Ronald Raymond Atkinson
Department of History, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208
Phone: 803 777 5195 (work); 803 779 6657 (home)
Fax: 803-777-4494
Email: ronald-atkinson@sc.edu

Education

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Major: History (African). Ph.D. (1978).

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Major: History (African). M.A. (1968).

University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya (study abroad, 1966-67).

Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI. Major: History. B.A. (1967).

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. Major: Mathematics (1963-65).

Selected Honors and Fellowships

Golden Key Faculty Award for Creative Integration of Research and Undergraduate Teaching, 2002 (one award each year, selected from among c. 1,400 full-time faculty on the Columbia campus).

Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, U.S. Department of State, 2000-2001.

College of Liberal Arts Senior Scholarship (CLASS) Award, University of South Carolina, 2000-2001.

Mortar Board Excellence in Teaching Award, University of South Carolina, 2000, 1994, 1993.

Included in Dictionary of International Biography, Cambridge, 28th ed., 2000.

Included in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 3rd ed., 1998; 2nd ed., 1996; 1st ed., 1994.

Michael J. Mungo Teaching Award, University of South Carolina, 1997 (one of four selected annually among full-time faculty on the Columbia campus—can win only one time).

Honors College Distinguished Professor Award, 1995 (one selected annually—can win only one time).

AMOCO Outstanding Teacher Award, University of South Carolina, 1992 (the highest teaching award of the university, one selected annually from among all full-time facult—can win only one time).

Robert F. Heizer Prize of the American Society for Ethnohistory, for the best article, internationally, in the field of ethnohistory, 1990.

Research Fellow, Gold Fields Resource Centre, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, 1989 90.

Research and Productive Scholarship Grant, University of South Carolina, 1988, 1987.

Southern Regional Education Board (Atlanta), Small Grants Award, 1987, 1986.

Visiting Fellow and Temporary Member, Senior Common Room, University College, Oxford University, 1987.

Research and Conferences Committee Travel Grant, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1979.

Gwendolen M. Carter Award for the Outstanding Dissertation in African Studies, Program of African Studies, Northwestern University, 1979.

Social Science Research Council Post doctoral Research Grant (with the Committee on African Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies), 1978 79.

Program of African Studies Dissertation Grant, Northwestern University, 1974.

Visiting Fellow, Department of History, The Johns Hopkins University, 1973 74.

Research Fellow, History of Uganda Project, Department of History, Makerere University, 1970 71.

Magna cum laude graduate, Kalamazoo College, 1967.

Phi Beta Kappa, 1967.

Dissertation

“A History of the Western Acholi of Uganda, c. 1675 1900: A Study in the Utilization and Analysis of Oral Data.” Northwestern University, 1978.

Books

The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda. 2nd ed., paperback. Kampala, Uganda: Fountain Publishers, 1999. Reprinted 2001.

The Roots of Ethnicity: The Origins of the Acholi of Uganda before 1800. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 1994.

The Effective Principal: School Management and Leadership for a New South Africa. Facilitator Guide, 4 vols.; Participant's Manual, 3 vols. 2nd ed. Ed. by Ronald R. Atkinson, Judy L. Wyatt, and Zeph A. Senkhane. Cape Town: Teacher Opportunity Programmes. 1993.

The Effective Prinicpal. Facilitator Guide, 3 vols.; Participant's Manual, 3 vols. Ed. by Ronald R. Atkinson, Judy L. Wyatt, and Zeph A. Senkhane. Cape Town: Teacher Opportunity Programmes. 1992.

Edited Collections of Source Material

Additional Sources. Vol. 4 of The Effective Principal: School Management and Leadership for a New South Africa. Facilitator Guide. 2nd ed. Ed. by Ronald R. Atkinson, Judy L. Wyatt, and Zeph A. Senkhane. Cape Town: Teacher Opportunity Programmes. 1993.

