Hunt Davis | University of Florida (original) (raw)
Papers by Hunt Davis
Four factors which affect the status of African Studies in the southeastern United States are: (1... more Four factors which affect the status of African Studies in the southeastern United States are: (1) the largeness of the south as a geographical area, (2) lack of concentrations of African-oriented scholars in the region, (3) the relatively new addition of African Studies to southern university curriculums, and (4) the frequent involvement in African Studies of persons from outside the South. Existing patterns of cooperation involve the regional disciplinary associations, interdisciplinary cooperation at the regional level, and activity at the state level. The regional association showing the highest interest is the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers while the Southern Economics Association has shown the least. Most state wide activity in African Studies is at the University of Florida African Studies Center. The current level of interest in organizing a regional association of Africenists among persons teaching about Africa in the Southeast demonstrates a marked contrast to what has taken place. Tn response to a survey of southeastern Africanists, 95 percent of the respondents believe that a regional organization would be of value. As a result arrangements have been made to establish this organization. The three leading priorities are the establishment of a newsletter, organization of panel discussions at regional disciplinary association meetings, and the organization of an annual meeting. (DE)
African Studies Quarterly, Sep 22, 2007
Each year for nearly a quarter century, the University of Florida Center for African studies has ... more Each year for nearly a quarter century, the University of Florida Center for African studies has honored Gwendolen M. Carter's association with the Center in her latter years as a scholar through holding a conference or set of lectures named after her on a topic of critical importance to the study of Africa. [1] Gwen, as she was known to her friends and colleagues, delivered the first set of Carter Lectures on Africa in fall 1984. [2] It was a time of great turmoil and strife in South Africa, with then President Botha thereafter declaring a "state of emergency" on July 20, 1985. Given her broad and detailed knowledge of South Africa based on nearly four decades of research and writing about the country and broader region, Gwen chose to inaugurate the Carter Lectures with presentations on "United States Policies toward South Africa and Namibia" and "Can SADCC Succeed?" [3] Although Gwen spent only a few years at the University of Florida, her interactions with both faculty and students left an indelible mark on its community of Africanist scholars. [4] Since she was born in 1906 (July 17; she died on February 20, 1991), the faculty of the Center thought that in the centenary year of her birth the Carter Lectures on Africa for 2006 should return to her central scholarly and personal concern with South Africa. She had first become acquainted with South Africa when, during a thirteen-month trip around the British Commonwealth in 1948-1949, she spent three months in South Africa. Gwen wrote that she was "utterly fascinated by South Africa," and was "particularly fascinated by its contrast with what I had seen of emerging African nationalism" elsewhere on the continent. [5] In 1952, she returned to South Africa for a year's research that led to the publication of what is arguably her most significant work: The Politics of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948, which appeared in 1958. As she noted in her introduction: Few countries have been so subject to publicity and criticism since World War II as has South Africa. It is a rare year in which no writer uses that colorful country as a subject. And yet, for all this publicity, there is remarkably little understanding in other countries either of the complexity of the problems which South Africa confronts or of the character of the forces which are shaking it. [6] She therefore set out to promote that understanding in a manner that "tried to separate facts and analysis from ... judgments, and to let the former speak for themselves," deliberately aiming "at a broad coverage in the hope of providing ... the material necessary for understanding the political factors and forces operating" in the country. [7] In contrast to much of the subsequent literature on South African politics, The Politics of Inequality had only a limited coverage of African politics. [8] In the book's conclusion, Gwen acknowledged as much, stating that she had "virtually disregarded the non-Europeans ... because, in practice, they have relatively little to say about the ... policies which affect their lives. Yet in the end, they will be the most important factor of all in determining the future of South Africa." [9] She also had had great difficulty in securing material for "non-European groups." Recognizing the long-run importance of African and other black political organizations, she joined with Tom Karis, Gail Gerhard, and Sheridan Johns in producing the four volume documentary history From Protest to Challenge that covered the period 1882-1964 and the huge collection of microfilmed South African political materials that make up the Carter-Karis Collection in the Northwestern University Library. [10] Since Gwen's pioneering work appeared, there have been innumerable studies of South African politics and political history, many of which have drawn heavily on From Protest to Challenge and the Carter-Karis Collection. These studies have generally sought to illuminate "the complexity of problems" that have confronted South Africa and the forces shaking it. …
Journal of Third World Studies, 1986
Journal of Southern African Affairs, 1978
... States during the turn-of-the-century era encountered a body of ideas that came to be symboli... more ... States during the turn-of-the-century era encountered a body of ideas that came to be symbolized by Washing-ton, while most ... momentous development stemming from the choir's encounter with the AME Church was a letter from one of its members, Charlotte Manye, to her ...
