Bangura, Abdul Karim 1953–

views updated

Bangura, Abdul Karim 1953–

PERSONAL:

Born August 26, 1953, in Sierra Leone; naturalized U.S. citizen; son of Ali Kainda and Fatmata Bangura; married Diana Marie Kelly, 1979; children: Fatmata Aminata, Isatu Ramatu. Ethnicity: "African." Education: Northern Virginia Community College, A.A.S., 1978; American University, B.A. and M.A., both 1982; University of Stockholm, Fil.Mag., 1983; Howard University, Ph.D. (political science), 1987; Georgetown University, M.S., 1989, Ph.D. (linguistics), 1992; University of Maryland at Baltimore, Ph.D. (policy sciences), 1990; Foley-Belsaw Institute, diploma in computer programming, 1998; Columbus University, New Orleans, LA, Ph.D. (computer science), 2001; also studied in Italy. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Muslim. Hobbies and other interests: Activities to promote "global peace and conflict resolution."

ADDRESSES:

Home—Washington, DC. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Army and Air Force Exchange Services, Alexandria, VA, services supervisor, 1975-79; Sojourner-Douglass College, Baltimore, MD, adjunct professor of business and marketing studies, 1986-90; National Education Center, Washington, DC, instructor in business technologies and management, 1991-94; Bowie State University, Bowie, MD, assistant professor of political science, 1993-2000, founding director of Center for Success, 1999-2000; American University, Washington, DC, professorial lecturer, 1999-2000, professor of international relations, 2000—, researcher in residence at Center for Global Peace, 1999—, and coordinator of Islamic lecture series. Howard University, adjunct professor, 1989-92, professorial lecturer, 1998—; Georgetown University, Schiff Summer Program Professor, 1994-96; University of Maryland at College Park, codirector of International Communication and Negotiation Simulations Project, 2000; University of Sierra Leone, member of advisory board for Center for Development and Security Analysis at Fourah Bay College, 2005—; conference organizer; consultant. Brookings Institution, research assistant in Middle Eastern affairs, 1986-87; Atlantic Council of the United States, academic associate, 1995—. African Institution, director, 1989—; Topps Gourmet Sauce, Inc., coordinator of Topp's Annual African-Centered Awards, 1997—. Alcohol Intervention Institute, Silver Spring, MD, codirector, 1989-93; Office of the Mayor, Washington, DC, member of Intergovernmental Relations Task Force, 1994-98. Guest on television and radio programs. Member of editorial board, Sierra Leone Review, 1992—, Mentor: Journal of Mentoring and Field Experience, 1999—, Journal of Peace-Building and Development, 2000—, Sierra Leonean Writers Press, 2002—, and International Journal of Social and Management Sciences, 2006—.

MEMBER:

African Studies Association (chair of Research Methodology and African Studies section, 1990-96), Association of Third World Studies (president, 2001-02; ambassador to the United Nations, 2002-04), American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society for Public Administration, American Political Science Association, Linguistic Society of America, Mathematical Association of America, Policy Studies Organization, National Association of African-American Studies (regional director, 1998—), National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies, National Historical Society, Alexander and Bouchet Society (senior associate).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Distinguished Scholar Award, Middle Atlantic Writers Association, 1995; certificate of achievement, Caribbean Association of Professionals and Scholars, 1996; Topp's African-Centered awards, Topps Gourmet Sauce, Inc., 1997 and 1998; certificate of appreciation, Japan-America Student Conference, 2000; African Studies and Research Forum, Africa Excellence in Scholarship Award, 2001, All African Award, 2002, and Excellence in Scholarship and Service Award, 2006; Black History Month Lecture Award, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 2002; Association of Third World Studies, Distinguished Leadership and Service Award, 2004, and Outstanding Scholar Award, 2006; Dubai International Award, 2006; grants from U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation.

WRITINGS:

Minimizing a Person's Chances of Becoming Intoxicated: A Handbook on Alcohol Awareness, Alcohol Intervention Institute (Silver Spring, MD), 1990.

Multilingualism and Diglossia in Sierra Leone, Brunswick Publishing (Lawrenceville, VA), 1991.

The Limitations of Survey Research Methods in Assessing the Problem of Minority Student Retention in Higher Education, Mellen Research University Press (San Francisco, CA), 1992.

