Red-chested Sunbird, Njeru, Uganda - Photo by JEL
Dear Reader,
This is a blog on topics in anthropology,
science, philosophy, religion, and African studies. The purpose of the blog is
to provoke thought and increase and improve knowledge. Civil dialog/discussion via email, with anyone, on these topics is welcome, as is a sense of humor.
Peace, Jim
Peace, Jim
EMAIL
CONTACT lassiterje@hotmail.coml.co
BIO
Born in Virginia, USA, 1947, Jim now lives with his wife, the former Miss Immy Rose Namutosi of Mbale, Uganda, near Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Jim enjoys watching and photographing birds, bass fishing, watching baseball, playing table tennis, walking, and preparing and eating Southern-style barbecue. He & Immy Rose divide their time each year between their home in the US and another in Uganda.
Born in Virginia, USA, 1947, Jim now lives with his wife, the former Miss Immy Rose Namutosi of Mbale, Uganda, near Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Jim enjoys watching and photographing birds, bass fishing, watching baseball, playing table tennis, walking, and preparing and eating Southern-style barbecue. He & Immy Rose divide their time each year between their home in the US and another in Uganda.
BACKGROUND
• University of Oregon - Cultural Anthropology, Peoples of
Africa, PhD '83, MS '75 • California State University, Sacramento -
Anthropology, Evolutionary Biology, BA (Honors) '74 • Director, Migration
Anthropology Consultants (MAC), LLC, May '09 - Present • Retired US Government,
Nov '07 • Chief, Refugee Officer Training and Program Integrity, Dept of
Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Washington '05-'07.
• Refugee Program Manager for Africa and Moscow, Dept of Justice, Immigration
and Naturalization Service, Washington '98-'05. • Asst Immigration Attaché, US
Embassy Nairobi, Kenya '96-'98. • Senior Desk Officer for Africa and Europe,
DOJ/INS, Washington '92-'96. • Peace Corps Country Director, Tanzania '85-'88,
Ghana '88-'91. • Desk Officer & Resident Expert for Southern African
Affairs, Peace Corps Hq, Washington '83-'85. • Peace Corps Volunteer Science
Teacher, Swaziland '80-'83. • Research Analyst, State of California, Center for
Health Statistics; Part-time Anthropology Instructor, American River College,
Sacramento, CA '76-'78 • US Air Force, Staff Sergeant, Command and Control
Emergency Actions NCO, Japan and New York '66-'70. Folsom High School,
California '63-'65. Extensive travel, residence and work in Africa, Europe,
Japan, Alaska.
BOOKS, ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS, PRESENTATIONS, PANELS
1. From the Unknown into Uncertainty: Essays and Commentary on the Origin, Evolution and Future of Humankind, 2020, Wanakhamuna Publishing, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
2. Circumcision and Coffee in Uganda: Bamasaaba Responses to Incursion, Colonialism and Nationalism 1840-1962, 2017, North Charleston: Amazon CreateSpace Publishing
2. Circumcision and Coffee in Uganda: Bamasaaba Responses to Incursion, Colonialism and Nationalism 1840-1962, 2017, North Charleston: Amazon CreateSpace Publishing
3. Lassiter: An American-African Life, in progress
4. Kiondo: A Family in Uganda and Beyond, in progress
5. Secular Truth & Morality: Being Happy, Virtuous and at Peace Without God and Religion,
2011, Amazon Kindle Book
6. “African Culture and Its Influence on the Continent’s Internal Initiatives and External Relations,” presented at the Society of Research on African Cultures (SORAC) Conference on Internalist and Externalist Interpretations of African Culture and History, Montclair State University, New Jersey, November 2002. Keynote Speakers included Professors Ali Mazrui and George B. N. Ayittey
7. “African Culture and Personality: A Reply to D. A. Masolo,” African Studies Quarterly: The Online Journal of African Studies, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2000, http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v4/v4i1a3.htm
8. “African Culture and Personality: Bad Social Science, Effective Social Activism or a Call to Reinvent Ethnology?,” African Studies Quarterly: The Online Journal of African Studies, Volume 3, Issue 3, 1999, http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v3/v3i3a1.htm
9. "The United States Peace Corps and Social Development in Africa,” a paper read by invitation at the Department of Sociology, University of Ghana - Legon, Accra, April 27, 1990
10. Peace Corps Headquarters Representative on panel “Anthropology and the Peace Corps: A Twenty Year Perspective,” Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Washington, DC, 1985
11. "Participant Observation in the Peace Corps,” Practicing Anthropology, 1983, Volume 5(2):11
12. "The Relevance of Sociocultural
Theory for Practicing Anthropology,", Practicing Anthropology, 1980,
Volume 2(4):9, 23-25
13. "Perspectives on Worldwide Development and the Role of
Social Scientists," awarded the Luther S. Cressman Prize for Outstanding
Anthropology Graduate Student Paper 1980, University of Oregon, Eugene, 68
pages
14. "Meta-Anthropology, Normative Culture and the
Anthropology of Development," a paper read at the 1979 Annual Meeting of
the Northwest Anthropological Conference, Eugene, Oregon, March 23, 1979
15. "Audio-Tutorial Slides and
Cassette Recordings in the History of Physical Anthropology, Human Paleontology
and Primatology," American River College, Anthropology Department,
Sacramento, California, 1977
OTHER PAPERS AND REPORTS
1. “Fair
Refuge: A Global Strategy and Plan for Maintaining Refugee Program Integrity,”
USCIS Concept Paper, 2001
2. “Global
Reach: A Multi-Year Initiative for the Overseas Deterrence of Human
Trafficking,” INS Concept Paper, 1994
3. “Country Program and Project Plans and Budgets for
Peace Corps Technical Assistance to Ghana,” 1989 – 1991
4. “Country
Program and Project Plans and Budgets for Peace Corps Technical Assistance to
Tanzania,” 1986 – 1988
_______________________________________________________
Migration Anthropology Consultants (MAC), LLC
Shelter,
Sustenance, Survival
_______________________________________________________
Meta
Q: Jim, your posts about US foreign policy are almost always
critical of US approaches. Why?
A: I'm only constructively critical of policies that place
the interests of nation-states above the needs of the emerging global
civilization, the expansion of human freedom, or above reducing or eliminating
human suffering. Besides, the US Dept of State has its own well-funded US
Information Agency to praise its efforts and do other things through
"public diplomacy." You will never hear a sitting president, State or
USIA admit that their, the current US's, foreign policies are bad for global needs,
restrict freedom, or tolerate suffering. You only hear such during election
campaigns or after a new regime enters the White House when speaking about
their predecessors. By then it's too late because damage has already been done.
It's easier, more cost effective, and less painful to do things right the first
time than re-do them. I believe critical voices in the present are essential
for democracy and for behaving humanely, locally and globally.
