) *** NOTE THIS IS A FRIDAY!! ***
• March 25^th, 2004 Arne Bigsten (Goteborg Univ., Sweden) "Kenya’s Development Path and Factor Prices 1950 - 2000" click here for paper)
• April 15^th, 2004 Marcel Fafchamps  (Oxford) "Wages and Labor Management in African Manufacturing" (click here for paper)
• May 6^th, 2004 Fred Cooper   (NYU) "Development, Modernization, and the Social Sciences in the Era of Decolonization: British and French Africa."

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Spring 2003  Fall

• Feb. 6^th, 2003 Edward Miguel  (UC Berkeley and Princeton) "Poverty and Witch Killing in Tanzania. "
• Feb. 20^th, 2003 Chris Barrett (Cornell) "Stochastic Wealth Dynamics and Risk Management Among a Poor Population" (click here for paper)
• April 10^th, 2003 Desire Vencatachellum  (HEC, Montreal) "Economic Development and the Incidence of HIV/AIDS" (click here for paper)
• April 24^th, 2003 Anne Case  (Princeton) "Orphans in Africa"
• May 1^st, 2003 Kenneth Leonard (Columbia) "Learning about Quality when Quality is Unobservable: Information Networks for Health Care Quality in Tanzania"

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Spring 2002

• Mar. 21^st, 2002 Sara Berry,  (Johns Hopkins) "Chieftaincy, Land and Politics: Yorubaland and Asante in the 20th Century "
• April 4^th, 2002 Sam Bowles (UMass Amherst) "In Search of Homo Economics: Behavior Experiments in 15 Simple Societies. "
• April 25^th, 2002 Jonathan Morduch (NYU) "Poverty and Vulnerability in Cote d'Ivoire "
• May 2^nd, 2002 Ernest Aryeetey (Swarthmore and Univ. of Ghana) "Conditionality, Selectivity and Aid Effectiveness in Africa"

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Fall 2001  Fall

• Nov. 1^st, 2001 Eleni Gabre-Mahdin, CGIAR "Getting Markets Right in Africa: The Challenge Beyond Reform "
• Nov. 15^th, 2001 Michael Kremer Harvard Univ. "The Harambee System in Kenya. "
• Nov. 29^th, 2001 Leonard Wantchekon New York Univ. "Markets for Votes: A Field Experiment in Benin. "

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Spring 2001 For the Fall

• Feb. 1^st, 2001 Mahmood Mamdani Columbia Univ., Anthropology Dept, "Beyond Settler and Native as Political Identities: Overcoming the Political Legacy of Colonialism. "
• Feb. 15^th, 2001 Guy Martin Univ. of Virginia, Dept. of Government & Foreign Affairs, "Toward a New Paradigm of the African State. "
• March 1^st, 2001 Ray Fisman Columbia Univ., Graduate School of Business, "Ethnic Enclaves and Communal Enforcement: Evidence from Trade Credit Relationships of African Firms. "(click here for paper)
• March 22^nd, 2001 Pam DeLargy United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, "The Ethio-Eritrean Conflict and HIV/AIDS: Hidden Casualties. "
• March 29^th, 2001 Ken Leonard Columbia Univ., Economics, "Bypassing Health Centers in Tanzania: Revealed Preferences for Quality. "(click here for paper)
• April 12^th, 2001 Michael Kremer Harvard Univ., Economics, "Worms: the Educational Effects of Treatment of Primary School Children for Intestinal Helminths. "
• April 26^th, 2001 Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong Univ. of South Florida, Economics, "Ethnic Conflicts and Economic Development in Africa. "

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Spring 2000 For the Fall

• Feb. 3^rd, 2000 Nicolas Van de Walle Michigan State University, "Parties and Democratic Consolidation in Africa."
• Feb. 17^th, 2000 Paul Collier , World Bank, "Why does Africa have a lot of Ethnic Conflicts?"
• March 2^nd, 2000 Jane Guyer Northwestern University, "Quality and Price in the Global Market: How Nigerians Tell a Fake."
• March 23^rd, 2000 Mead Over World Bank, "Confronting Aids: Difficult Public Sector Choices for Africa."

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Fall 1999 Fore

• Sept. 30^th, 1999Roy Licklider Rutgers University, Political Science Dept. "Civil War Termination: A Case Study from Sudan."
• Oct. 14^th, 1999 Craig Calhoun , New York University, Sociology Department, and the SSRC. "Eritrea and the Problems of Nationalism and Conflict in Africa."
• Nov. 4^th, 1999 Leonce Ndikumana U. Mass Amherst, Economics Dept., "Rwanda, Burundi and the African Great Lakes Crises: Contagion Effects of Narrow-Based Regimes and Implications for Regional Stability."
• Nov. 18th^th, 1999 E. Wood "The Logic of Civil War Settlement: Stakes, Expectations, and Optimal Agreements in Africa"
• Dec. 1^st, 1999 (THIS IS A WEDNESDAY) William Easterly, World Bank, "How did Highly Indebted Poor Countries become Highly Indebted? Reviewing two Decades of Debt Relief."

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Spring '99

• Feb. 11^th, 1999 Manthia Diawara (New York University, Africana) " In Search of Africa"
• Pictures from Feb 11 seminar.
• Feb. 18^th, 1999 Kenneth Leonard (Economics, Columbia Univ.) "African Traditional Healers, Incentives and Skill in Health Care Delivery."
• Pictures from Feb 18 seminar.
• Download Paper
• March 4^th, 1999 Chris Udry (Economics, Yale University) Learning and Innovation - the Adoption of Pineapple in Ghana.
• Download Paper.
• March 25^th, 1999 Veena Siddharth "Aid Priorities" (Oxfam International)
• April 22^nd,1999. Ashok Rai (Harvard, HIID) "Micro-Finance in Kenya"
• May 6^th, 1999 Philippe Benoit (Principal Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank) Issues in Large Scale Development Projects: A case study

Previous Speakers at the Seminar Series: Fall '98

• October 1^st, 1998 Tom Callaghy, Univ. of Pennsylvania, "Africa and the Evolution of the International Debt Regime."
• October 15^th, 1998 Jeffrey Herbst, Princeton University, "Political Implications of the Size and Shapes of African Countries."
• October 29^th, 1998 George Ayittey, American University, "Africa in Chaos."
• Nov. 5^th, 1998 Leonard Wantchekon, Yale University, "Dictatorships as a Political Dutch Disease."
• Download Paper
• Dec. 10^th, 1998 Elizabeth Wood, New York University (Politics Dept.), "Democracy Forged from Below: South Africa's Transition and its Legacy."

Questions?

Send email to yaw.nyarko@nyu.edu

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