Humanities & Social Sciences
Crafting the Bamasaba: a Mak-NUFU film premiere
Published
15 years agoon
The Mak-NUFU folklore project is a collaborative effort between the Department of Literature Makerere University and The Norwegian Programme for Development Research and Education (NUFU) aimed at establishing the role of Ugandan folklore as a repository of traditional wisdom.
The Mak-NUFU folklore project is a collaborative effort between the Department of Literature Makerere University and The Norwegian Programme for Development Research and Education (NUFU) aimed at establishing the role of Ugandan folklore as a repository of traditional wisdom.
One of these methods is through the promotion of cultural film production and research.
Crafting the Bamasaba is the first full-length feature (62mins) and the third film under this project, which aims at exploring the life and aspects “Beyond the physical cut” of the actual Imbalu initiation ceremony. Other titles before this were IN THEIR OWN VOICES: THE MADI OF UGANDA (44mins) and Imbalu: The heart of Masabaland (17mins)
The premiere of this film, held at the Department of Food Science and Technology Conference hall was attended by University staff, representatives from the Uganda film industry and students. Notable among the staff were Prof David Bakibinga, former Deputy Vice Chancellor Finance and Administration, The Dean, Faculty of Arts Prof. Ssengendo, Dr. J. Kaahwa, deputy Dean Faculty of Arts and Mr. Adolu Otojoka.
Sr. Dr. Dominic Dipio, Head, Department of Literature welcomed everyone to the screening and thanked especially the students and staff for making time despite their busy exam schedules. She proceeded to give a brief background of the film, which was shot in Manafa, one of the districts comprising the land of the Bamasaba in Eastern Uganda. She then introduced the film and wished everyone a happy viewing.
The film kicks of with the unmistakable sounds of the undulating drums and flutes that accompany ceremonies of the Bamasaba, most outstandingly the processions leading up to the Imbalu initiation ceremony. It then delves into the origins of this ceremony, which as tale has it, was introduced by a girl called Nabarwa, who set a condition of circumcision in order for her to accept any romantic advances from her Mumasaba lover man. Having fulfilled her condition, the two proceeded to live happily ever after and henceforth, the Imbalu tradition was born and accepted as a core cultural ingredient and distinct identity signifying the transition from boyhood to true manhood.
It then touched on practices preceding the actual initiation ceremony, which is marked by elaborate colorful processions that often move over 20kms in a single day! These see the ‘candidate’ move from village to village announcing his candidature to his uncles and soliciting and receiving gifts. The audience’s concentration on the feature was unmistakable as the air was often punctuated with sounds of laughter, awe, gasps and winces as some images quickly flashed by. On the other hand, some of the key informants’ interviews also didn’t escape the jeers and flashes of disdain from this attentive audience as some of their contributions, though from a cultural point of view trampled on modern day gender roles and relations.
This feature ends with comments from the key informants recognizing that times have indeed changed and some of accompanying practices are overtly unsafe as the participants are often under the influence of alcohol and hence more susceptible to illicit behavior. Economic factors also come into play as hitherto elaborate celebrations, characterized by weeklong feasting are no longer affordable and tend to put a strain on the candidate’s family. The prolonged applause as the film’s end credits rolled up indeed proved the audience’s enjoyment of the premiere.
The days emcee Mr. Danson Kayana, Asst. Lecturer Department of Literature commended everyone for being such a great audience and hoped for an equally amiable reception the next time an invitation was extended. He then invited Sr. Dipio to moderate the next question and answer section.
Mr. Adolu Otojoka; popularly referred to as professor because of his great contribution to performing arts in the Department of Music, Dance and Drama thanked the Department of Literature for their wonderful work and shared his personal experience, which as a young man drawn by his undying love for a Mumasaba girl saw him almost brave the knife in 1954. However, this wasn’t to be as he quickly changed his mind and fled for dear life after witnessing a candidate undergo the un-anesthetized operations under the swift hands the ‘surgeon’.
