Dear SERSASians,

The spring meeting approaches quickly. A schedule and hotel information follow.

11:00 am: Address by TransAfrica President Randall Robinson. McKnight Hall, Cone University Center. Please park in the visitor lot beside the Cone Center.

3:00-4:00 pm: SASASAAS seminar: Contemporary Southern African Writers. Cone Center, Room 110.

3:30-5:00 pm: "Trade or Aid?" Panel on President Clinton's African trade initiative, sponsored by UNCC Political Science department and the Charlotte World Affairs Council. Cone Center, Room 112.

5:00-6:00 pm: Day with Africa Reception, sponsored by Political Science honor society. SERSAS members welcome. Cone Center 210.

6:00-8:00 pm: SASASAAS dinner with guest Mark Mathabane. SERSAS members are welcome to attend; cost is $20 to be paid on arrival to John Flower. RSVP to him at jmflower@email.uncc.edu. Cone Center, Room 210.

7-10 pm: SERSAS opening reception (SASASAAS members are welcome) in 100 Fretwell (parking in visitor's lot, Parking Deck C). Jam session for those bringing their instruments!

8:30-9am: Coffee and pastries at Cone Center.

9:00-10:30 am: Panel 1: "Writing the South African Experience," Mark Mathabane talks about his work, followed by discussion with SERSAS and SASASAAS participants. Cone Center Room 112. Sponsored by SASASAAS.

10:30-11 am: Coffee break.

11:00-12:30: Panel 2: Missions, Sacred and Secular. Cone Center Room 112

• Barbara Cooper, Gallatin School, New York University: "'An Extremely Dangerous Suspect: 'French Colonial Attitudes toward Protestant Missionaries in West Africa under Vichy and Beyond" (Paper not presented)
• Brian Siegel, Furman University: "The Kafulafuta Mission in Zambia"
• Robert Vinson, Howard University/University of Virginia: "'What's Wrong with those Seas Kaffirs?' The Radicalization of West Indian Garveyites in Cape Town, c. 1920"

12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch, and informal presentations by winners of student African studies essay contest

1:30-3:00 pm: Panel 3: Development and Democratization. Cone Center Room 112

• Joy Hendrickson, Hampton University: "A Comparison of African and Asian Ideas of Human Rights" (Paper not presented)
• Dennis Ogirri, Charlotte, NC: "An Empirical Study of Land Reform in Nigeria"
• James Guseh, North Carolina Central University: "The State, Democracy, and Development in Africa"

A block of rooms has been set aside at a nearby hotel for SERSAS and SASASAAS travelers. Those who choose this option should make their reservations by March 29 at the:

The rate is $59.95 for a double room and $66.95 for a single room with a king-sized bed. The hotel provides a breakfast buffet for guests. Please mention SERSAS when you make the reservation.

There are plenty of other hotels in Charlotte, including the following near the university:

Comfort Inn                        Fairfield Inn
I-85 and Sugar Creek Rd.           5414 N. I-85 (at Sugar Creek Rd.)
598-0007                           596-2999

Hampton Inn University Place       Hilton at University Place
8419 N. Tryon St.                  WT Harris at JM Keynes Drive
548-0905                           547-7444

Howard Johnson                     Red Roof Inn University Place
6426 N. Tryon St.                  1-85 and Sugar Creek Rd.
596-0042                           1-800-843-7663

SERSAS Coordinators:

John Edwin Mason
Corcoran Department of History
Randall Hall
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
email: mason@virginia.edu or equiano@virginia.edu

Nyaga Mwaniki
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC 28732
email: mwaniki@wpoff.wcu.edu

Jonathan T. Reynolds
Department of History
Livingstone College
Salisbury, NC 28144
email: sagiru@hotmail.com