A. Bame Nsamenang

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A. Bame Nsamenang is an associate professor of psychology and learning sciences at Yaoundé University ’s Advanced School of Education [ENS Bambili campus], Cameroon . He also co-founded and directs the Human Development Resource Centre (HDRC), a research and service facility in Bamenda, Cameroon.

B. Research and Strategic Positioning

Professor Bame Nsamenang has taken up the challenge sub-Saharan African scholars face to connect their academic and professional knowledge, skills and values to the apologetic state of their communities and Afrique Noire. His research interests are on human development in lifespan perspective, with special attention on Africa’s next generations – children and youth. Thus, his primary research and service foci are on early childhood and adolescent development. Bame is one of the visible leaders in evolving an indigenous African psychology and an advocate and consistent searcher for a culturally appropriate and contextually sensitive education that is consistent with the African Union’s (2006) “vision of an integrated, peaceful, prosperous Africa, driven by its own people to take its rightful place in the global community and the knowledge economy” (www.africa-union.org)

Professor Nsamenang’s theoretical position anchors on interactive contextualism and biological embedding, as the foundational determinants of human development, health, and social competencies. Bame’s lifetime commitment is to contribute to international psychological scholarship, albeit through an Africentric psychology in general and relevant human services psychology in African cultural circumstances in particular. In pursuit of these purposes, Bame is into extensive local, national and international scientific as well as civil society networks. He is arguably one of Africa’s most visible scholars in developmental science and a well published, influential academic writer, as his selected Publications can attest.

Bame’s scientific networking extends to academic mentoring of graduate academic work, sans frontiers, as he sometimes guides graduate research / internship and sits on thesis defence panels across his national borders. View, for example, the Open Ecosystem Forum at: http://www.openecosystem.org/_invite/join.php?invitecode=ia9qdcdy

C. Applied Expertise

Over the years, Bame is making and has made valuable contributions to UNICEF, UNESCO and WHO as consultant and in commissioned work, at both national and global platforms. In addition, his expert input enhances the proficiency of FBOs (faith-based organizations), CBO/CSOs (community-based and civil society organizations) and some local and international NGOs in Cameroon, particularly in the arenas of lay counsellor training and HIV/AIDS work with youth.

D. Affiliations and Awards

Bame is on the Consultative Board of the International Journal of Psychology, the Journal of Psychology (2006-2010), and was on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Behavioral Development (1998-2002), Human Development (1998-2002), Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (1994-2005) and Journal of Psychology in Africa (1993-2006). He is Ad Hoc Adviser to the EC of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development (ISSBD) and served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Applied Psychology (1998-2006). He is Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (2002-2003), a Fogarty Fellow of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (1987-1990) and a Nehru Chair Visiting Professor at Baroda University, India (2001). In May 2007 Bame received from The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International the prestigious “Paul Harris Fellow in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.”

E. Current Interests and Future Commitments

His current interests and future commitments are to:

i) Contribute to the generation of the research-based datasets for an Africentric perspective to developmental science (Nsamenang, 1992, 2005, Nsamenang and Lamb, 1994)

ii) Chart the contours of responsible intelligence in Africa’s next generations (e.g., Nsamenang, 2004b, 2006)

iii) Network to enhance, disseminate, and input Africentric psychological knowledge into the discipline’s knowledge base.

F. Needed: Research / Project Funding, Supportive Resources and Partnerships / Collaborative Ventures

Having “refused” to become one of Africa’s ‘brain-drain statistic’, Bame who endeavors to achieve the above-identified ambitious goals from his low-resource base in Cameroon, Africa, is in dire need of funding and resources to push his scientific and service agendas forward. Thus, he fervently appeals for supportive affiliation and partnership, charity, financial and material assistance, and donations to follow through his vision, as highlighted herein.

G. Selected Publications

Nsamenang, A.B. (2009). Cultures of early childhood care and education. In M. Fleer, M. Hedegaard, & J. Tudge (Eds.), World Yearbook of Education 2009: Childhood studies and the impact of globalization: Policies and practices at global and local levels (pp. 23-45). New York: Routledge. www.routledge.com/education

Nsamenang, A.B. (2009). In E.L.Grigorenko (Ed.), Multicultural Psychoeducational Assessment (pp. 95-131). New York: Springer. www.springerpub.com

Pence, A.R. & Nsamenang, A.B. (2008). A Case for ECD in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Hague, The Netherlands: BvLF. www.bernardvanleer.org

Nsamenang, A.B. (2008a). (Mis)Understanding ECD in Africa: The Force of Local and Imposed Motives. In M. Garcia, A. Pence, & e.l. Evans (Eds.), Africa’s Children, Africa’s Challenge (135-249). Washington, DC: The World Bank. www.worldbank.org

Nsamenang, A.B. (2008b). Agency in early childhood learning and development in Cameroon. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Development, 9(3), 211-223. www.wwwords.co.uk/CIEC

Nsamenang, A.B. (2008c). In a globalized context, local culture must be the anchor of identity. Interview on Sense of Belonging. Early Childhood Matters, 111, 13-17. www.bernardvanleer.org

Nsamenang, A.B., Fai, P.J., Ngoran, G.N., Ngeh, M.M. Y., Forsuh, F.W. Adzemye, E.W. & Lum, G.N. (in press). Ethnotheories of developmental learning in the Western Grassfields of Cameroon. In P.R. Dasen & A. Akkari (Eds.), Educational theories and practices from the majority world (pp. 49-70). New Delhi: Sage.

