Celia Nyamweru

Celia K. Nyamweru (born July 2, 1942 in London ) is a British - Kenyan cultural anthropologist and geoscientist .

Life

Origin, education and private life

She was born in London and attended Wimbledon High School - a private girls' high school . She then matriculated to study geography at the University of Cambridge . There she was awarded a Ph.D. PhD . After her official retirement, she took 2009 and 2010 as a guest student at the State University of New York at Potsdam courses in the Iroquois language Mohawk .

Nyamweru has been married to Mwangi Njuguna since 1977. The couple have two children. The eldest daughter Wanjiru Margaret (* 1978) took part in the swimming competitions of the 1991 African Games in Cairo as the youngest member of the Kenyan team at the age of 13 . In December 2016, she received her Masters in Geology from California State University, Long Beach . Inspired by her daughter Wambui (* 1980), who studied modern dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is married to a Finnish yogi, Nyamweru has been practicing Ashtanga yoga intensively since 2011 .

Scientific career

“I […] focused my attention from the start on the people in the landscape, not on the landscape devoid of people. Despite my excitement at the scale and magnificence of the landforms I studied, I was always aware that they had been the setting for human activities for thousands of years. "

- Quote from Nyamweru regarding your scientific point of view

The scientist has a wide range of interests and in her publications covers numerous, often interdisciplinary, research fields. At the beginning of her career, Nyamweru mainly dealt with topics of physical geography as well as geology and paleoclimatology . For example, she did research on the East African Rift and in June 1988, as a member of the Krafft - Keller expedition, carried out basic work on the Tanzanian volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai . This venture founded the modern exploration of the mountain and caused a sensation in the volcanological community. In the 1990s, Nyamweru's primary research interests shifted to cultural anthropology , East African and Native American ethnology , African studies , post-colonialism , traditional agriculture, and the protection of endangered forest sanctuaries in Kenya .

Nyamweru traveled to Uganda in January 1965 to research her dissertation and spent several weeks at Makerere University before she first came to Kenya in March of the same year to do field work. Even afterwards she remained closely connected to the country. She then taught at various universities in the country - including 19 years at the Department of Geography at Kenyatta University in the capital Nairobi , where she also worked as dean . In parallel, it began in the spring of 1985, the Kenyan program of the St. Lawrence University (SLU) - located in Canton in the US state of New York - to teach that it resorted unlike other schools on indigenous teachers on site. In mid-1991 she finally accepted a call from the SLU and became professor of anthropology in Canton . Funding for this position was made possible through a grant from the Ford Foundation , which was to be used to further develop the university's African Studies program. In 2009 Nyamweru retired .

Even after that, she gave seminars for freshmen students at the SLU. In addition, in the summer of 2010 she led a three-week field internship at the university in Kenya on the subject of “Nomad Shepherds and Wildlife Protection”. In 2016 Nyamweru served as Adjunct Professor (≈ unscheduled professor ) of the Kenyan Kilifi based Pwani University listed.

Publications (selection)

Monographs and compilations

• East Africa. Geography for Standard 6. Pupils' book . Oxford University Press , Nairobi / Dar es Salaam 1978.
• Rifts and volcanoes. A study of the East African rift system . Thomas Nelson and Sons, Nairobi 1980, ISBN 0-17-511447-1 .
• with A. Omwega: Geography for Form 1 . Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, Nairobi 1995, ISBN 9966-22-070-4 .
• Nyamweru, C. / Sheridan, MJ (Eds.): African sacred groves. Ecological dynamics & social change . James Currey, Oxford 2008, ISBN 978-0-8214-1789-8 .
• with C. Combe: Barkcloth in Uganda. The modern day importance of an indigenous craft . Lambert Academic Publishing , Saarbrücken 2012, ISBN 978-3-659-30160-5 .

