"Celebrate Africa Week" will feature an African art exhibit, African arts and crafts displays, dance and drumming performances, a free African feast, a symposium on African philosophy and expert panel discussions on current issues facing the continent.

"The program is designed to heighten awareness about the great diversity that characterizes the continent and to showcase her natural beauty and contributions to the advancement of knowledge," said Tom Spencer-Walters, chair of Northridge's Department of Pan-African Studies. "In the process, we hope to engage students, faculty, staff and members of the surrounding community through cultural, political and intellectual discourses that would broaden their understanding of the African continent and its diaspora."

Spencer-Walters said he hoped the weeklong event would "call attention to the need for commitment to an interdependent world in which all its participants treat each other respectfully, fairly and equitably.

"For this to be achieved, balanced education about the world's major populations is crucial," he said. "Ours is a small contribution to this process."

Throughout the week an African art exhibit and arts and crafts display will take place in Sierra Hall. The week's other highlights include:

• Monday, Oct. 27 - A performance by the Awe Drummers and Dancers will take place at noon in front of the Matador Bookstore. It will be followed by a welcoming address by Northridge President Jolene Koester.

  Pan African Studies professor Adilifu Nama discusses masculinity from an African-American perspective at 7:15 p.m. in the Sierra Center.

• Tuesday, Oct. 28 - From 12:30-2:30 p.m., an expert panel will discuss "Setting the New African/Diaspora Agenda: Partnership vs. Patronage" in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union. Panelists include KPFK personality Assumpta Oturu, Wayne State professor Daphne Williams and CSUN professors Darylle Gatlin, Eleazu Obinna, Paul Robinson, Joseph Holloway and James Dennis.

  Students will discuss the challenges, relationships, communications, cultural differences and knowledge gaps that pertain to Africa and peoples of African descent at 6 p.m. in the Black House on Halsted Street.

• Wednesday, Oct. 29 - Award-winning writer and scholar Ngugi Wa Thiong'O will give a lecture at noon in room 2132 of Science Building #2. A traditional African feast, featuring the cuisine from 15 countries, will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the Shoshone Room of the Satellite Student Union. The evening will feature a drumming workshop and an "African World Fashion Show."

• Thursday, Oct. 30 - A symposium on African philosophy will take place from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Lake View Terrace Room of the University Student Union. Panelists include CSUN religious studies professor Mutombo N'Kulu-N'Sengha, CSUN educational psychology professor Doris Jones-Nichols, UCLA professor Itabari Zulu and Spencer-Walters.

• Friday, Oct. 31 - Playwright and novelist Debo Kotun will discuss the "Evolving African Voices of Conscience in African Literature" at 11 a.m. in the Grand Salon of the University Student Union.

• Saturday, Nov. 1 - The display of African art and arts and crafts continues in the Sierra Hall.

For more information about the second annual "Celebrate Africa Week," call Spencer-Walters at (818) 677-3311.