M’bare N’gom Delivers Keynote Speaker at NSU Literary Conference

M’bare N’gom, an authority on exiled writers of Equatorial Guinea and chair of the Foreign Languages Department at Morgan State University, was the keynote speaker at Norfolk State University’s literary conference Oct. 22-23 at the L. Douglas Wilder Performing Arts Center. The two-day conference, Singing Their Songs in a Strange Land: The Impact of Exile on Diasporan Writers, acknowledged and celebrated the contributions of writers in exile.

A native of Conakry, Republic of Guinea, Africa, N’gom is a professor of Spanish and Latin American studies, as well as French and Francophone studies at MSU. His articles have appeared in a host of publications including Hispania, Canadian Journal of Hispanic Studies, Diaspora, Francofonia, Austrialian Journal of French Studies, Caribe, Afro-Hispanic Review and Quimera.

He has published several articles, novels, historical books and anthologies about Equatorial Guinea.  Additionally, he has five entries in the Encyclopedia of African Literature and is currently editing another publication. 

N’gom has traveled, studied and lived in Africa, Europe, South America and Central America.  His honors and awards include being selected a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Felllow in 1992 and a Fulbright scholars to Peru in 2002.

Sponsored by the departments of English and Foreign Languages, History, Interdisciplinary Studies and the Honors College, the annual Festival Arts Literary Conference will feature M’bare N’gom, authority on exiled writers of Equatorial Guinea and chair of the Foreign Languages Department at Morgan State University.

Faculty and Staff Corner

Dorothy Browne has been named dean of the Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work. She previously served as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Morgan State University and North Carolina A&T State University. At Morgan State, she was the director of The Morgan Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions. She also brings a wealth of experience from numerous other institutions and government organizations.

Sherie Cornish, interim associate athletics director/senior woman administrator, graduated from the 2008-09 National Collegiate Athletic Association Leadership Institute for Minority Males and Females.  The 12-month program emphasizes leadership and administration, human resource management, finance and fundraising, booster, public and media relations, and leadership during four weekend sessions and one week-long meeting in Indianapolis.

Karen Holmes was recently hired as the associate athletics director for development. Holmes’ primary responsibilities will be to plan, coordinate and implement all development and fundraising activities for the Department of Athletics. The ultimate goal is to increase funding for athletic scholarships, capital projects and other athletic enhancements.

Amelia Ross-Hammond, chair and professor of music, was received the 2009 Executive Director’s Advisor of the year Award from the National Office of Alpha Lambda Delta, an academic honor society. The award was presented in recognition of her exceptional service as chapter advisor to the NSU chapter.  Under Ross-Hammond’s leadership, 174 student members were installed and five honorary members were initiated.

Robert W. Sites, professor of Fine Arts, has been selected to return to the American Academy in Rome as a visiting artist in November 2009. While in Rome, Sites will continue working on a series of pieces he began this summer based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. The mission of the American Academy in Rome, founded in the 1894, is to foster advanced research and independent study in the fine arts and humanities.