From our conference panelists and guests:


Catherine Cole____________________________________________________________________
Professor, Department of Theater, Dance and Performance Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Dear Professor Ngugi,

The "Global Conversations" conference was an extraordinary experience, both for myself and for many of my colleagues who attended. I also brought with me to the conference four graduate students who all have spoken at length afterwards about how tranformative they found the conference on every level: intellectually, emotionally and artistically. They appreciated the variety of formats, and also hearing colleagues interact in ways that were both highly personal and intellectual. Personally I valued the contact with so many writers and scholars from around the world, especially those based in Africa. I was also deeply moved by the film, in ways that I could not even articulate at the time.

Best wishes,
Catherine

Senem Oner____________________________________________________________________
Graduate Student, Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies, Bogazici University, Turkey

Dear Professor Wa Thiong'o,

I would like to thank you once again for making it possible for me to participate in the conference, which was a great experience for me. It opened many new paths of thought and gave rise to many questions that I did not think of before.

With kind regards,
Senem

Radha Radhakrishnan________________________________________________________________
Professor, Department of Asian American Studies, University of California, Irvine

Dear Ngugi and Colette,

Hearty congratulations and a heartfelt thank you for GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS. It was delightful, moving, and a rich learning experience. Cheers to a multi-perspectival world of many languages, accents, and rhythms.

Radha

Ketu Katrak____________________________________________________________________
Professor, School of Humanities, University of California, Irvine

Dear Rita, Sukrita, Anita, and Sudipto,

Thank you all most sincerely for your excellent participation on the Voices of South Asia panel at the recent ICWT conference. I really enjoyed all your remarks and believe that we had a very successful panel.

It was wonderful to have two performances from participants on our panel. Thanks so much to Anita and to Sudipto for such great shows.

Do keep in touch and all good wishes,
Ketu (Katrak)

Ariel Osterweis Scott_________________________________________________________________
Ph.D. Student in Performance Studies, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Dear Colette Atkinson,

As a second-year Ph.D. student in performance studies at UC Berkeley who researches contemporary African dance, I felt very privileged to be able to attend Ngugi wa Thiong'o's conference on Translation.  In fact, upon my return I shared my thoughts on the conference with a seminar I am currently taking in Rhetoric and Anthropology, entitled, "Death, Violence, and Questions of Method" (taught by Samera Esmeir and Stefania Pandolfo).  ... I appreciated the global viewpoints represented by the diverse array of panelists, and most of all, I was intrigued by the way many of their arguments pivoted around the idea of a "mother tongue."  The provocative arguments that ensued both embraced and resisted this notion (of a mother tongue).  Most of all, I was intrigued by Achille Mbembe's questions concerning the de-weaponization of language.   Where there is language, we can trace circuitries of power, and this conference should remind us all to utter our words carefully and thoughtfully, on paper, in speech, and in translation.

Best,
Ariel