Africa Today: Challenges and Possibilities

Raymond And Josette Malley

Tuesdays, Noon - 2:00 p.m.
September 27 - November 15,2005
D.O.C. House

Africa south of the Sahara is a complex, fascinating, and important kaleidoscope: Over 700 million people, 47 countries, numerous ethnic groups, languages and customs. It is the poorest part of the world. Progress is being made in many areas, but is hampered by civil strife, corruption, diseases, and institutional, economic, and technical problems.

We will explore contemporary sub-Saharan Africa in this eight-week course, examining positive and negative aspects, including social conditions, politics, economics, and development opportunities. It will be an active class, with discussions, lectures, readings, and reports by participants. The objective is to better understand Africa and put current events and news reports into perspective.

Class is limited to 20 members.

Raymond Malley is retired from the Senior Foreign Service of the U.S. Department of State, and also from a major Korean industrial group. He has extensive foreign aid and business experience in most parts of Africa, including head of aid operations in Zaire and leader of project and evaluation teams to several countries. He is a graduate of American and European schools, including The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Josette Murphy Malley is retired from the World Bank, where she is still employed as a consultant. She worked as a social scientist throughout Africa and Asia in agriculture and rural development projects, and led and managed major evaluation teams, including on gender issues. She has published books and articles, and trained African professionals in these fields. Educated in France and the United States, she holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California. Both Raymond and Josette lived and worked in Africa for many years.