Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs



PROSPECTS FOR AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT

SYLLABUS SCHEDULE

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, MAXWELL SCHOOL, WASHINGTON DC

MAY 22-28, 2011, Greenberg House, 2301 Calvert St. NW

Dr. Constance J. Freeman, Adjunct Professor

Sunday Evening, May 22

5:00-7:00 pm Initial Class Orientation:

• Introductions: Instructor and Class

• Overview of Class: Expansion of Material Covered at Introductory Session

• Presentation of Books: Students to review books from Reading List for a maximum of five minutes each

• Class Discussion

7:30 Retire to African Restaurant for Dinner (7:30 on)

Optional No-Host dinner at Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant (upstairs), 2434 18th St. NW, DC, 202-462-4100. (Walk across Calvert St. Bridge and right on 18th St. to 2434)

Monday, May 23

8:45- 9:30 Coffee and Review of Day

Introduction: Overview and Update: Where is African Development Today?

9:30-10:30 Stephen Radelet: Chief Economist for USAID and author of “Emerging Africa, How 17 Countries are Leading the Way”

10:30-11:00 Break

11:00-12:00 Dr. Mwangi Kimenyi: Director, African Growth Initiative at Brookings Institution. Founding Executive Director of the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

12:00-1:00 Lunch Break

State of the Art: Traditional Development Sectors

Agriculture: The Production/Sustainability Debate

(Ben Graves “Vote of Thanks” and Response)

1:15 – 3:00 Dr. John Ulimwengu: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Research Fellow, West and Central Africa in Washington Office 

3:00-3:30 Break

3:30-5:00 Dr Daniel Karanja, Chief of Staff & Senior Fellow, Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa,

5:00-5:30 Class Discussion

Tuesday May 24

8:30-9:00 Coffee and Review of Day

Education: Basic versus Advanced

(Allyson Goldsmith “Vote of Thanks” and Response)

9:00-10:00 Dr. Jeanne Maddox Toungara, Assistant Provost for International Programs Howard University

10:00-11:00 Sandy Ojikutu, USAID Africa Bureau, Education Division,

Office of Sustainable Development

11:00-12:00 Break and Class Discussion

12:00-2:30 Lunch with Alumni of African Development Course, Greenberg House

Health: Health Systems and Diverse Approaches

(Tim Edwards “Vote of Thanks and Response)

2:30-4:00 Dr. Carrie Hessler- Radelet: Deputy Director of the Peace Corps and Expert on Health

4:00-4:30 Break

4:30-5:30 Class Discussion

Wednesday May 25

8:30-9:00 Coffee and Review of Day

Newer Perspectives: Drivers of Development?

Private Sector: Indigenous and External Investment

(Dan Cornish, “Vote of Thanks: and Response)

9:00-10:30 Stephen Cashin: Pan African Capital Group, Long term investor in Africa

10:30-11:00 Break

Information Technology: Technology for Change

11:00-12:00 Sean McDonald: Frontlinesms, Practical Approaches to applying ICTs to Development

Andrew Karlyn: Population Council

12:00-1:00 Lunch Break

Democratization: Critical for Development?

(Kazumi Funahashi, “Vote of Thanks” and Response)

1:00-2:30 Prof. John Harbeson: Adjunct Professor School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and long term professor on Democracy and Africa

2:30-3:30 Ambassador Howard Jeter: Long time US Diplomat and Ambassador to Nigeria. Case Study on Nigeria

3:30-4:00 Break

New Investors/Donors: Philanthropy and China

4:00- 5:00 Orin Hasson: Development Finance and Economic Policy, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Washington Office. New Philanthropy

5:00-5:30 Class Discussion

Thursday, May 26

8:30-9:00 Coffee and Review of Day

9:00-10:00 Steve McDonald: Wilson Center and long-time Associate of Howard Wolpe. China

(Zach Anderson “Vote of Thanks” and Response)

10:00-10:30 Break

Selected Barriers to Development: The Three Cs

Corruption

(Sheila Muthemba, “Vote of Thanks” and Response)

10:30-11:45 Mike Stevens: Governance and Anti-Corruption, World Bank

12:00-1:00 Lunch Break

Conflict

1:00-2:00 Pauline Baker: President Emeritus, Fund for Peace

2:00-2:30 Mamadou Beye: Manager, International Govt. Relations, Chevron. Angolan Case Study

2:30-3:45 John Marks, President of Search for Common Ground, an International Conflict Resolution Organization

3:45-4:15 Break

Climate Change

(Tracy Verrier “Vote of Thanks: and Response)

4:15-5:30 Clark Seipt: Program Coordinator, International Start Secretariat

Friday, May 27

8:30-9:00 Coffee and Review of Day

The International Environment

Africa in the International System

9:00-10:00 Michael Southwick: Former Ambassador to Uganda and Dep. Assistant Secretary for International Organizational Affairs, Dept. of State

10:00-10:30 Break

Role of Outside Assistance/Donors

10:30-11:15 Jerry Wolgin: Africa Bureau, U.S. AID – Many years of experience with USAID and the World Bank

11:15-12:00 Malik Chaka: Millennium Challenge Corporation, A new approach to assistance

12:00-1:00 Lunch Break

Conclusion: Prospects for African Development

1:00-2:30 Ambassadorial Panel: Ambassadors from South Africa, Botswana and Congo will explore what they deem most important for the development of Africa and their individual countries

• Ambassador Tebelelo Seretse, Botswana

• Ambassador Faida Mitifu, Congo

• Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa

2:30-3:00 Break

3:00-4:00 The Sahel Development Program (1978-98), A Food Security Success: Lessons for the Obama Administration Food Security Initiative?

Roy Stacy, former USAID Director in Africa, former DAS in the Dept. of State and former Director of the Club du Sahel at the OECD

4:00-5:00 Africa’s Role in Overall Foreign Policy

David Gordon, Research Director Eurasia Group,

Former National Intelligence Officer for Economics and Global Issues Extensive expertise on Africa

Saturday Morning, May 28

9:00 – 12:00 Course Wrap-Up

• Review of overall course

• Any remaining presentations

• Feedback from students

• Discussion of final papers

• Concluding remarks

Reminder: Final Papers are due June 10, 2011

The final paper, to be written after the class is concluded, will consist of an 8-10 page “Think Piece” based upon what you learned in the class, the general reading you have done, and additional research you undertake either on your country(s), on a functional area, or specifically for this paper. You may choose from the following questions or you may select a question of your own. If the later, your individualized question must be submitted to me and approved before the end of the course and you will be assessed on the quality of the question as well as the paper discussing it. This final paper is designed to let you reflect on and consolidate learning which has taken place during the class and ideally to help you apply it to any future work you undertake on Africa. My preference will be to share student papers with the entire class; so I would encourage you to post it to the class list, although the decision to do so will be up to you. This paper should be submitted to me by email within two weeks after the conclusion of the course (Deadline June 10, 2011) Suggested questions are:

• Is Africa really a “basket case” or is future significant development possible across the continent? Why? If possible, what would be your development strategy? If not, what does that imply for the development community and the rest of the world? (You may disaggregate this into a particular section or region of the continent if you like, but must specify why you have made that choice.)

• How successful has foreign assistance been as a development tool (as opposed to an international political tool)? What needs to happen for it to be more effective?

• How does the “dependency syndrome” undercut development efforts? What needs to happen for Africans to assume a stronger leadership role in their own development?

• Why do some countries succeed where others fail? Apply your answer to specific countries and/or sub-regions.

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