Mr. Otojoka’s contribution sent the audience into uncontrollable laughter and indeed set the pace for the audience’s questions and comments, which touched on the depth of the film, the apparent degradation of women during the ritual, the act of circumcising dead bodies and matters to do with spirituality. Prof. Ssengendo, Head, Faculty of Arts and representing the Ag. Vice Chancellor Prof. Baryamureeba thanked the Department of Literature and Sr. Dipio in particular for her tireless contribution to Faculty especially in the performing arts division.
He observed that the production of such films was indeed in tandem with the university strategic plan’s component of outreach, the rest being teaching and research. Furthermore, he noted that the production of such films would not only enrich the cultural repositories of the institution but also play a key role in helping the Makerere community to learn more about other cultures and hence appreciate them better.
Sr. Dipio then took this opportunity to recognize some of the key informants present during the launch; Ms. Florence Mutonyi Dujanga, Lecturer Physics Department, Mr. Francis Wambete, Lecturer Institute of Languages and Mr. Dominic Makwa, Masters Student. She also recognized Mr. Kifu Taddese, a representative from Africa Cinema and Culture Company, who helped with the post production, representatives from AMAKULA Uganda Mr. Ken Barongo and Ms Sarah Sigayi.
After a few more contributions from the audience, Sr. Dipio invited some of the key informants present to react to the issues raised. Mr. Makwa, who had his fair share of presence in the film, led the reactions and left the audience stunned when he reaffirmed what had aired during the film that, possession by spirits was culturally permissible for the circumcisers as without spiritual influence, they’d lack the “blessing” to perform the revered tradition.
Quick to follow was Ms. Mutonyi, who sought to clarify on the role played by women in this male dominated ritual. Reacting to one of the contributors who was appalled at the Bamasambas’ apparent sexual exploitation of women during the processions, she stressed that the original taboos associated with pre-marital sex weren’t meant to condone exploitation of women but rather to deter would-be victims by labeling/ostracizing the offenders.
Mr. Wambete then closed the question and answer session by commenting on questions about the physical abuse meted out by the elder men on the initiates. He explained that this was only meant to toughen up the candidates and test their determination to see the ritual through while all the time watching for any signs of hesitation or cowardice so as not to shame the family during the more severe Imbalu. Regarding the practice of circumcising the dead, he clarified that it was cultural taboo, which was believed to bring a curse upon the entire clan, to burry an uncircumcised male adult however bizarre and appalling this circumcision routine seemed to be.
Prof. Bakibinga in his remarks thanked Sr. Dipio once again for her tireless efforts in keeping the Department of Literature’s light burning by regularly inviting people to witness their works. He also commended Sr. Dipio on her novelty, which has seen the introduction of a Film Production course, housed under the Department and hoped that this would help hone the skills of future world-class film producers and directors. He noted that this would not only enable the students to become entrepreneurs but also cement the outreach component of the University’s strategic plan, as the communities would be able to witness the good works of Makerere.
In conclusion, Sr. Dipio thanked AMAKULA Kampala and Africa Cinema and Culture Company for their contributions and support, the key informants for their willing participation, The Head and staff of the Faculty of Arts for their encouragement and belief in their work and Jeffrey Balemezi, The film’s editor for a job well done. She further stressed that the film only featured certain cultural view points and as such did not represent the Bamasaba culture entirety. However, she hoped that this would be a stepping stone for future productions to explore specific components moderately touched on by this film.
Copies of the film can be obtained at the Department of Literature, Faculty of Arts Makerere University at UShs 10,000/= per copy.
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Humanities & Social Sciences
Call For Abstracts: 2025 CHUSS Graduate Symposium
Published
1 week agoon
April 23, 2025By
Jane Anyango
With funding from Lisa Maskell, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Makerere University has held several symposia targeting PhD students and early career scholars of Historical Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences from Makerere University. The CHUSS 2025 Graduate Symposium is now open to PhD students from Ugandan, regional and PANGeA affiliated universities.