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1976
Contemporary Sociology, 1992
Comparative Education Review, 2006
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, 2002
Great black leaders: ancient and modern, 1988
... More importantly for the fu-ture, some 6000 students left South Africa, most of whom ... and ... more ... More importantly for the fu-ture, some 6000 students left South Africa, most of whom ... and testimony of othersfellow prisoners and occasional visitorsabout what his thoughts were on ... On June 10, 1980, in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Free-dom Charter, the ANC ...
African Studies Review, 1976
During the period between the two world wars, a principal theme underlying African education was ... more During the period between the two world wars, a principal theme underlying African education was a belief that the black school system of the American South constituted a suitable model for Africa. Thinking along these lines was prevalent throughout the continent (especially in the English-ruled colonies and Liberia), but nowhere was it stronger than in South Africa. This was mainly due to the Union's unique position of having a large settler population that was steadily augmenting its political sovereignty. White South Africans could readily view their positions as akin to that of white southerners in the United States, while Africans could easily draw parallels between their situation and that of black Americans. Certain individuals, institutions, and organizations in the United States believed that American answers to problems of race relations (which encompassed education) were applicable to other countries—they thus stood ready to aid South Africans in transferring and adapting a generalized American model of black schooling to the South African environment. In fact, more than one model of black American education for South Africans existed. Africans viewed what was for them a progressive education system that emphasized black initiative and educational advancement. For example, while only 25 percent of their children attended school and 88 percent of their community were illiterate, 70 percent of black American schoolage children were in school, and black illiteracy had dropped from 90 percent in 1866 to 23 percent in 1926 (Huss, 1931: 2). White South Africans (those not totally opposed to some form of schooling for Africans) saw a system that seemed to train blacks sufficiently for living in a modern society yet served to limit any challenge they might pose to white control.
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, 1991
email: tspear 'Crisis' and 'conflict' figure prominently in recent studies of southern Africa as ... more email: tspear 'Crisis' and 'conflict' figure prominently in recent studies of southern Africa as the past two decades have witnessed guerilla wars in Angola, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, and escalating racial violence in South Africa. What are the sources of these conflicts? How is the situation in one area linked to others in the wider regional context? What interpretative frameworks can we use to understand these situations? The course will explore the roots of the current situations in the African and colonial past and explore some of the concepts based on race, class, and ethnicity used to explain and interpret them. By taking the region as our focus, we shall also try to compare the experiences of different countries to examine what lessons each may have for the future of the area as a whole. Given the problems of studying Southern African history and its inherently contentious nature, we will probably raise more questions than answers, unearth more problems than solutions. No text book, or lecture, should be considered authoritative, and you are encouraged to question prevailing interpretations in order to come to your own understanding of the complex issues involved. It is therefore imperative that you read the assigned readings and think about them before the class for which they are assigned. Course Requirements Unden~xaduates: (1) Class attendance, (2) assigned readings, (3) a map quiz, and (4) two mid-term take-home exams and a final take-home exam. Students taking the course for honors or 4 credits will write an additional paper based on the recommended readings for one of the weekly topics. Graduates: Graduate students should read more widely in the recommended reading in addition to the required reading and will write three papers on selected weekly topics in lieu of exams. Papers should focus on significant analytical issues in the reading, raise pertinent questions regarding them, and include a brief annotated bibliography summarizing the value of each source. They should be 8-10 pages, and two copies of each paper must be given to me in the class for which it is prepared. Readings: All required readings are available from the University Bookstore and in a course packet (designated 'cp') from the Humanities Copy Center. All are also on reserve in the Helen C. White Library. Recommended readings are in the stacks of the College & Memorial Libraries. The following are available at the University Bookstore:
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1972
Revista brasileira de …, 1995
... Butana milk production is estimated at about 2000 kg per lactation under practical conditions... more ... Butana milk production is estimated at about 2000 kg per lactation under practical conditions, comparable to that of Red Sindhi and Tharparkar, and slightly less than for Sahiwal and slightly higher than for other tropical breeds (Osman, 1983). Chaudhry et al. ...
