Faculty

G. Pritchy Smith
G. Pritchy Smith is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education and Human Services. He is one of the founders and the first vice president of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) and currently is a member of NAME's Board of Directors. He is author of several articles on multicultural, global and diversity education. His book, Common Sense about Uncommon Knowledge: The Knowledge Bases for Diversity, centres upon curricular bases for multicultural and global education in teacher education programs. He unites a regular column, "Guide to New Resources," in the journal, Multicultural Perspectives. He also coordinates UNF's off-site M. Ed. Program in Belize, Central America, and he has traveled to the Gambia in Africa to explore institutional linkages regarding graduate education in The Gambia.

Daniel L. Schafer
Daniel L. Schafer, Professor of History, Ph.D. 1973 from the University of Minnesota with in minor (actually called outside area) in African History. Dr. Schafer taught African history for several years at the University of Minnesota and University of North Florida. He has traveled widely in West Africa, created a seven-part film series for the University of Minnesota Audiovisual Department, and has published on African diaspora themes in academic journals like the "African Studies Review," "Florida Historical Quarterly," "Journal of Social History," and "Slavery and Abolition." Recent monographs include "Anna Kingsley" (1997), and "Governor James Grant's Villa: A British East Florida Indigo Plantation" (2000).

Rosa De Jorio
Rosa De Jorio, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. De Jorio has carried out extensive fieldwork research in Mali, predominantly in urban areas (1991-2001). Her research was sponsored by several institutions including the Social Science Research Council, the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities (MUCIA), and the Italian institute for African studies (Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente). De Jorio’s research focuses on the study of memory and political identities, gender politics, and globalization. Her most recent publications include (1) “Women’s organizations, the ideology of kinship, and the state in postindependence Mali”, in Stone, Linda (ed.) New Directions in Anthropological Kinship Studies, 2001a; (2) ‘Negoziare tradizioni e modernità: il Museo della Donna “Muso Kunda” a Bamako, Mali’ (Negotiating traditions and modernity: the Woman’s Museum “Muso Kunda” in Bamako, Mali. Etnosistemi 8 (8): 79-90, 2001b; and (3) ‘Malian National Culture’. In Ember, Melvin and Carol R. Ember, (eds.) Countries and Their Cultures. Vol III, pp. 1384-1399. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2001c. De Jorio is the secretary-treasurer of the Mande Studies Association--a multidisciplinary and international group of scholars with interests in the Mande region of West Africa.

Kamele "Oupa" Seane
Kamele “Oupa” Seane was born in South Western Townships (SOWETO), thirty miles south of Gauteng. At an early age he became involved in politics. After his secondary education, because of the government controlled academic institutions of higher education he went to Botswana and was admitted to the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in Gaborone. In those unsettled times, after spending a short time in Botswana, he decided not to attend the university, and he returned to South Africa, only to be arrested.

For political reasons he was forced to leave the country and he spent a year in London before coming to the United States. In the United States he achieved a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mass Communications from Edward Waters College, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Florida.

In Florida, while pursuing his studies, he served as president of the Florida Free South Africa Movement until South Africa was free. Finally in 1994 he coordinated the only Florida voting site for the first post apartheid South African elections in which Nelson Mandela was elected President of South Africa.

Judith C. Rodriguez, Ph.D., R.D. F.A.D.A
In 1988 graduated from Rutgers, The State University. The Graduate School, Department of Anthropology. Ph.D., (specialized in Medical/Nutritional Anthropology). Graduated from New York University (NYU), School of Education, Health, Nursing and Allied Health Professions (SEHNAP), Department of Home Economics and Nutrition. M.A.,Nutrition and Higher Education, 1977 and in 1973 with a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics. In 1973-1974 she did a dietetic internship at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, MA. Is currently an Associate Professor and Director of the B.S.H. Nutrition Program at the University of North Florida (UNF) Jacksonville, FL. Has a variety of experiences, including Academic Advisor, Project Coordinator, Instructor or adjunct, Extension Associate, and Therapeutic Dietitian. In addition, She has been involved in several projects, including one in Senegal, has worked as a nutrition consultant for public relations firms, a food company, and for a national nutrition and health study, Has received various awards and recognitions, including American Dietetic Association Recognition of Service Certificates, 1997 Outstanding Dietetics Educator, Dietetics Educator's Practice Group, Southeastern Region, American Dietetics Association, 1997 Florida Leader, Florida Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, 1994 Teaching Incentive Program Award (TIP), 1991 Undergraduate Advising Award (UNF).

Dr. Geesey
Dr. Geesey teaches classes on French language, literature, and culture, as well as Francophone Africa and women in the Middle East. Her publications have appeared in The French Review, World Literature Today, SubStance, Research in African Literatures, and The International Fiction Review.

contact

Florida West Africa Linkage Institute
University of North Florida ; 1 UNF Drive ; Jacksonville, Florida 32224
Telephone: (904)620-2475, Fax: (904) 620-3870



Florida West Africa Linkage Institute