Teaching Africa

Description

Bringing African content into today's classrooms

Teaching Africa introduces innovative strategies for teaching about Africa. The contributors address misperceptions about Africa and Africans, incorporate the latest technologies of teaching and learning, and give practical advice for creating successful lesson plans, classroom activities, and study abroad programs. Teachers in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences will find helpful hints and tips on how to bridge the knowledge gap and motivate understanding of Africa in a globalizing world.

Introduction Brandon D. Lundy

Part I. Situating Africa: Concurrent-Divergent Rubrics of Meaning
1. Introducing "Africa" Jennifer E. Coffman
2. Africa: Which Way Forward?: An Interdisciplinary Approach Todd Cleveland
3. Why We Need African History Kathleen Smythe
4. Answering the "So What" Question: Making African History Relevant in the Provincial College Classroom Gary Marquardt
5. From African History to African Histories: Teaching Interdisciplinary Method, Philosophy, and Ethics through the African History Survey Trevor R. Getz
6. Treating the Exotic and the Familiar in the African History Classroom Ryan Ronnenberg
7. Postcolonial Perspectives on Teaching African Politics in Wales and Ireland Carl Death
8. Pan-Africanism: The Ties that Bind Ghana and the United States Harry Nii Koney Odamtten
9. The Importance of the Regional Concept: The Case for an Undergraduate Regional Geography Course of Sub-Saharan Africa Matthew Waller
10. Teach Me About Africa: Facilitating and Training Educators Toward a Socially Just Curriculum Durene I. Wheeler and Jeanine Ntihirageza

Part II. African Arts: Interpreting the African "Text"
11. Inversion Rituals: The African Novel in the Global North Catherine Kroll
12. Teaching Africa through a Comparative Pedagogy: South Africa and the United States
Renée Schatteman
13. Stereotypes, Myths, and Realities Regarding African Music in the African and American Academy Jean Ngoya Kidula
14. What Paltry Learning in Dumb Books!: Teaching the Power of Oral Narrative Caleb Corkery
15. Teaching about Africa: Violence and Conflict Management Linda M. Johnston and Oumar Chérif Diop
16. Contextualizing the Teaching of Africa in the 21st Century: A Student-centered Pedagogical Approach to Demystify Africa as The Heart of Darkness Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson

Part III. Application of Approaches: Experiencing African Particulars
17. Shaping U.S.-Based Activism Towards Africa: The Role of a Mix of Critical Pedagogies
Amy C. Finnegan
18. The Model AU as Pedagogical Method of Teaching American Students about Africa
Babacar M'Baye
19. The Kalamazoo/Fourah Bay College Partnership: A Context for Understanding Study Abroad with Africa Daniel J. Paracka, Jr.
20. Teaching Culture, Health, and Political Economy in the Field: Ground-level Perspectives on Africa in the 21st Century James Ellison
21. Beyond the Biologic Basis of Disease: Collaborative Study of the Social and Economic Causation of Disease in Africa Amy C. Finnegan, Julian Jane Atim, and Michael Westerhaus
22. Educating the Educators: Ethiopian IT PhD Program Solomon Negash and Julian M. Bass

Conclusion: Knowledge Circulation and Diasporic Interfacing Toyin Falola

References
Contributors
Index

Sujets

• Teaching
• HISTORY
• EDUCATION
• Histoire
• África
• Higher
• Level
• General officer
• School
• Higher education
• History of Africa
• General
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 15 mai 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780253008299
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

TEACHING AFRICA
TEACHING AFRICA
A Guide for the 21st-Century Classroom
Edited by Brandon D. Lundy and Solomon Negash
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3797 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
2013 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Teaching Africa : a guide for the 21st-century classroom / edited by Brandon D. Lundy and Solomon Negash.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-00815-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-253-00821-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-253-00829-9 (ebook)
1. Africa-Study and teaching, Higher-21st century.
2. Interdisciplinary approach in education. I. Lundy, Brandon D.,
[date] II. Negash, Solomon, [date]
DT19.8.T45 2013
960.0711-dc23
2013002206
1 2 3 4 5 18 17 16 15 14 13
Contents
Introduction \ Brandon D. Lundy
Part I. Situating Africa: Concurrent-Divergent Rubrics of Meaning
1 Introducing Africa \ Jennifer E. Coffman
2 Africa: Which Way Forward? An Interdisciplinary Approach \ Todd Cleveland
3 Why We Need African History \ Kathleen R. Smythe
4 Answering the So What Question: Making African History Relevant in the Provincial College Classroom \ Gary Marquardt
5 From African History to African Histories: Teaching Interdisciplinary Method, Philosophy, and Ethics through the African History Survey \ Trevor R. Getz
6 Treating the Exotic and the Familiar in the African History Classroom \ Ryan Ronnenberg
7 Postcolonial Perspectives on Teaching African Politics in Wales and Ireland \ Carl Death
8 Pan-Africanism: The Ties That Bind Ghana and the United States \ Harry Nii Koney Odamtten
9 The Importance of the Regional Concept: The Case for an Undergraduate Regional Geography Course of Sub-Saharan Africa \ Matthew Waller
10 Teach Me about Africa: Facilitating and Training Educators toward a Socially Just Curriculum \ Durene I. Wheeler and Jeanine Ntihirageza
Part II. African Arts: Interpreting the African Text
11 Inversion Rituals: The African Novel in the Global North \ Catherine Kroll
12 Teaching Africa through a Comparative Pedagogy: South Africa and the United States \ Ren e Schatteman
13 Stereotypes, Myths, and Realities Regarding African Music in the African and American Academy \ Jean Ngoya Kidula
14 What Paltry Learning in Dumb Books! Teaching the Power of Oral Narrative \ Caleb Corkery
15 Teaching about Africa: Violence and Conflict Management \ Linda M. Johnston and Oumar Ch rif Diop
16 Contextualizing the Teaching of Africa in the 21st Century: A Student-Centered Pedagogical Approach to Demystify Africa as the Heart of Darkness \ Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson
Part III. Application of Approaches: Experiencing African Particulars
17 Shaping U.S.-Based Activism toward Africa: The Role of a Mix of Critical Pedagogies \ Amy C. Finnegan
18 The Model AU as a Pedagogical Method of Teaching American Students about Africa \ Babacar M Baye
19 The Kalamazoo / Fourah Bay College Partnership: A Context for Understanding Study Abroad with Africa \ Daniel J. Paracka, Jr.
20 Teaching Culture, Health, and Political Economy in the Field: Ground-Level Perspectives on Africa in the 21st Century \ James Ellison
21 Beyond the Biologic Basis of Disease: Collaborative Study of the Social and Economic Causation of Disease in Africa \ Amy C. Finnegan, Julian Jane Atim, and Michael J. Westerhaus
22 Educating the Educators: Ethiopia s IT Ph.D. Program \ Solomon Negash and Julian M. Bass
Conclusion: Knowledge Circulation and Diasporic Interfacing \ Toyin Falola
References
Index
Contributors