R. Hunt Davis, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of History and African Studies at the University of Flor... more R. Hunt Davis, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of History and African Studies at the University of Florida and was formerly director of the UF Center for African Studies and editor of the African studies Review. He was a close colleague of Gwen Carter when she was at UF and co-authored a chapter with her for Peter J. Schraeder, ed., Intervention in the 1980s: U.S Foreign Policy in the Third World. His area of specialization is the history of southern Africa since 1800.
International Migration Review
and Surinam have been partners in a common Kingdom. The Surinamese are full Dutch Nationals by la... more and Surinam have been partners in a common Kingdom. The Surinamese are full Dutch Nationals by law, so therefore, like Puerto Ricans going to the United States, there are no legal blocks for them. Only their own individual ability to get scholarships for study in the Netherlands, personal motivation to go, and personal or family finances limit them. Up to World War II, the migrants to the Netherlands from Surinam were largely elite groups, whose original interest was to acquire the educational credentials to pursue the professions and government service, or to prepare for careers as teachers or artists. They were also a very small group, not greatly noticeable and easily assimilable. Many lost interest in returning to Surinam, because life was freer and more varied for them in the Netherlands than at home. In the past quarter century, more persons could afford a try at the metropole due to improved incomes in Surinam. Also, there were labor recruitment efforts by labor-short Dutch companies in Surinam, while, most importantly, the attractiveness of a sojourn in Amsterdam, The Hague, or Rotterdam continued to be strong. Nothing like the conspicuous addition of Caribbean Negroes to the cities of Britain has occurred, but the Surinamese have become a large enough group in the Netherlands to have some of their problems come to more public attention. Van Amersfoort's report supplies historical background, information on the adjustment of the Surinamese to housing and employment challenges by different occupational, class, sex, and age groups, and by the different ethnic groups among the Surinamese. There are many suggestive comments about their relations with Dutch social agencies, no doubt another motive and object in issuing this work. If the book fails, it is only in its limitation to suggestion rather than supplying more detailed and satisfying descriptions of the immigrant social scene, and more individual cases than are included in the appendix. However, there is a good account of the shifting social circles and self-help groups formed by the immigrants in the Netherlands, and of nascent government supportive efforts. These tell us once again what modern history has told us often: migration is brutal to the human spirit, but shall perhaps never cease exerting a powerful fascination for and adaptive responses from a part of humanity.
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1977
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1975
Four factors which affect the status of African Studies in the southeastern United States are: (1... more Four factors which affect the status of African Studies in the southeastern United States are: (1) the largeness of the south as a geographical area, (2) lack of concentrations of African-oriented scholars in the region, (3) the relatively new addition of African Studies to southern university curriculums, and (4) the frequent involvement in African Studies of persons from outside the South. Existing patterns of cooperation involve the regional disciplinary associations, interdisciplinary cooperation at the regional level, and activity at the state level. The regional association showing the highest interest is the Southeastern Division of the Association of American Geographers while the Southern Economics Association has shown the least. Most state wide activity in African Studies is at the University of Florida African Studies Center. The current level of interest in organizing a regional association of Africenists among persons teaching about Africa in the Southeast demonstrates a marked contrast to what has taken place. Tn response to a survey of southeastern Africanists, 95 percent of the respondents believe that a regional organization would be of value. As a result arrangements have been made to establish this organization. The three leading priorities are the establishment of a newsletter, organization of panel discussions at regional disciplinary association meetings, and the organization of an annual meeting. (DE)
African Studies Quarterly, Sep 22, 2007
Each year for nearly a quarter century, the University of Florida Center for African studies has ... more Each year for nearly a quarter century, the University of Florida Center for African studies has honored Gwendolen M. Carter's association with the Center in her latter years as a scholar through holding a conference or set of lectures named after her on a topic of critical importance to the study of Africa. [1] Gwen, as she was known to her friends and colleagues, delivered the first set of Carter Lectures on Africa in fall 1984. [2] It was a time of great turmoil and strife in South Africa, with then President Botha thereafter declaring a "state of emergency" on July 20, 1985. Given her broad and detailed knowledge of South Africa based on nearly four decades of research and writing about the country and broader region, Gwen chose to inaugurate the Carter Lectures with presentations on "United States Policies toward South Africa and Namibia" and "Can SADCC Succeed?" [3] Although Gwen spent only a few years at the University of Florida, her interactions with both faculty and students left an indelible mark on its community of Africanist