Bibliography and Source Material on Acholi. Vol. 4 of Source Material in Ugandan History. Collected and translated by the Department of History, Makerere University. Edited by Ronald R. Atkinson. Kampala: Department of History and Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University, 1971.

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

“The (Re)Construction of Ethnicity in Africa: Extending the Chronology, Conceptualization, and Discourse.” In Ethnicity and Nationalism in Africa: Constructivist Reflections and Contemporary Politics, pp. 15-44. Ed. by P. Yeros. London: Macmillan/New York: St. Martin=s. 1999.

“History in the Making: South Africa in Transition.” USC Historian, University of South Carolina, Department of History, Summer 1996.

“Acholi.” In Encyclopedia of World Cultures. Volume 9. Africa and the Middle East, pp. 3-7. Ed. by J. H. Middleton and A. Rassam. New York: G. K. Hall/Macmillan. 1995.

“Developing Case Studies to Train School Principals in South Africa” (Michael Welsh, Judy L. Wyatt, and Ronald R. Atkinson). In Interactive Teaching and Learning: With Case Studies, Simulations and Games, pp.279-84. Ed. by H. E. Klein. Madison, WI.: Omni Press. 1995.

“Leadership Training for Black Women Principals” (with Judy L. Wyatt). Publicity and Fund-Raising Pamphlet. Cape Town: Teacher Opportunity Programmes. 1993.

“Preparing Black Principals for Educational Leadership” (with Judy L. Wyatt). Publicity and Fund-Raising Pamphlet. Cape Town: Teacher Opportunity Programmes. 1993.

“Introduction” (with Judy L. Wyatt). In The Effective Principal: School Management and Leadership for a New South Africa, 2nd ed., pp. 1-9. Ed. by R. R. Atkinson, J. L. Wyatt, and Z. A. Senkhane. Cape Town: Teacher Opportunity Programmes. 1993. Also in 1st ed., 1992.

“Effective Teaching and Learning: A Case Study in African History.” Proceedings of the South African Association for Academic Development, 1992.

“The Evolution of Ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda: The Pre Colonial Phase.” Ethnohistory, 36, 1, 1989, pp. 19-43.

“Apartheid: Its Bitter Past.” Carolina Critical Review, 1, 1, 1985.

“'State' Formation and Language Change in Westernmost Acholi in the Eighteenth Century.” In State Formation in Eastern Africa, pp. 91-125. Ed. by A. I. Salim. Nairobi and London: Heinemann. 1984.

“Old Akyem and the Origins of Akyems Abuakwa and Kotoku: 1675 1775.” In West African Culture Dynamics: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives, pp. 349-69. Ed. by B. K. Swartz and R. E. Dumett. The Hague: Mouton Press. 1980.

“State Formation and Development in Western Acholi.” In The Central Lwo during the Aconya, pp. 262-90. Ed. by J. B. Webster and J. Onyongo-ku-Odongo. Nairobi: East African Literature Bureau. 1976.

“The Traditions of the Early Kings of Buganda: Myth, History, and Structural Analysis.” History in Africa, 2, 1975, pp. 17-57.

Selected Conference Papers and Other Presentations (since 1985)

“Conflict and Crisis in Central Africa,” Palmetto Forum, Columbia, SC, February 2003.

“The Mill Hill Mission in Colonial Bugwere.” Invited presentation, Conference on Colonial Uganda, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, England, May 2002 (one of five invited papers).

“Ethnic Reconciliation in Uganda.” Initiated and led a round-table discussion that included fourteen representatives of governmental and non-governmental agencies in Uganda. Kampala, April 2001.

“Africa in World History: A Model.” Invited public lecture, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa, August 2000.

“Literature and History in South Africa.” Joint presentation with Es’kia Mphahlele, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa, August 2000.

“Reckoning Time in East Africa: Case Studies from Precolonial Uganda.” Paper presented at the conference “On Time: History, Science, Commemoration,” organized by the British Society for the History of Science, Royal Historical Society, and the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool, England, September 1999.