This change in direction is cognisant of the achievements of the Graduate Schools in training the next generation of African scholars in Historical Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences. The interventions have checked the existential threats that these disciplines faced because of the denigration of higher education, especially the Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines, under the aegis of the International Momentary Fund/World Bank Structural Adjustment Policies of the 1990s. Indeed, the Lisa Maskell grants to the universities of Stellenbosch, Makerere, and Ghana have reversed the crisis within these disciplines and ensured their sustainability on the continent. Nonetheless, an organic networked and viable community of continental Historical Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences scholars and practitioners graduating from these universities has not been established. Therefore, CHUSS wishes to contribute towards building this community through this inaugural Graduate Symposium.
In this regard, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS), Makerere University, invites PhD fellows from Makerere University including those from Ugandan, regional and PANGeA affiliated universities of Yaoundé, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Malawi, Stellenbosch, Ghana at Legon and Botswana to the 2025 CHUSS Graduate Symposium. The 2025 Symposium will congregate PhD fellows into an interactive and networking collaboration besides presenting their work in progress and acquiring requisite scholarly/professional skills for 21st century Humanities and Social Sciences academics.
Participation and Submission of Abstracts
The CHUSS Graduate Symposium 2025 hereby calls for 250-word abstracts drawn from the fellows’ work in progress such as research proposals, draft theses or research articles for presentation at Makerere University, Kampala from 19 to 21 June 2025. The Symposium will be preceded by a writing workshop that will be curated by Prof. Grace A. Musila (University of Witwatersrand), Dr Peter Wafula Wekesa (Kenyatta University), Dr Amon Ashaba Mwine (Makerere University) and Dr Isaac Tibasiima (Makerere University). The Symposium will start with a keynote address by Prof. Grace A. Musila on “Life after the PhD: Building and Nourishing Supportive Scholarly Communities and Networks”. It will also include a panel discussion on the challenges of graduate studies and mental health.
Funding
The Symposium is fully supported by a Lisa Maskell grant at Makerere University; therefore, participants from Ugandan, regional and PANGeA affiliated universities will not pay conference fees. However, the participants will have to meet their travel and accommodation costs in Kampala.
The Symposium will be held in-person at Makerere University and fellows who plan to attend should submit their abstracts clearly stating their name, affiliation and contact details to: chusssymposium@mak.ac.ug by Friday May 23, 2025. Contributors will be notified of the decisions on their submissions by Friday June 6, 2025.
For further information and inquiry, please write to:
- Dr Edgar Nabutanyi: Symposium Convenor Email: edgar.nabutanyi@mak.ac.ug
- Dr Levis Mugumya: Symposium Convenor Email: levis.mugumya@mak.ac.ug
- Ms. Esther Namitala: Symposium Administrator Email: namitalaesther@gmail.com
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Grace A. Musila University of the Witwatersrand
Grace A. Musila is an Associate Professor of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. She has taught African Literature at the University of Johannesburg, Stellenbosch University and University of the Witwatersrand. Her research focuses on Anglophone African literature and popular culture, primarily in East and Southern Africa. Her work interrogates how settler colonial history of East and Southern Africa and its twin legacies of epistemic injustice and selective apportionment of humanity continue to shape these regions’ formal institutions and socio-political practices.
Humanities & Social Sciences
Special University Entry Examinations for the Diploma in Performing Arts 2025/26
Published
1 week agoon
April 23, 2025By
Mak Editor
The Academic Registrar Makerere University invites applications for the Special University Entry Examinations for admission to the Diploma in Performing Arts.
The examination will take place on Saturday 17th May, 2025.
Application process is online for those intending to sit the examination. Kindly note that there is payment of a non-refundable application fee of Shs. 110,000/- excluding bank charges in any (Stanbic Bank Branch, Dfcu Post Bank, UBA and Centenary Bank). The application fee includes 2 Past Papers availed to you on completion of the online process.