scholars. [4] Since she was born in 1906 (July 17; she died on February 20, 1991), the faculty of the Center thought that in the centenary year of her birth the Carter Lectures on Africa for 2006 should return to her central scholarly and personal concern with South Africa. She had first become acquainted with South Africa when, during a thirteen-month trip around the British Commonwealth in 1948-1949, she spent three months in South Africa. Gwen wrote that she was "utterly fascinated by South Africa," and was "particularly fascinated by its contrast with what I had seen of emerging African nationalism" elsewhere on the continent. [5] In 1952, she returned to South Africa for a year's research that led to the publication of what is arguably her most significant work: The Politics of Inequality: South Africa Since 1948, which appeared in 1958. As she noted in her introduction: Few countries have been so subject to publicity and criticism since World War II as has South Africa. It is a rare year in which no writer uses that colorful country as a subject. And yet, for all this publicity, there is remarkably little understanding in other countries either of the complexity of the problems which South Africa confronts or of the character of the forces which are shaking it. [6] She therefore set out to promote that understanding in a manner that "tried to separate facts and analysis from ... judgments, and to let the former speak for themselves," deliberately aiming "at a broad coverage in the hope of providing ... the material necessary for understanding the political factors and forces operating" in the country. [7] In contrast to much of the subsequent literature on South African politics, The Politics of Inequality had only a limited coverage of African politics. [8] In the book's conclusion, Gwen acknowledged as much, stating that she had "virtually disregarded the non-Europeans ... because, in practice, they have relatively little to say about the ... policies which affect their lives. Yet in the end, they will be the most important factor of all in determining the future of South Africa." [9] She also had had great difficulty in securing material for "non-European groups." Recognizing the long-run importance of African and other black political organizations, she joined with Tom Karis, Gail Gerhard, and Sheridan Johns in producing the four volume documentary history From Protest to Challenge that covered the period 1882-1964 and the huge collection of microfilmed South African political materials that make up the Carter-Karis Collection in the Northwestern University Library. [10] Since Gwen's pioneering work appeared, there have been innumerable studies of South African politics and political history, many of which have drawn heavily on From Protest to Challenge and the Carter-Karis Collection. These studies have generally sought to illuminate "the complexity of problems" that have confronted South Africa and the forces shaking it. …
Journal of Third World Studies, 1986
Journal of Southern African Affairs, 1978
... States during the turn-of-the-century era encountered a body of ideas that came to be symboli... more ... States during the turn-of-the-century era encountered a body of ideas that came to be symbolized by Washing-ton, while most ... momentous development stemming from the choir's encounter with the AME Church was a letter from one of its members, Charlotte Manye, to her ...
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1976
Contemporary Sociology, 1992
Comparative Education Review, 2006
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, 2002
Great black leaders: ancient and modern, 1988
... More importantly for the fu-ture, some 6000 students left South Africa, most of whom ... and ... more ... More importantly for the fu-ture, some 6000 students left South Africa, most of whom ... and testimony of othersfellow prisoners and occasional visitorsabout what his thoughts were on ... On June 10, 1980, in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Free-dom Charter, the ANC ...
African Studies Review, 1976
During the period between the two world wars, a principal theme underlying African education was ... more During the period between the two world wars, a principal theme underlying African education was a belief that the black school system of the American South constituted a suitable model for Africa. Thinking along these lines was prevalent throughout the continent (especially in the English-ruled colonies and Liberia), but nowhere was it stronger than in South Africa. This was mainly due to the Union's unique position of having a large settler population that was steadily augmenting its political sovereignty. White South Africans could readily view their positions as akin to that of white southerners in the United States, while Africans could easily draw parallels between their situation and that of black Americans. Certain individuals, institutions, and organizations in the United States believed that American answers to problems of race relations (which encompassed education) were applicable to other countries—they thus stood ready to aid South Africans in transferring and adapting a generalized American model of black schooling to the South African environment. In fact, more than one model of black American education for South Africans existed. Africans viewed what was for them a progressive education system that emphasized black initiative and educational advancement. For example, while only 25 percent of their children attended school and 88 percent of their community were illiterate, 70 percent of black American schoolage children were in school, and black illiteracy had dropped from 90 percent in 1866 to 23 percent in 1926 (Huss, 1931: 2). White South Africans (those not totally opposed to some form of schooling for Africans) saw a system that seemed to train blacks sufficiently for living in a modern society yet served to limit any challenge they might pose to white control.