Technical article

• Quaternary environments of the Chalbi basin, Kenya. Sedimentary and geomorphological evidence. In: Sedimentation in the African Rifts . Geological Society Special Publication, № 25, 1986, pp. 297-310.
• Activity of Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano, Tanzania, 1983-1987. In: Journal of African Earth Sciences . Vol. 7, № 4, 1988, pp. 603-610.
• with PI Abell: Paleoenvironments in the Chalbi Basin of Kenya. In: Chemical Geology . Vol. 72, № 4, June 1988, pp. 283-291.
• Report on activity in the northern crater of Oldoinyo Lengai, 24th June to 1st July 1988. In: Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society and National Museum . Vol. 79, № 186, 1989, pp. 1-15.
• with D. Bowman: Climatic changes in the Chalbi Desert, North Kenya. In: Journal of Quaternary Science . Vol. 4, № 2, 1989, pp. 131-139.
• New evidence for the former extent of the Nile drainage system. In: The Geographical Journal . Vol. 155, № 2, July 1989, pp. 179-188.
• Observations on changes in the active crater of Ol Doinyo Lengai from 1960 to 1988. In: Journal of African Earth Sciences . Vol. 11, № 3/4, December 1990, pp. 385-390 ·
• with AL Tesha and CJ Ebinger: Rift-related volcanic hazards in Tanzania and their mitigation. In: Tectonophysics . Vol. 209, № 1-4, August 1992, pp. 277-279.
• Ol Doinyo Lengai (Tanzania). Increased carbonatic lava production; ash eruptions. In: Global Volcanism Program Bulletin. Vol. 18, № 7, July 1993, pp. 15-16.
• Ol Doinyo Lengai (Tanzania). Description of crater in early July. In: Global Volcanism Program Bulletin. Vol. 18, № 8, August 1993, pp. 4-5.
• Nyamweru, C. et al. : June 1993 eruption of Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania - Exceptionally viscous and large carbonate flows and evidence for co-existing silicate and carbonate magmas. In: Geology . Vol. 22, № 9, 1994, pp. 799-802.
• Sacred groves threatened by development. The Kaya Forests of Kenya. In: Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine . September 1996, pp. 19-21.
• Changes in the crater of Oldoinyo Lengai. June 1993 - February 1997. In: Journal of African Earth Science. Vol. 25, № 1, July 1997, pp. 43-53.
• with C. Combe: From coronation robes to car seat covers. The changing uses of Ugandan bark cloth. In: Kenya - Past and present . Kenya Museum Society, № 36, 2006, pp. 53–58.
• with MJ Sheridan: Introduction - African sacred ecologies. In: Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture . Vol. 2, № 3, January 2008, pp. 285-291.
• The contribution of ecotourism to the conservation of natural sacred sites. A case study from coastal Kenya. In: Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. Vol. 2, № 3, January 2008, pp. 327-350.
• with S. Kibet: Cultural and biological heritage at risk. The case of the Rabai Kaya Forests in coastal Kenya. In: Journal of Human Ecology . Vol. 24, № 4, February 2008, pp. 287-295.
• Natural cultural sites of Kenya. Changing contexts, changing meanings. In: Journal of Eastern African Studies . Vol. 6, № 2, May 2012, pp. 270–302.
• with N. Carrier: Reinventing Africa's national heroes. The case of mekatilili , a Kenyan popular heroine. In: African Affairs . Vol. 115, № 461, October 2016, pp. 599–620.