“The Development of a Precolonial Bagwere Identity in Eastern Uganda.” Paper presented at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, October 1998.

“The Transition to a ‘New South Africa’: Triumphs and Trials.” Invited lecture, Phi Alpha Theta (also part of Berry College=s Cultural Awareness Series); sponsored by the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society and Department of History, Berry College, Rome, GA, March 1998.

“Empires and Imperialism,” Panel Chair and Commentator, Annual Meeting of the South Carolina Historical Association, Columbia, SC, March 1997.

“South Africa in Transition.” Invited lecture, (with Judy L. Wyatt) in the Community Life Program Lecture Series, Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, NC, October 1996.

“The (Re)Construction of Ethnicity in Africa: Extending the Chronology, Conceptualization, and Discourse.” Invited paper presented to the international conference, AEthnicity and Nationalism in Africa,@ Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationialism, London School of Economics, London, England, May 1996 (one of six invited papers).

“Educational Restructuring and the Training of Educational Leaders in South Africa: The Role of USC.” Invited presentation to the College of Liberal Arts Partnership Board, USC, September 1995.

“Developing Case Studes to Train School Principals in South Africa.” Paper presented (with Mike Welsh and Judy Wyatt) to the World Case Study Association, Annual Conference, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 1995.

“Some Approaches to Effective Teaching and Learning in Large Introductory Classes.” Invited presentation to the Lily Foundation Enhancement of Teaching Fellows, USC, January 1994.

“’The Best of Times, the Worst of Times’: South Africa and South African Education at the Crossroads.” Graduation Address, Mphohadi College of Education, Kroonstad, South Africa, July 1993.

“Empowerment Evaluation and the TOPS School Management and Leadership Programme.” Series of three seminars (with F. Shand and D. Fillis) for participants in the TOPS Facilitator Training Programme in School Management and Leadership, Allemanskraal, South Africa, July 1994.

“Remembering and Responsibility: Looking Back and Looking Ahead.” Commencement Address, Benzie Central High School, Benzie County, MI., June 1993.

“Approaches to Effective Teaching and Learning: Creating a Space for Thinking about Africa.” Two invited presentations to the Provost Office Faculty Teaching Seminar, USC, April 1993.

“Teaching African history at USC.” Invited presentation to the Humanities and Social Science College Advisory Board, March 1993.

“’Acholi’ before 1800: Extending the History of Ethnicity into the Precolonial Past.” Paper delivered at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, November 1992. Also organizer and chair of the panel, “Rethinking Precolonial History in East and Central Africa.”

“The Socio-Historical Context of Educational Change in South Africa.” Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, April 1992.

Discussant, Panel on “Politics and Economics in Pre-Colonial Africa: Views from East and West.” African Studies Association Annual Meeting, St. Louis, November 1991.

“Preparing Principals for Educational Leadership in South Africa: A Program for Change.” Invited presentation to the Southeastern Regional Seminar in African Studies, Fall 1991 meeting, Cullowhee, North Carolina, October 1991.

“Preparing Principals for Educational Leadership in South Africa.” Invited presentation (with Z.A. Senkhane) to the South Carolina Consortium for International Studies, Fall 1991 meeting, Columbia, October 1991.

“South Africa and South African Education.” Invited lecture (with Z. A. Senkhane) in the Fine Arts and Lecture Series, Newberry College, Newberry, South Carolina, October 1991.

“A Researcher's Observations about South Africa.” Invited presentation to the South Carolina Consortium for International Studies, Spring 1991 meeting, Columbia, April 1991.

“The Evolution of Ethnicity: Myths and Misconceptions about ‘Tribes’ in Africa.” Presented in the Working Papers in History Faculty Seminar Series, Department of History, USC, April 1991.

