| Abstracts |
Submission Guidelines
The editors of Wagadu invite feminist, interdisciplinary, progressive perspectives situated on the interstices of Critical Race Studies and Gender Studies. The journal's agenda focuses on transnational and transcultural issues, and authors are invited to reflect these concerns. Wagadu will publish material on postcolonial resistance in theory and practice that includes race, gender, and economic perspectives. Wagadu will serve as a medium of exchange and information and will be a network for scholars and activists.
Feature essays should be approximately 5,500-7,500 words, in any language. Submissions should be sent electronically in APA format and include a short abstract (75 words) in English or French. All manuscripts are reviewed anonymously by at least three qualified readers. Wagadu will make every effort to publish articles in the following languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Chinese, Russian, Hausa, KiSwahili, Bambara, Hindi, Tamil, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Papers may be mailed to:
Wagadu, c/o Philosophy
SUNY Cortland
POB 2000
Cortland, NY 13045, USA
or e-mailed to: wagadu@cortland.edu.
Please send all questions regarding book reviews to:
Kate Coffey, PhD
Assistant Professor
Health Department
Moffett Ctr 204
SUNY Cortland
PO Box 2000
Cortland NY 13045
607-753-2974
607 753-4226 Fax
kate.coffey@cortland.edu
For any questions or information contact wagadu@cortland.edu.
Why Wagadu?
Wagadu--the Soninke name of the Ghana Empire--controlled the present-day Mali, Mauritania and Senegal and was famous for its prosperity and power from approximately 300-1076. It constituted the bridge between North Africa, the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds and Subsaharan Africa. Ghana gave birth to the two most powerful West African Empires: Mali and Songhay. The modern country of Ghana (former British Gold Coast) derives its name from the Ghana Empire.
Legend says that Ghana’s power derived from a mythic python, which generated the rich gold deposits and controlled the fortunes of the empire. Year after year the people of Ghana had to offer the most beautiful virgin to the python as a sacrifice. One year, the distressed fiancé of a sacrificial girl took a sword and beheaded the mythic python in a preemptive move. The head flew and crashed into the parts of West Africa that became gold producing regions leading to the rise of the Mali Empire. Ghana fell after seven years of drought and poverty forced the Ghana people, the Soninke, to disperse and adopt exodus as a way of life to this day.
Why Wagadu? Wagadu has come to be the symbol of the sacrifice women continue to make for a better world. Wagadu has become the metaphor for the role of women in the family, community, country, and planet. The excerpt below from a Soninke song best summarizes this state of fact:
Duna taka siro no yagare npale
The world does not go without women.
Funding was made possible through the State of New York/United University Professions Technology Committee
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page authors. The contents of this linked page have not been reviewed or approved by SUNY Cortland.
Last Modified: June 2, 2004
ISSN: 1545-6196
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