Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Towards "A Critical Appraisal of Barack Obama's Presidency:" You are invited to submit a chapter

Dr. Okafor:

Given the list of topics that you and your colleagues have mentioned in this correspondence, I believe that you are being unnecessarily ambitious. If you want to produce a volume consisting of well-researched, rigorous and balanced analyses, you will need to seriously consider narrowing the focus of the volume. There are simply too many topics. That is probably why you are limiting each contribution to 21 double-spaced pages--there is not enough space in 21 double-spaced pages for a contributor to provide the type of analysis that is deserving of a topic such as the presidency of Mr. Obama, especially given the President's position in U.S. politics writ large. For one thing, the literature review alone could cover as many as 5 pages, or more.

From the title of your department, I assume that you are interested in "African" and "African-American" studies. Hence, why not concentrate on producing two volumes, with possible titles such as: (1) The Obama Presidency and Africa; and (2) Obama and the Politics of Race in the United States.

As a legal scholar and one who has kept up with the impact of the Obama administration on the U.S. Supreme Court, I can tell you that full and effective treatment of that relationship would require more than 21 pages--and that is just one of the 19 topics listed above. 

One of the most important objectives of a scholarly monograph is to provide value-added to the literature on a given topic or area of research. Providing such value-added is more effectively undertaken if the topic is narrower and more focused.

The above, of course, is my opinion. You may choose to ignore it completely.

Greetings and good luck on your project. 

On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 7:42 AM, Victor Okafor <vokafor@emich.edu> wrote:

February 08, 2016

 

From: Victor Oguejiofor Okafor, Ph.D.

Professor and Head

Department of Africology and African American Studies

Eastern Michigan University

620 Pray Harrold

Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197

Email: vokafor@emich.edu

Web location: http://www.emich.edu/aas/faculty/okafor.php

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victor.okafor.9889

Tel: 734-487-3460

 

Re: An Invitation to submit a chapter to a proposed book on "A Critical Appraisal of Barack Obama's Presidency"

 

Since 2009, Eastern Michigan University has been running an annual series of expert and non-partisan panel evaluations of Barack Obama's presidency. The final edition of this series will be held in February, 2017. And, we intend to launch an edited book on "A Critical Appraisal of Barack Obama's Presidency" during that final edition of the expert panel series.

Given your expertise, I am hereby extending an invitation to you to develop and submit a chapter to the proposed Critical Appraisal of Barack Obama's Presidency. This project is envisaged as a collection of critical, in-depth and balanced analyses of Barack Obama's two-term presidency.

Intended to serve as an academic text, this proposed book (through its assemblage of a set of incisive chapters using an assortment of normative, multidisciplinary, qualitative and quantitative epistemological approaches) is designed to tackle a variety of questions pertaining to how, during his 8-year tenure, President Obama discharged his duties as the chief executive officer of what is easily the most complex political bureaucracy in human history against the backdrop of serving as the head of the executive branch of a governmental system that is based on three separate-but-equal branches, namely the presidency (that is, the executive branch), the legislature and the judiciary.

 

Notify me about your chosen/preferred topic

Thus, given your scholarly record, I invite you to submit a chapter to this proposed book on the basis of any of the nineteen themes listed below. For now, please respond to notify me of your acceptance of this invitation, along with the name of the chapter that you will be submitting.

Themes for proposed book

1. The overall impact of President Barack Obama's presidency

2.  National economic trends under Obama's presidency

3. President Obama's handling of national security challenges

4. Health care reform & Obama's presidency

5. National educational reforms & Obama's presidency

6. The impact of President Obama's leadership's on the political ideological direction of US national politics

7. Obama's presidency & the politics of race in America

8. Obama's presidency & the politics of gender in America

9. Obama's presidency & the politics of religion in America

10. Relations between the Executive branch and the US Congress during Obama's presidency

11. The impact of Obama's presidency on the shape of the US Supreme Court

12. The orientation of US foreign policy towards Africa under Obama's presidency

13. The orientation of US foreign policy towards the Middle East under Obama's presidency

14. The orientation of US foreign policy towards China under Obama's presidency

15. The orientation of US foreign policy towards Russia under Obama's presidency

16. US free trade policies & Obama's presidency

17. US climate change policies under Obama's presidency

18. The impact of Obama's presidency on the external world's perception of the United States

19. Did Obama's presidency bring about a socio-political transformation of the United States?

 

Specifications for chapter submission

A chapter submission is expected to consist of a minimum of double-spaced 21 pages of text, exclusive of the bibliography. The Chicago Manual of Style is a required documentation style for each chapter. Please, submit your essay as a Microsoft-word file attachment.

Due Date

You have until May 06, 2016 or preferably sooner to submit your completed chapter, along with an abbreviated curriculum vitae, to vokafor@emich.edu as an email attachment. This deadline is critical to my goal of getting this book out and ready for launching at the February, 2017 final edition of our annual series of expert and non-partisan evaluation of Barack Obama's presidency.

Feedback

Following a blind review, the editor of the proposed book publication, Dr. Victor O. Okafor will notify you as to whether your chapter is accepted or not accepted for publication.

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JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, ESQ.
J.D. (Law), Ph.D. (Economics)
Graduate Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Attorney & Counselor at Law (Licensed in Utah)
Brady Presidential Distinguished Professor of Economics &  John S. Hinckley Fellow
Department of Economics
Weber State University
1337 Edvalson Street, Dept. 3807
Ogden, UT 84408-3807, USA
(801) 626-7442 Phone
(801) 626-7423 Fax

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Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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