Dr. Bennett Odunsi, a recipient of a graduate assistantship from the JSU Center for University Scholars, has been named one of the decade’s top ten African-centered scholars.  Dr. Odunsi is an associate professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration.

The awards are give to researchers who have built, nurtured and inspired communities of scholars to seriously investigate African issues. The award is named after the Egyptologist, Pan-Africanist and Mau Mau activist Mwalimu Baba Joseph “Topp” Wallace. The 2012 awards were given out at the 30th Annual Conference of the Association of Third World Studies convened at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.

Jackson State University Newsroom

Dr. Preselfannie McDaniels published “Creating A Legacy of Disconnection: Colorism and Classism in Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding.” The chapter was published in Presenting Oprah Winfrey, Her Films, and African American Literature, edited by Tara T. Green of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. The chapter is an outgrowth of research Dr. McDaniels conducted as a 2005 University Scholar.

Dr. Emmanuel Nwagboso, Associate Professor of Political Science at Jackson State University, recently published Anarchy and the Quest for Political Stability in Sierra Leone with Edwin Mellon Press. Dr. Nwagboso thanked the Center for University Scholars for providing assistance that helped him complete the manuscript.