Janice Spleth, the Armand E. and Mary W. Singer Professor of Humanities, has been named the president of the African Literature Association. She accepted the position on March 13 at the organization’s national meeting in Tuscon, Ariz.

For more than 35 years, Spleth has been a faculty member in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University. She teaches French, American culture and African literature. Her publications include two books on the Senegalese poet L�opold S�dar Senghor and numerous scholarly articles largely on the literature in French from Central Africa. She is the former director of the WVU Council of International Programs and has served as interim director of the Center for Women’s Studies. She is also a residence hall fellow for Stalnaker Hall.

Founded in 1975, the ALA is a national organization for teachers and scholars of African literature. Spleth’s presidential address, “Teaching African Literature in Challenging Times,” reminded the membership of the need to keep faith with African writers despite the current economic difficulties facing universities.

“My primary goal during my presidency, will be to reaffirm the organization’s commitment to those founding traditions that have inspired us to place our greatest emphasis on African literature as activism and social commitment, said Spleth.

“In the light of the difficult economic times in institutions of higher education, I will also be making a special effort to support and expand those structures within the ALA that allow us to nurture the next generation of teachers and scholars in the field.”

As part of the inauguration ceremonies, Spleth received an ornately carved wooden stool from her predecessor Dr. Omafolabo Ajayi-Soyinka, a professor at the University of Kansas. The stool, a traditional symbol of status and authority throughout Africa, was carved for the ALA by a craftsman in Ghana. When the organization held its annual conference in Accra, the stool was presented to the new ALA president. It has been passed down to each successive president, and during Spleth’s year in office, it will be housed in a glass case outside the main office of the Department of Foreign Languages, in Chitwood Hall on the downtown WVU campus.

-WVU-

03/19/10

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