African Studies Center :: Faculty Directory

The Michigan State University African Studies Center has close to a hundred Core Faculty with experience on Africa, probably one of the largest in the nation. The Center features many scholars in social science, agricultural economics, African languages, the arts and humanities, education, health and medicine and many other fields.

The faculty members are listed alphabetically by college and departmental affiliation, noting geographical areas of Africa experience, and teaching and research interests.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the African Studies Center's Core Faculty, please fill out the Membership Request form.

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Erik Ponder

Department: MSU Libraries
Countries/Research: South Africa
Email: ponderer(at)lib.msu.edu

Biography:
Erik Ponder is the African Studies Librarian at MSU Libraries. Mr. Ponder has curated and contributed to several library exhibits on Africa and has worked on several digital humanities projects, with the most recent project an interactive educational initiative conducted in South Africa. The goal of the educational initiative, entitled “Johannesburg, the African City,” was to provide high school students with a greater contextual understanding of contemporary South African society through the exploration of Black South African literature facilitated by a combination of discovery, conversation, research, and interactive experience. This website (http://sites.northwestern.edu/exploresouthafricanlit/about/) is the home to the project and has provided a place for students and instructors to have an open dialogue on the topics of South African literature, culture, and society. He is currently co-directing a documentary film on anti-apartheid activism in Chicago during the 1980’s.