Mwenda Ntarangwi

Education, Tourism, or Just a Visit to the Wild?

This paper is both a personal and an academic reflection on my work as a U.S.-trained Kenyan anthropologist directing a study-abroad program for American undergraduate students in Kenya. It is an attempt to address three main issues: First is to understand why students choose to come to Kenya and what they hope to achieve by studying here. Second is to get a sense of what kind of prior images and information these students have of Kenya and Africa and how this influences their interaction with Kenya. Third is to understand how I as a Kenyan anthropologist trained in America balance the tasks of cultural broker and teacher of students in Kenya as is demanded of my position as director of a study-abroad program.

Youth, Music, and Peace Building

This article explores the ways through which youth mobilize music to advance peace in their communities, specifically emphasizing that music is not only used to bring people together for social harmony and reconciliation but also for protest and resistance in order to create a ‘culture of peace.’ It further seeks to establish the impetus that propels youth into persistent participation in peace building especially through an analysis of the interrelatedness of concepts of peace building and culture of peace as they interact with youth identity. Using examples of the role played by new media in shaping such identity, the article illuminates the power of music in building some kind of virtual coalition that promotes peace. As an expressive medium that often defies physical and cultural barriers, music provides both a platform for advancing peace and an analytical tool through which to understand sociocultural dynamics within which peace building can occur.