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO SIT THE EXAMINATIONS, THE CANDIDATE MUST POSSESS AN O’LEVEL CERTIFICATE (UCE) WITH AT LEAST 5 PASSES.
The deadline for receiving the online applications is Tuesday 13th May 2025.
How to Apply
- Application is online for ALL applicants.
- Other relevant information can be obtained from Undergraduate Mature Age Office, Level 5, Room 505, Senate Building, Makerere University or can be acceessed from https://see.mak.ac.ug
- A non refundable application fee of Shs. 110,000= for Ugandans, East Africans Applicants (Including S. Sudan & DRC) OR US $ 75 or equivalent for international applicants plus bank charges should be paid in any of the banks used by Uganda Revenue Authority.
- Apply through the application portal https://see.mak.ac.ug
Please see download below for the application portal user guide.
Further inquiries may be sent to email: see@mak.ac.ug
Prof. Mukadasi Buyinza
ACADEMIC REGISTRAR
Humanities & Social Sciences
Call for Abstracts: International Social Work and Social Development Conference
Published
2 months agoon
March 5, 2025By
Mak Editor
International Social Work and Social Development Conference
Call for Abstracts
Extended Deadline for abstract submission | Conference registration now open!!
Theme: Building Resilient Communities to Promote Equity and Social Inclusion for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs)
16th to 18th June 2025, Makerere University, Kampala Uganda
Makerere University’s Department of Social Work, in partnership with the East African Social Work Regional Resource Centre (EASWRRC) and the Association of Schools of Social Work in Africa (ASSWA) will host an International Conference on social work and social development from 16th – 18th June 2025 at Makerere University, Kampala. The Conference seeks to galvanise academic knowledge, debate and critical inquiry and engagements on the topical issues of equity, social justice and inclusion within the framework of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while foregrounding practice knowledge as experienced by development actors across the globe. This conference is organised under the auspices of the NORAD-supported RESILIENT Project, implemented since January 2021 by a consortium comprising Makerere University, the University of Rwanda, the Institute of Social Work, Tanzania and the University of Agder Norway. The project seeks to enhance the participation of the vulnerable and marginalized members of society in the south in the development process itself. For more details on the conference and the ongoing project please visit the following website: https://resilient.uia.no/about-resilient/.
The Conference further seeks to enhance local content and scholarship through the applicability of generated knowledge to addressing local and regional development problems, within the confluence of the greater agenda for social work and social development and its emphasis on social change. This no doubt has ramifications for the application of good practices in social development interventions in other contexts within Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas and contributes to the evolution of global social work/social development practice which promotes contextual specificity and relevance without removing the need for international networking and collaborative engagement.
We are now pleased to invite you to submit abstracts to be presented at the International Social Work and Social Development Conference. We are particularly interested in presentations and contributions that reflect perspectives on social justice, equity, and inclusion within the framework of attaining the SDGs within developing countries.
Conference Justification
The proposed conference is conceptualised within the indigenisation and decolonisation model of social work which seeks to promote social development through culturally and contextually relevant interventions from the grassroots. The major thrust of the indigenisation and decolonisation perspective is based on the notion that the process of social development can only be meaningful and effective if it provides context-specific and tangible responses to the given social problems in a particular local or regional context (whether it be Africa, Asia, Latin America or any other setting). These responses must be related to the socio-cultural realities in that region (Twikirize and Spitzer, 2019[1]). The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations, 2007[2]) unequivocally recognises that respect for indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper management of the environment.
The Declaration of the United Nations World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, and their successor SDGs in 2015[3] all call out the need for role players such as social work and social development practitioners to review their strategies in addressing social injustices, poverty, social exclusion and inequalities. Within this context, social work is well positioned to explore more innovative ways to reach out to the poor and vulnerable and in doing so contribute more efficiently to addressing social exclusion and social inequality and to directly contribute to the realization of several SDGs (3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 17). Moreover, SDG progress monitoring reports seem to suggest that much work needs to be done to attain these targets by 2030 (Halkos and Gkampura, 2021[4]).
