Joe Opala, an anthropologist who lived in Sierra Leone, West Africa for more than 20 years, will be the featured speaker at the International Week banquet at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 18 in McKinnon Hall, located in Moseley Center on the Ƶ campus.
Opala has conducted extensive research on the “Gullah Connection,” the historical link between Africans and the Gullah people of coastal Georgia and South Carolina. He has produced two award-winning documentaries, “Family Across the Sea” and “The Language You Cry In.” Opala teaches in the honors program at James Madison University.
International Week is a series of events on the Ƶ campus designed to heighten awareness of various global issues. International Week and Opala’s visit are sponsored by the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies and the Intercultural Relations Club.
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