BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.1//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:As the field of Motherhood Studies advances common languages an d frameworks\, the menace of Eurocentrism rears its head again. Engaging t he cultural character of motherhoods\, motherwork\, and mothering defies a cademic constructions of standard disciplinary languages and structures fo r its study. We must consider what is lost in embracing universalistic def initions and challenge the introduction of new monikers for appropriated p henomena that already have understandings within their cultures of origin. Culturally comprehended motherhoods and mothering\, as concepts and pract ices\, should derive from the conditions\, roles\, values\, challenges\, d istinctions\, merits\, privileges\, and related expectations uniquely norm ed by societies. It is through this lens that I examine the ethos of mothe rpower and mother agency among Avalogooli\, a subgroup of the Luhya ethnic community of Western Kenya. \;Besi Muhonja is Associate Vice Provost for Scholarship and Diversity\, Equity and Inclusion at James Madison Univ ersity. She also serves as Black Faculty Advisory Associate to Academic Af fairs Division at the same university. Before that\, she served as Directo r of the African\, African American\, and Diaspora (AAAD) Studies Center. She is a professor of African\, African American\, and Diaspora Studies an d Women’s\, Gender\, and Sexuality Studies. In the recent past\, she has w on several awards including The Woman of Distinction Award\, Provost’s Awa rd for Excellence in Inclusivity\, Edna T. Shaeffer Distinguished Humanist Award\, Diversity Enhancement Award\, and Feminist Scholarship Award. Dr. Muhonja’s work engages the interfaces of transnationalism\, gender and se xuality in the politics\, identities\, philosophies\, and products of/from Africa\, the larger Global South\, and the Black Diaspora. Specifically\, using interdisciplinary and decolonial approaches\, she studies and teach es critical African(a) studies\, critical race studies\, critical transnat ional feminisms\, queer studies\, and utu/ubuntu studies. She is also a le ading Wangari Maathai scholar. Dr. Muhonja is author of Radical Utu: Ideas and Ideals of Wangari Maathai (Ohio University Press\, 2020) and Performi ng Girlhood and Womanhood: Rituals of Kenya's Twenty-First Century Middle Class (Lexington -Rowman &\; Littlefield\, 2018) and Turn Down the Volu me on Silence (a collection of plays\, forthcoming in 2022)\; and co-edito r of the book volumes Gender and Sexuality in Senegalese Societies: Critic al Perspectives and Methods (with Babacar M’baye\, 2019)\, Mothers and Son s: Centering Mother Knowledge (with Wanda Bernard Thomas\, 2016) and Gende r and Sexuality in Kenyan Societies: Centering the Human(e) in Critical St udies (with M’baye\, forthcoming in 2022). She has edited several issues o f major peer reviewed journals of critical African and gender studies and published over twenty-five (25) peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is the series editor of Gender and Sexuality in Africa and the Diaspor a\, an academic series with Lexington of Rowman &\; Littlefield and ser ves on the editorial/advisory boards for the Journal of Sustainability\, E nvironment and Peace (University of Nairobi)\; Praxis: Gender and Cultural Critiques (State University of NY)\, and various centers and organization s. She served as editor and curated/edited 16 database issues of the Kiswa hili Story Database. \; \;Co-sponsored by: Department of Women's a nd Gender Studies DTEND:20220225T210000Z DTSTAMP:20260512T170855Z DTSTART:20220225T190000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Dimensions of Motherhood in an African World Sense: Ritual and Powe r among Avalogooli UID:RFCALITEM639141881350679844 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

As the field of Motherhood Studies advances common languages and frameworks\, the menace of Eurocentrism rears its he ad again. Engaging the cultural character of motherhoods\, motherwork\, an d mothering defies academic constructions of standard disciplinary languag es and structures for its study. We must consider what is lost in embracin g universalistic definitions and challenge the introduction of new moniker s for appropriated phenomena that already have understandings within their cultures of origin. Culturally comprehended motherhoods and mothering\, a s concepts and practices\, should derive from the conditions\, roles\, val ues\, challenges\, distinctions\, merits\, privileges\, and related expect ations uniquely normed by societies. It is through this lens that I examin e the ethos of motherpower and mother agency among Avalogooli\, a subgroup of the Luhya ethnic community of Western Kenya. \;

Besi Muhonja is Associate Vice Provost for Scholarship and Di versity\, Equity and Inclusion at James Madison University. She also serve s as Black Faculty Advisory Associate to Academic Affairs Division at the same university. Before that\, she served as Director of the African\, Afr ican American\, and Diaspora (AAAD) Studies Center. She is a professor of African\, African American\, and Diaspora Studies and Women’s\, Gender\, a nd Sexuality Studies. In the recent past\, she has won several awards incl uding The Woman of Distinction Award\, Provost’s Award for Excellence in I nclusivity\, Edna T. Shaeffer Distinguished Humanist Award\, Diversity Enh ancement Award\, and Feminist Scholarship Award.

Dr. Muhonja’s work engages the interfaces of transnationalism\, gender and sexuality in the politics\, identities\, philosophies\, and products of/from Africa\, the l arger Global South\, and the Black Diaspora. Specifically\, using interdis ciplinary and decolonial approaches\, she studies and teaches critical Afr ican(a) studies\, critical race studies\, critical transnational feminisms \, queer studies\, and utu/ubuntu studies. She is also a leading Wangari M aathai scholar. Dr. Muhonja is author of Radical Utu: Ideas and Ideals of Wangari Maathai (Ohio University Press\, 2020) and Performing Girlhood and Womanhood: Rituals of Kenya's Twenty-First Century Middle Cl ass (Lexington -Rowman &\; Littlefield\, 2018) and Turn Down t he Volume on Silence (a collection of plays\, forthcoming in 2022)\; and co-editor of the book volumes Gender and Sexuality in Sen egalese Societies: Critical Perspectives and Methods (with Babacar M’ baye\, 2019)\, Mothers and Sons: Centering Mother Knowledge (with Wanda Bernard Thomas\, 2016) and Gender and Sexuality in Kenyan Socie ties: Centering the Human(e) in Critical Studies (with M’baye\, forth coming in 2022). She has edited several issues of major peer reviewed jour nals of critical African and gender studies and published over twenty-five (25) peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is the series editor o f Gender and Sexuality in Africa and the Diaspora\, an academic s eries with Lexington of Rowman &\; Littlefield and serves on the editor ial/advisory boards for the Journal of Sustainability\, Environment an d Peace (University of Nairobi)\; Praxis: Gender and Cultural Cri tiques (State University of NY)\, and various centers and or ganizations. She served as editor and curated/edited 16 database issues of the Kiswahili Story Database. \;

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Co-sponsored by:

Department of Women's and Gender Studies

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