Regions of Africa (Aryeetey-Attoh 2010:2). Used with permission.
Introduction
Brandon D. Lundy
This book aims to transform the disparate and often ineffective ways that teachers teach Africa in American higher education and to bridge the knowledge gap between the realities and the perceptions about the continent. By focusing our attention on the tertiary level, we expect to have a direct influence on the overall education, media outlook, and societal impressions of Africa in the United States. Therefore, this book encourages a newly engaged global citizenship that recognizes the importance of transnational collaboration with the world s second-largest and second most populous continent, surpassing one billion people. We respond directly to the ongoing institutional shift from insular to multifocal education in African studies (Vengroff 2002). Each author encourages an integrated understanding of global culture without neglecting to address how these interactions play out at the regional, national, and local levels.
To challenge Western preconceptions about Africa in order to better equalize the knowledge base, increase accuracy of information, and motivate students is a slow process, but the benefit of thinking about commonalities with the peoples of Africa is a valuable and necessary undertaking in a globalizing world. Divided into 54 recognized sovereign states, the African continent covers 20.4 percent of the Earth s total surface area. 1 The histories of the West and Africa have been intertwined for more than five centuries. Africa is the birthplace of the human species, the witness to the rise and fall of some of the most powerful and far-reaching empires the world has ever known, and today the site of some of the Earth s richest natural resources. Africa s geopolitical relevance and economic and resource potential are affecting a renewed interest in the continent by the U.S. government, which in turn shapes the direction of public education in the global North. By 2040, one in every five people worldwide will be African (United Nations 2008). The U.S. government is already making strides to reinvigorate its African-based policies to take advantage of the budding labor forces, resource-rich environments, expanding markets, and prospective political allies. Students also have to better understand Africa s role in the global economy to be better prepared to fully engage with an integrated transnational world. But how do Western students understand Africa ? How do they make sense of the various news stories, stereotypes, and myths about the continent? How can educators hope to provide relevant perspectives on such a complex and ever-changing place? The rethinking of Western teaching and learning about Africa is a necessary first step to realizing cooperative economic and political initiatives spanning the Atlantic. This book presents new ideas about Africa and Africans to demonstrate the value and necessity of teaching Africa in the 21st-century classroom. It builds on the African Studies initiatives while pushing beyond their political and disciplinary boundaries.
American students must come to understand Africa better. A proliferation of misinformation about Africa results in an incongruous student knowledge base, which leads to three serious consequences. First, nonexperts shy away from providing African content in their classrooms because it is difficult to teach to multiple experience levels, thus creating an ongoing and cyclical knowledge deficit about the continent. Second, when nonexperts do provide their students with African-based material, it is often overly vague and outdated as a direct result of the recirculation of misinformation about the continent, an overemphasis on political correctness, and a lack of appropriate pedagogical resources. As such, students are indirectly discouraged from engaging with and developing a real depth of knowledge about what is going on in Africa. Third, and in large part based upon the first two corollaries, American college and university students develop a learned helplessness in terms of a real understanding of Africa, unable to establish a strong foundation about the continent-its peoples and cultures. As a result, educators cannot be content with the status quo; business as usual when teaching about Africa disadvantages our students employment potential in a globalized economy.
Development of Teaching and Learning about Africa
The present volume introduces game-changing strategies for teaching Africa as developed by committed and innovative college- and university-level instructors with active scholarly pursuits tied to the continent and its diaspora. Technological, regional, global, and academic developments directly related to Africa necessitate the reconsideration of teaching Africa at a consistent and academically rigorous level. The chapters of this volume give experientially-based and practical ideas adoptable by teachers within and outside traditional African Studies including nonexperts, K-12 instructors, and part-timers.
Education must advance to keep up with the shifting global landscape. New technologies have surfaced to facilitate capacity building that can less