“Current Developments and Educational Initiatives in South Africa.” Invited presentation (with Judy L. Wyatt) to the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, USC, February 1991.

“Perspectives on Current Developments in South Africa.” Invited presentation to the Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Columbia, February 1991.

“South Africa and Its Future.” Commentator, Seminar on the United States and World Affairs, organized by the Byrnes International Center, Institute of International Affairs, and the Department of Government and International Studies, USC, October 1990.

“The Role of USC in Preparing Black Principals for Educational Leadership in South Africa.” Invited presentation (with Judy L. Wyatt) to the International Advisory Board of the Byrnes International Center, USC, October 1990.

“Preparing Black Principals for Educational Leadership in South Africa—A New Initiative.” Invited presentation (with Judy L. Wyatt) to the College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Policies Staff Development Seminar, USC, September 1990.

“The Evolution of Acholi Ethnicity in Northern Uganda from the Late Seventeenth Century.” Invited paper, African Studies Seminar, University of Cape Town, South Africa, March 1990.

“Effective Teaching and Learning: A Case Study in African History.” Invited Key note Address, South African Association for Academic Development Annual Meeting, University of the North Qwa Qwa, South Africa, September 1989.

“The Effective Teaching and Learning of African History.” Invited presentation, the Golds Fields Resource Centre Seminar, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, August 1989.

“The Evolution of Acholi Ethnicity in Northern Uganda.” Invited presentation, the Gold Fields Resource Centre Seminar, University of the Western Cape, South Africa, June 1989.

AEconomic Growth and Political Reform in South Africa: The Historical Record.@ Paper delivered at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, Denver, November 1987. Refereed.

“A View of South Africa.” Invited presentation to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Columbia, October 1987.

“Teaching African History.” Invited presention to faculty and students at the Soweto Teachers' Training College, Soweto, South Africa, July 1987.

“South Africa in Crisis.” Two invited lectures presented to The Student Forum and the Annual Banquet of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society, University of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC, April 1987.

“South Africa.” Invited presentation to Central South Carolina Mensa Society, Columbia, April 1987.

“South Africa.” Invited presentation and round table discussion (with Kenneth J. Menkhaus), Washington Street United Methodist Church, Columbia, March 1987.

“South Africa Today: The Struggle Continues.” Invited presentation in the Sims Residence Hall Current Issues Series, Black History Month, USC, February 1987.

“British Anthropology in Africa.” Invited lecture, Department of Anthropology, USC, January 1987.

“Witness to Apartheid.” Invited presentation to Department of Anthropology Colloquium Series, USC, October 1986.

“The Crisis in South Africa Today.” Invited presentation (with Mark DeLancey) to the Institute of International Studies Colloquium Series, USC, October 1986.

“Academic Affairs in U.S. Universities.” Invited presentation to South African Fulbright Fellowship recipients, U.S. Information Agency, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 1986.

“The Evolution of Ethnicity among the Acholi of Uganda during the Pre Colonial Period.” Paper delivered at the African Studies Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, November 1985.

“The Case for Divestment in South Africa.” Invited presentation to the NAACP Student Branch, USC, October 1985.

“Colonialism and the History of Anthropology.” Invited inaugural lecture, Anthropology Colloquium Series, “Anthropology and History,” Department of Anthropology, USC, January 1985.

Book Reviews

I have done 32 published book reviews since 1991.

Professional Reports

I have authored or co-authored 18 professional reports, for the Department of History, University of South Carolina; Department of Education, University of Cape Town; Teacher Opportunity Programmes; U.S. Agency for International Development, South Africa; College of Education of South Africa.

Grants Awarded

In support of the South African School Management and Leadership Program: (1) U.S. Agency for International Development, South Africa, 1992-96 (1 of 4 co-principal investigators), total grant amountB$1,700,000; in addition, this program was supportedby $588,000 from other funders based in the U.S. and over $1,000,000 in support, in rand, in South Africa.