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines, 1991
email: tspear 'Crisis' and 'conflict' figure prominently in recent studies of southern Africa as ... more email: tspear 'Crisis' and 'conflict' figure prominently in recent studies of southern Africa as the past two decades have witnessed guerilla wars in Angola, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, and escalating racial violence in South Africa. What are the sources of these conflicts? How is the situation in one area linked to others in the wider regional context? What interpretative frameworks can we use to understand these situations? The course will explore the roots of the current situations in the African and colonial past and explore some of the concepts based on race, class, and ethnicity used to explain and interpret them. By taking the region as our focus, we shall also try to compare the experiences of different countries to examine what lessons each may have for the future of the area as a whole. Given the problems of studying Southern African history and its inherently contentious nature, we will probably raise more questions than answers, unearth more problems than solutions. No text book, or lecture, should be considered authoritative, and you are encouraged to question prevailing interpretations in order to come to your own understanding of the complex issues involved. It is therefore imperative that you read the assigned readings and think about them before the class for which they are assigned. Course Requirements Unden~xaduates: (1) Class attendance, (2) assigned readings, (3) a map quiz, and (4) two mid-term take-home exams and a final take-home exam. Students taking the course for honors or 4 credits will write an additional paper based on the recommended readings for one of the weekly topics. Graduates: Graduate students should read more widely in the recommended reading in addition to the required reading and will write three papers on selected weekly topics in lieu of exams. Papers should focus on significant analytical issues in the reading, raise pertinent questions regarding them, and include a brief annotated bibliography summarizing the value of each source. They should be 8-10 pages, and two copies of each paper must be given to me in the class for which it is prepared. Readings: All required readings are available from the University Bookstore and in a course packet (designated 'cp') from the Humanities Copy Center. All are also on reserve in the Helen C. White Library. Recommended readings are in the stacks of the College & Memorial Libraries. The following are available at the University Bookstore:
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1972
Revista brasileira de …, 1995
... Butana milk production is estimated at about 2000 kg per lactation under practical conditions... more ... Butana milk production is estimated at about 2000 kg per lactation under practical conditions, comparable to that of Red Sindhi and Tharparkar, and slightly less than for Sahiwal and slightly higher than for other tropical breeds (Osman, 1983). Chaudhry et al. ...
R. Hunt Davis, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of History and African Studies at the University of Flor... more R. Hunt Davis, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of History and African Studies at the University of Florida and was formerly director of the UF Center for African Studies and editor of the African studies Review. He was a close colleague of Gwen Carter when she was at UF and co-authored a chapter with her for Peter J. Schraeder, ed., Intervention in the 1980s: U.S Foreign Policy in the Third World. His area of specialization is the history of southern Africa since 1800.
International Migration Review
and Surinam have been partners in a common Kingdom. The Surinamese are full Dutch Nationals by la... more and Surinam have been partners in a common Kingdom. The Surinamese are full Dutch Nationals by law, so therefore, like Puerto Ricans going to the United States, there are no legal blocks for them. Only their own individual ability to get scholarships for study in the Netherlands, personal motivation to go, and personal or family finances limit them. Up to World War II, the migrants to the Netherlands from Surinam were largely elite groups, whose original interest was to acquire the educational credentials to pursue the professions and government service, or to prepare for careers as teachers or artists. They were also a very small group, not greatly noticeable and easily assimilable. Many lost interest in returning to Surinam, because life was freer and more varied for them in the Netherlands than at home. In the past quarter century, more persons could afford a try at the metropole due to improved incomes in Surinam. Also, there were labor recruitment efforts by labor-short Dutch companies in Surinam, while, most importantly, the attractiveness of a sojourn in Amsterdam, The Hague, or Rotterdam continued to be strong. Nothing like the conspicuous addition of Caribbean Negroes to the cities of Britain has occurred, but the Surinamese have become a large enough group in the Netherlands to have some of their problems come to more public attention. Van Amersfoort's report supplies historical background, information on the adjustment of the Surinamese to housing and employment challenges by different occupational, class, sex, and age groups, and by the different ethnic groups among the Surinamese. There are many suggestive comments about their relations with Dutch social agencies, no doubt another motive and object in issuing this work. If the book fails, it is only in its limitation to suggestion rather than supplying more detailed and satisfying descriptions of the immigrant social scene, and more individual cases than are included in the appendix. However, there is a good account of the shifting social circles and self-help groups formed by the immigrants in the Netherlands, and of nascent government supportive efforts. These tell us once again what modern history has told us often: migration is brutal to the human spirit, but shall perhaps never cease exerting a powerful fascination for and adaptive responses from a part of humanity.
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1977
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1975