Conference objectives
The conference aims to:
- Bring together social work and social development practitioners, researchers, students, educators and policy makers in order to interact, learn and share each other’ experiences on pertinent social development issues.
- Generate topical resolutions that can be utilised by local and central governments and institutions in the global South and North to further advance the debate/efforts regarding the attainments of SDGs.
Conference Themes
We welcome submissions on any of the following themes, broadly conceived:
- Child Wellbeing and Child Protection
- Youth Participation and Inclusion
- Older Persons, Social Protection and Socio-economic Participation
- North-South and South-South Partnership and Collaborations in Social Development
- Green Social Work and Environment
- University and Community Engagement/ Role of Universities in Community Transformation
- Migration, Refugees and Development
- Civil Society, NGOs, Social Work and Development Practice
- The role of Social Work in Emergencies, Pandemic Crises and Conflict
- Climate change
- Rights Equity and Social Justice
- Technology and social development
- Mental Health
- Creative features, languages literature and social transformation
Conference level
This is an International Conference targeting academics, development practitioners, policy makers, students, researchers and the general public from all continents across the global North and South. We however strongly encourage participants from the global South and the Africa region to submit abstracts and papers for the conference.
Specific instructions to authors:
- The abstract submitted should not be more than 250 words
- Nature of presentation:Poster presentations, oral presentations, panels and workshop formats
- All abstracts should be submitted in Microsoft word format
- The font type should be Times New Roman 12pt, 1.5 spacing
- The presenting author should be presented first and underlined
- Indicate the institutional affiliation and the country
- Indicate the email address of the presenting/corresponding author
- All abstracts should be submitted in English
- Themes of the submission should also be indicated.
- Abstracts can be sent via Email to: resilientconference2025@mak.ac.ug copied to ainembabazi.dorynn@gmail.com or submitted online at https://resilientconference.mak.ac.ug/submit-abstracts
Potential benefits and impacts of the conference
- International networking and benchmarking on social development issues generally
- Opportunity to influence social agendas within the global development landscape and social programming through impacting the regional and international social work associations and the United Nations agencies .
Conference Keynote Speakers
- Prof. Antoinette Lombard, IASSW President and Professor of Social Work at University of Pretoria.
- Prof. Jeannette Bayisenge, former Minister of Gender and Family Protection in Rwanda and Professor of Gender Studies, University of |Rwanda.
- Prof. Ann Christin E. Nilsen, PI of the RESILIENT project and Professor of Sociology at the University of Agder, Norway.
- Dr. Zena Mnasi Mabeyo, Head of the Department of Psychology at the Institute of Social Work, Tanzania.
Registration
Online: https://resilientconference.mak.ac.ug/conference-registration
Or in person: With $100 registration fees for non-Africa-based participants; Students $10 or UGX 30,000; National applicants $30 or UGX 100,000.
For Registration
Extended Deadline for abstract submission: 30th April 2025
Date for confirmation of acceptance of abstracts: Given on a rolling basis effective 15th of March 2025. This will continue up to the 15th of May 2025.
Chair Local Organizing Committee
Prof. Eric Awich Ochen
Tel: +256 772 352 887
Email: eric.ochen@mak.ac.ug
Conference Secretariat
Ms Doreen Ainembabazi
Tel: +256 774 468 902
Email: ainembabazi.dorynn@gmail.com and
Ms Prisciline Aciro
Tel: +256 778 549 669
Email: resilientconference2025@mak.ac.ug
[1] Twikirize, Janestic and Spitzer, Helmut (2019) Social work practice in Africa: indigenous and innovative approaches. Kampala: Fountain Publishers
[2] https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf
[3] See https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda
[4] Halkos, George & Gkampoura, Eleni-Christina, 2021. “Where do we stand on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals? An overview on progress,” Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, 70(C), pages 94-122.
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