In support of personal research: (1) Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship, 2000-2001; (2) College of Liberal Arts Senior Scholarship Award, University of South Carolina, 2000-2001; (3) Research and Productive Scholarship Award, University of South Carolina, 1988, 1987; (4) Southern Regional Education Board (Atlanta), Small Grants Award, 1987, 1986; (5) Research and Conferences Committee Travel Grant, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1979; (6) Social Science Research Council Post doctoral Research Grant (with the Committee on African Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies), 1978 79; (7) Program of African Studies Dissertation Grant, Northwestern University, 1974.

Teaching Experience

Assistant (then Associate) Professor, Department of History, University of South Carolina, 1984 present. Courses taught: (1) HIST 106BIntroduction to African History; (2) HIST 351BAfrica to 1800; (3) HIST 352BAfrica since 1800; (4) HIST 492HBThe Historian=s Craft (with Mark M. Smith); (5) HIST 566/847BProblems/Studies in Africa South of the Sahara: South Africa (seminar for advanced undergraduates and graduate students); (6) HIST 700ABTopics in History: African History for Classroom Application (graduate seminar for teachers); (7) HIST 700BBTopics in History: 19th and 20th Century Africa (seminar for graduate students); (8) HIST 566/700HB History and Ethnicity in Africa; (9) HIST 847BProblems/Studies in Africa South of the Sahara (special topics research seminar for graduate students); (10) various independent readings in African history (both undergraduate and graduate students).

I have also taught as Guest Lecturer, Department of History, University of Cape Town, and the Teachers' Resource Centre, University of the Western Cape (1989-90); as Adjunct Lecturer, University of South Florida, Tampa (1983 84); as Lecturer, Department of General and African Studies, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana (1978 80); as a Visiting Fellow, Department of History, Johns Hopkins University (1973 74); and as a Visiting Lecturer, Kalamazoo College, Anthropology (1972).

Professional Positions

Assistant Chair, Department of History, USC, 1995-2000.

Acting Chair, Department of History, USC, 1997-98.

Secretary-Treasurer, Teacher Opportunity Programmes (TOPS) USA, 1990-96.

U.S. co-project director, TOPS School Management and Leadership Training Programme, 1990-96. This was a project to develop both the first masters' degree program in educational management and leadership in South Africa and a field based, in-service school management and leadership program to train large numbers of principals in their home regions throughout South Africa. It was a joint endeavor involving USC, the University of Durban-Westville (an historically black South African university), and Teacher Opportunity Programmes, for a time the largest educational non- governmental organization in South Africa providing in-service training for black teachers and principals. There were 50 students in the masters' track of this program and nearly 2,000 participants in the in-service component.

Assistant Editor, African Studies Review: The Journal of the African Studies Association, 1991-93.

Committee and Other University Service

I have served on 28 different Department, College, and University committees at the University of South Carolina (most of them multiple years).

Selected Other Experiences and Activities

Conference co-organizer and co-coordinator, TOPS Facilitator Training Programmes; these intensive two-week programs trained some 250 trainers over three years in the TOPS in-service school management and leadership program, with annual training teams of 15 to 20 USC faculty and South African M.Ed. students, 1992-95.

Family worker/counsellor, Cooperative Adolescent Day Treatment Program, Dade City, FL; worked with severely emotionally disturbed adolescents and their families, 1982.

Psychoeducational Specialist (Therapist), Western TEACCH Center, Asheville, NC; worked with autistic, language handicapped, and behavior disturbed children and their families, 1976-78.

Teacher's Assistant, Rimland School for Autistic Children, Evanston, 1975 76.

Basketball coach, St. Joseph=s College, Layibi, Gulu, Uganda, 1970-72 (team was Uganda National Secondary School Champion in 1972).

Peace Corps Volunteer, rural health program concentrating on eye disease (especially trachoma), Budaka Bugwere District, eastern Uganda, 1968 70.