International art dealers sell Swazi traditional art to collectors for thousands of dollars. Numerous non-Profits and non-Governmental Agencies have web sites on the Internet promoting self-help projects to assist Swazi women to sell “beautiful handmade products” to the world. The bustling Manzini market in Swaziland routinely throngs with buyers and sellers of Swazi artifacts. Vendors set up roadside makeshift stands hoping that passing tourists will stop to buy their wares. Rural artists continue to be commissioned by neighbors and acquaintances to make ‘traditional’ objects such a headrests, meat-platters and beaded items for upcoming ceremonies. What is perhaps most interesting is that all of the previously mentioned peoples and organizations are basically dealing with the same types of objects! Who is selling what to whom? And why? How do local ‘crafts’ become transformed into ‘global ‘Art’? Clearly there is an interesting juxtaposition of the Global Market and ‘fine art’ interests, Swazi National aspirations, and local struggles to simply survive, all playing off against each other. This talk will examine the contemporary situation in Swaziland primarily from the perspective of where the artists of ‘traditional’ art find themselves.

The Global Milking the Rhino: Innovative Solutions Showcase is a venue for students across the world to engage in critical thinking about sustainable community development, developmental entrepreneurship, and the role of technology in enabling new solutions to global inequities. Students explore the ethical intricacies of globalization and loss of indigenous cultures, and the role technology plays in fostering and hurting sustainable self-determined development. The 2011 showcase received more than 60 entries, and actively involved over 200 student participants from eight universities, colleges and high schools from America and Kenya. The showcase was sponsored by several Penn State units and external sponsors and gave away $4,500 in awards.
This talk will present the work of two teams recognized at the showcase that elegantly integrated indigenous knowledge into their solution.One of the teams proposed a novel solution for keeping the Masaai people’s cattle herds, an important source of income, safe from insect-borne diseases by using garlic as an insect repellent. The other team is working on low-cost point-of-use ceramic water filters that can be easily manufactured in rural East Africa.
Student Presenters: Elise Brown (Grad, Agriculture and Extension Education); Nicole O'Block (Senior,, Agricultural Sciences); Alex Gren (Senior, Wildlife and Fisheries); Amanda Perez ( Junior, Energy Engineering); Katelyn Holmes (Grad, Health Policy and Administration)

Ann Marie Daniel and Suzanne Adair
An informational session for students interested in participating in the 2012 Graduate Exhibition

Suzanne Adair
Bill Doan
Kevin Furlong
An informational session for students interested in participating in the 2012 Graduate Exhibition

Meeting of the IPv6 Transition Committee

Presentations by Directors and Staff of TNS