Konrad Tuchscherer (born February 16, 1970 in

Neenah Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the East North Central States, north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Wiscon ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

) is an educator, scholar, writer, and

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

. Tuchscherer currently serves as the Co-Director of the

Bamum Scripts and Archives Project Bamum Scripts and Archives Project at the Bamum Palace is engaged in a variety of initiatives concerning the Bamum script, including collecting and photographing threatened documents, translating and in some cases hand-copying documents, creating a ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

and is Associate Professor of History and Director of Africana Studies at

St. John's University (New York City) St. John's University is a private Roman Catholic university in Queens, New York City. It was founded in 1870 by the Congregation of the Mission (C.M., the Vincentian Fathers) with a mission to provide the youth of New York with a Catholic univ ...

Education and career

Tuchscherer is Associate Professor of History and Director of Africana Studies at

. He received his Ph.D. from the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, where he was a

Marshall Scholar The Marshall Scholarship is a postgraduate scholarship for "intellectually distinguished young Americans ndtheir country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. It is widely considered one of the most prestigious sc ...

and

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, and wrote a thesis on West African scripts. He attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Tuchscherer is the co-Director of the

at the Archives du Palais des Rois Bamoun, Foumban. He has traveled the

Bamum Bamum, also spelled Bamoum, Bamun, or Bamoun, may refer to: *The Bamum people *The Bamum kingdom *The Bamum language *The Bamum script ** Bamum (Unicode block) * Bamum Scripts and Archives Project {{Disambig Language and nationality disambiguation ...

Kingdom collecting and photographing threatened documents, created a modern archives for the storage of documents, and helped to create a functional computer font for the Bamum script. He continues to translate and inventory documents with a team of translators and has commenced an initiative to spread literacy among Bamum youth in schools. In 2006 the King of the Bamum, El Hadj Sultan Ibrahim Mbombo Njoya, recognized him for his efforts by awarding him the Bamum title "Nji" ("Master"). His work on Bamum began as a

in 2004. In 2006, Tuchscherer lived and conducted research in

Foumban Foumban or Fumban is a city in Cameroon, lying north east of Bafoussam. It has a population of 83,522 (at the 2005 Census). It is a major town for the Bamoun people and is home to a museum of traditional arts and culture. Foumban is known f ...

for the year. Tuchscherer's interests include nineteenth and twentieth century

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, colonialism in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and

Gullah The Gullah () are an African Americans, African American ethnic group who predominantly live in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, within the coastal plain ...

history in South Carolina and Georgia. His important research on the origin, development and spread of writing in Africa has appeared in several leading journals: the Bagam script of Cameroon in ''African Affairs'', the

Vai script Vai or VAI has several possible meanings: * Vai people ** Vai language ** Vai syllabary ** Vai (Unicode block) * Vai (Crete) * Văi, a village in Lupșa Commune, Alba County, Romania Abbreviation * VAI, Video Artists International, a classical ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

in ''History in Africa'', the Mende script of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

in ''African Languages and Cultures'' and ''Journal of African Cultural Studies'' and

Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...

in ''Africana Bulletin''. As of 2007, Tuchscherer was writing a book entitled ''Black Scribes'' that explores the history of the written word in Africa from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to modern West African alphabets.Biography of Konrad Tuchscherer
– Bamum Scripts and Archives Project, archived from th
original
accessed 16 November 2021.

References

External links

Bamum Scripts and Archives ProjectBiography of Konrad Tuchscherer – Bamum Scripts and Archives Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuchscherer, Konrad 1970 births Living people American Africanists American people of German descent Alumni of SOAS University of London Marshall Scholars St. John's University (New York City) faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni People from Neenah, Wisconsin Linguists of Iroquoian languages