Nsamenang, A. B. (2007). (Mis)Understanding ECD Africa: The force of local and global motives. In M. Garcia, A. Pence, & J. Evans (Eds.), Early child development in Africa: Africa’s future, Africa’s challenge. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

Nsamenang, A.B., F.N. Fru, & M.A. Browne (2007). The roots of community psychology in Cameroon. In S.M. Reich, M. Riemer, I. Prilleltensky, & M. Montero (Eds.), International community psychology: History and theories (pp. 394-408). New York: Springer.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2007). Origins and development of scientific psychology in Afrique Noire. In Wedding, D., & Stevens, M. J. (Eds.). (2007). Psychology: IUPsyS global resource (Edition 2007) [CD-ROM]. International Journal of Psychology, 42(Suppl. 1). http://www.psypress.com/iupsys/contents.asp.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2007). A Critical Peek at Early Childhood Care and Education in Africa, Child Health and Education, 1 (1), 14-26, www.childhealthandeducation.com/articles/documents/V1i1Nsamenang.pdf

Nsamenang, A.B. (2006). Cultures in early childhood care and education. Background paper for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2007. Strong foundations: Early childhood care and education. Paris : UNESCO. www.unesco.org/education/GMR/2007/chapter1.pdf - Background Papers/Nsamenang

Nsamenang, A.B. (2006). Human Ontogenesis: An Indigenous African View on Development and Intelligence. Special issue on Indigenous Psychologies. International Journal of Psychology, 41, 4, 293-297.

Nsamenang, A. B. (2005). Educational development and knowledge flow: Local and global forces in human development in Africa. Higher Education Policy, 18, 276-288.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2005). Developmental Psychology: Search for a Diversity Paradigm. Bamenda, Cameroon: HDRC Publication.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2005). (i) African Culture, Human Ontogenesis within (pp. 58-61) and (ii) African Family Traditions, Education in (pp. 61-62). In Fisher, C., & Lerner, R. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Applied Developmental Science. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2005). The intersection of traditional African education with school learning. In Swartz, L., de la Rey , C., and Duncan, N. (Eds.), Psychology: An Introduction (pp. 327-337). Oxford University Press.

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Nsamenang, A.B. (2004b). Cultures of human development and education: Challenge to growing up African. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Stanford (CASBS) Fellowship Year project.

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Nsamenang, A.B. (2004a). The teaching-learning transaction: an Africentric approach to educational psychology. Bamenda, Cameroon: HDRC Publication.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2003). Conceptualising Human Development and Education in sub-Saharan Africa at the Interface of Indigenous and Exogenous Influences. In T.S. Saraswathi (Ed.), Cross-cultural perspectives in human development: Theory, research, and practice. New Delhi : Sage.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2002). Adolescence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Images constructed from Africa’s Triple Cultural Inheritance (pp. 61-104). In B. B. Brown, R. Larson, & T.S. Saraswathi (Eds.), The World’s Youth: Adolescence in Eight Regions of the Globe. London: Cambridge University Press.6)

Nsamenang, A.B. (2001). Perspective africaine sur le développement social: Implications pour la recherche développementale interculturelle. In C. Sabatier & P.R. Dasen (Eds.), Cultures, Développement et Education: Autres enfants, autres écoles. Paris : L’Harmattan.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2001). Indigenous view on human development: A West African perspective. In Neil J. Smelser & Paul B. Baltes (Eds. -in-Chief), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. London : Elsevier.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2000). Critical Psychology: A sub-Saharan African Voice from Cameroon. In Tod Sloan (Ed.), Voices for Critical Psychology (pp. 91-102). London : Macmillan.

Nsamenang, A.B. (2000). Fathers, Families, & Child Well-Being in Cameroon : A Review of the Literature. A Monograph of NCOFF. Philadelphia , PA : NCOFF.

Nsamenang, A. B. (1999). Eurocentric image of childhood in the context of the world's cultures. Essay review of "Images of childhood". Human Development, 42, 159-168.

Nsamenang, A.B. (1999). Human development: An Educational perspective. Bamenda , Cameroon : HDRC Publication.

Nsamenang, A.B, & P.R. Dasen (Guest Editors). (1993). Special Issue of the Journal of Psychology in Africa, 1, No. 5 on "Child development and national development in Cameroon ".

Nsamenang, A.B. (1992). Human development in cultural context: A Third World perspective. Newbury Park , CA : Sage Publications.

Comment by Doris E. Ngaujah