Black Political Thought, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1994.

The Kipsigis, Rosen Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1994.

(Editor and contributor) Research Methodology and African Studies, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1994.

The Effects of United States Foreign Aid to Egypt, 1957-1987, Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston, NY), 1994.

(With Dawit Isayas, Gerald Smith, and Michael Thomas) Political Behavior, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1996.

Political Presuppositions and Implicatures of the Most Popular African-American Hymns, Nova Science Publishers (New York, NY), 1996.

The Presuppositions and Implicatures of the Founding Fathers, Cummings & Hathaway (Larchmont, NY), 1997.

Ebonics Is Good, African Institution (Washington, DC), 1998, revised edition, 2000.

(With Michael O. Thomas) Bowie State University Alma Mater: Historical Context and Linguistic Presuppositions, African Institution (Washington, DC), 1998.

Chaos Theory and African Fractals, African Institution (Washington, DC), 2000.

Historical Political Economy of Washington, D.C., University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 2000.

Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone, 2nd edition, Scarecrow Press (Metuchen, NJ), 2001.

Computer Programming to Insure Project Accountability in Africa, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2001.

(With Martin C. Muo) United States Congress and Bilingual Education, Peter Lang Publications (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor and contributor) United States-African Relations: The Reagan-Bush Era, Peter Lang Publications (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor) DC Vote: Fighting against Taxation without Representation, Writers Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.

Mario Fenyo on the Third World, Writers Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.

(Editor) Unpeaceful Metaphors, Writers Press (Lincoln, NE), 2002.

(With Mario Fenyo) Law and Politics at the Grassroots: A Case Study of Prince George's County, Writers Press (San Jose, CA), 2003.

(Editor) Washington DC State of Affairs, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2003.

The Holy Qur'an and Contemporary Issues, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2003.

(With Abdul Aziz Said) The World of Islam: Country-by-Country Profiles, Pearson Custom Publishing (Boston, MA), 2004.

Islamic Sources of Peace, Pearson Custom Publishing (Boston, MA), 2004.

Surah Al-Fatihah, Authors Choice Press (San Jose, CA), 2004.

Sweden vs. Apartheid: Putting Morality Ahead of Profit, Ashgate Publishing (Burlington, VT), 2004.

(Editor) Islamic Peace Paradigms, Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA), 2005.

(Editor) Peace Paradigms, Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA), 2005.

(Editor) Introduction to Islam: A Sociological Perspective, Kendall/Hunt Publishing (Dubuque, IA), 2005.

Washington, DC's Challenges, Publishers Choice Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Author of training manuals. Contributor to books, including Divisive Barbarity or Global Civilization: The Ethical Dimensions of Science, Art, Religion, and Politics, edited by M.L. Bradbury and Suheil Bushrui, University of Maryland Press (College Park, MD), 1996; Islam and Trade in Sierra Leone, edited by Alusine Jalloh and David Skinner, African World Press (Trenton, NJ), 1997; Perspetives on Contemporary Ethnic Conflict: Primal Violence or the Politics of Conviction?, edited by Santosh C. Saha, Lexington Books (Lanham, MD), 2006; Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies in West Africa: A Reader, edited by Shedrack Best, Spectrum Books (Ibadan, Nigeria), 2007; and The Politics of Ethnicity and National Identity, edited by Santosh C. Saha, Peter Lang Publishing (New York, NY), 2007. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Mabyala Review: Sierra Leone Literary and Social Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Enterprise, Resources in Higher Education, Spectrum, Journal of Third World Studies, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, International Journal of Sierra Leone Studies & Reviews, Washington Post, and Africa Today. Editor in chief, African Journal of Languages and Linguistics and Journal of Research Methodology and African Studies, both 1996—; corresponding editor for African architecture and computational mathematics, Nexus Network Journal on Architecture and Mathematics, 2003—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Abdul Karim Bangura once told CA: "My late father inspires my writing, as he taught me to always fight against injustice and tyranny and to promote the cause of the oppressed, depressed, repressed, and suppressed." Bangura also told CA that his languages include Temne, Krio, Mende, Fula, Kono, Sherbro, Limba, Kiswahili, Spanish, Italian, French, German, and Swedish.