This book examines how names in Africa have been fashioned to create dominance and subjugation, inclusion and exclusion, others and self. Drawing on global and African examples, but with particular reference to Zimbabwe, the author demonstrates how names are used in class, race, ethnic, national, gender, sexuality, religious and business struggles in society as weapons by ingroups and outgroups. Using Othering theory as a framework, the chapters explore themes such as globalised names and their demonstration of the other; onomastic erasure in colonial naming and the subsequent decoloniality in African name changes; othering of women in onomastics and crude and sophisticated phaulisms in the areas of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability and sexuality. Highlighting social power dynamics through onomastics, this book will be of interest to researchers of onomastics, social anthropology, sociolinguistics and African culture and history.

INTRODUCTION Personal name is a vital aspect of cultural identity. As a child, you may have loved or hated your name. But you were rarely indifferent to it. “What’s in a name?” Shakespeare asked. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, he explained. Perhaps in England or somewhere else in Europe, but not in Africa. Personal names in African have meanings, can affect personality, hinder or enhance life initiatives. They serve to establish a connection between name and cultural background, and thus, provide some information about cultural affinity and more, such as express one’s spirituality, philosophy of life, political or socio-economic status as defined by a given ethnic cleavage. African names tell stories, convert abstract ideas to stories, and tell story of the story about different aspects of one’s life. They commemorate any unusual circumstance the family or community once experienced, or world event that took place around the time of a child’s birth. Outside a given cultural environment, names boost and nurture cultural pride and identity, showcase a people’s appreciation of their culture and their readiness to defend and live their culture with pride and dignity. Naming practices that tell histories behind the names were the norms in Nigeria-Ibibio, and in fact, in Africa, until the encroachment of two historical forces in Africans’ affairs. Christianization and colonization, more than any other forces in history, shattered the connection between personal name and cultural affinity, and have ever-since contributed to the gradual erosion of African culture of names. On the continent, the combined efforts of their human agents - the missionaries and British colonial personnel, directly and indirectly, through their policies and practices, caused African- Nigerians to give up their culture relevant names in favor of foreign ones. Apart from direct erosion of culture of names, ‘colonial administration’ (a term I use mostly to refer to the combined efforts of the missionaries and British colonial personnel) in Nigeria abrogated many religious, socio-economic and political traditions which were intimately intertwined with the people’s naming practices. Their attempt to replace African traditions with European ones through coercing Africans to accept Western values and beliefs consequently disabled many desirable African traditional structures, including authentic African naming practices, and caused some to fall into disuse. A third force was early European-African trade. Although the impact of the presence of European merchants in Nigeria was minimal in this regard, some of their activities have also left a dent on African naming practices by introducing foreign bodies into the people’s names database. Even though these alien forces invaded and injected foreign values into Africa over a century ago, their impact on naming practices continues to be felt by Africans. European intrusion in relation to African naming practices did not end on the continent. The Trans- Atlantic Trade on human cargo was another major historical event that did not only forcefully disconnect many Africans from their cultural root and natural habitat, but also mutilated authentic African naming practices among them. Consequently, Africans in Diaspora had European names imposed upon them by their slave masters. Today, many Africans on the continent and in Diaspora continue to carry names which are foreign, names whose meanings they do not know, names the bearers can not even pronounce correctly in some ethnic contexts, and names which have no relevance to nor any form of link with the bearers’ cultural background. In effect, culture of names, as many other African customary practices, has lost its savor. Some peoples of African descent still cherish these colonized names. Some do not, and are making practical efforts to reclaim authentic African cul

Epidemiology is a population science that underpins health improvement and health care, by exploring and establishing the pattern, frequency, trends, and causes of a disease. Concepts of Epidemiology comprehensively describes the application of core epidemiological concepts and principles to readers interested in population health research, policy making, health service planning, health promotion, and clinical care. The book provides an overview of study designs and practical framework for the epidemiological analyses of diseases, including accounting for error and bias within studies. It discusses the ways in which epidemiological data are presented, explains the distinction between association and causation, as well as relative and absolute risks, and considers the theoretical and ethical basis of epidemiology both in the past and the future. This new edition places even greater emphasis on interactive learning. Each chapter includes learning objectives, theoretical and numerical exercises, questions and answers, a summary of the key points, and exemplar panels to illustrate the concepts and methods under consideration. Written in an accessible and engaging style, with a specialized glossary to explain and define technical terminology, Concepts of Epidemiology is ideal for postgraduate students in epidemiology, public health, and health policy. It is also perfect for clinicians, undergraduate students and researchers in medicine, nursing and other health disciplines who wish to improve their understanding of fundamental epidemiological concepts.

A world of categones devmd of spirit waits for life to return. Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift The stock-in-trade of communicating hypotheses about the historical path of evolution is a graphical representation called a phylogenetic tree. In most such graphics, pairs of branches diverge from other branches, successively marching across abstract time toward the present. To each branch is tied a tag with a name, a binominal symbol that functions as does the name given to an individual human being. On phylogenetic trees the names symbolize species. What exactly do these names signify? What kind of information is communicated when we claim to have knowledge of the following types? "Tetonius mathewzi was ancestral to Pseudotetonius ambiguus. " "The sample of fossils attributed to Homo habzlis is too variable to contain only one species. " "Interbreeding populations of savanna baboons all belong to Papio anubis. " "Hylobates lar and H. pileatus interbreed in zones of geographic overlap. " While there is nearly universal agreement that the notion of the speczes is fundamental to our understanding of how evolution works, there is a very wide range of opinion on the conceptual content and meaning of such particular statements regarding species. This is because, oddly enough, evolutionary biolo gists are quite far from agreement on what a species is, how it attains this status, and what role it plays in evolution over the long term.

Published while teaching at the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University, this work showcases Dr. Ben as a mentor, and gives readers a sample of his interactive teaching style. He combines in this book a dynamic lecture on the Diagram of the Law of Opposites, along with essays contributed by his graduate students on aspects of the same topic. This collaboration between student and teacher distinguishes this volume from the many other books by this noted activist-historian