Contributions to collective works that have not been edited by the author

• C. Nyamweru, JB Dawson, J. Keller : Historic and recent eruptive activity of Oldoinyo Lengai. In: K. Bell, J. Keller (Eds.): Carbonatite volcanism. Oldoinyo Lengai and the petrogenesis of Natrocarbonatites . (= IAVCEI proceedings in volcanology. № 4). Springer Science + Business Media , Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-642-79184-0 , pp. 4-22.
• The African Rift System. In: WM Adams, AS Goudie, AR Orme (Eds.): The physical geography of Africa . Oxford University Press , New York City 1996, ISBN 0-19-828875-1 , pp. 18-33.
• Letting the side down. Personal reflections on colonial and independent Kenya. In: GH Cornwell, Walsh Stoddard, E. (Eds.): Global multiculturalism. Comparative perspectives on ethnicity, race, and nation . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham (Maryland) 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0883-8 , pp. 169-192.
• Women and the sacred groves in coastal Kenya. A contribution to the ecofeminist debate. In: H. Eaton, LA Lorentzen (Ed.): Ecofeminism & globalization. Exploring culture, context, and religion . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham (Maryland) 2003, ISBN 0-7425-2697-6 , pp. 41-56.
• with AH Tengeza: Symbols of indigenous identity. The Ndata leadership staffs of Kaya elders in Kilifi District, Kenya. In: R. Gearhart, L. Giles (Eds.): Contesting Identities. The Mijikenda and their neighbors in Kenyan coastal society . Africa World Press, 2013, ISBN 978-1-59221-898-1 , pp. 225-244.
• Identity politics and culture in coastal Kenya. The role of the Malindi District Cultural Association. In: R. Gearhart, L. Giles (Eds.): Contesting Identities. The Mijikenda and their neighbors in Kenyan coastal society . Africa World Press, Trenton (New Jersey) 2013, ISBN 978-1-59221-898-1 , pp. 245-268.

Reviews

• Discussion on WC Mahaney : Quaternary and environmental research on east African mountains . Balkema, Cape Town 1989, ISBN 90-6191-794-8 . In: Progress in Physical Geography . Vol. 16, № 1, March 1992, pp. 113-115.
• Review of J. Davison: The ostrich wakes. Struggles for change in highland Kenya . Kirinyaga Publishers, Larkspur 2006, ISBN 0-9785150-0-5 . In: African Studies Review . Vol. 50, № 2, September 2007, pp. 264-266.
• Discussion on AC Dawson: Shrines in Africa. History, Politics, and Society . University of Calgary Press, Calgary 2009, ISBN 978-1-55238-246-2 . In: African Affairs . Vol. 109, № 435, April 2010, pp. 339-340.
• Review of J. Beardsley (Ed.): Cultural landscape heritage in sub-Saharan Africa . (= Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on the history of landscape architecture. № 37). Harvard University Press , Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2016, ISBN 978-0-88402-410-1 . In: African Studies Review . Vol. 59, № 2, September 2016, pp. 294–297.

Compiled archive collections

• Akwesasne contemporary issues resource collection 1974-2014 . Archived in: Owen D. Young Library, St. Lawrence University , Canton , New York , United States .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Nora Wolinsky, Josh Johnson, Neal Burdick, Betsy Kepes: Our Emeriti Faculty - Where are They Now . In: St. Lawrence University Magazine. Fall 2010. Retrieved from northcountrysymposium.com on June 24, 2017.
2. ^ GH Cornwell, E. Walsh Stoddard (Ed.): Global multiculturalism. Comparative perspectives on ethnicity, race, and nation . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham (Maryland) 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0883-8 , p. 186.
3. ^ Christy Currie: New professor compares education systems in US and Kenya . In: The Hill News. September 27, 1991, p. 8.
4. ^ GH Cornwell, E. Walsh Stoddard (Ed.): Global multiculturalism. Comparative perspectives on ethnicity, race, and nation . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, (Maryland) 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0883-8 , p. 178.
5. ^ GH Cornwell, E. Walsh Stoddard (Ed.): Global multiculturalism. Comparative perspectives on ethnicity, race, and nation . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham (Maryland) 2001, ISBN 0-7425-0883-8 , p. 170.
6. ↑ H. Eaton, LA Lorentzen (Ed.): Ecofeminism & globalization. Exploring culture, context, and religion . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Lanham (Maryland) 2003, ISBN 0-7425-2697-6 , p. 253.
7. ↑ idea of Celia Nyamweru on the homepage of the St. Lawrence University. Retrieved from stlawu.edu on June 24, 2017.
8. ↑ Celia Nyamweru: How to put the 'African' back into African Studies . Retrieved from africanarguments.org on June 24, 2017.