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- Convenors:
-
Rose Marie Beck
(Leipzig University)
Amanda Hammar (Copenhagen University)
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- Stream:
- Language and Literature
- Location:
- David Hume, Lecture Theatre A
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 12 June, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Most African Studies programmes have some form of introductory module that tries to map African Studies as a particular field. This roundtable aims to share and examine key questions, experiences and challenges arising from the teaching of 'Introduction to African Studies'.
Long Abstract:
Most African Studies programmes have some form of introductory module. With students often coming from different disciplinary backgrounds and with diverse understandings and expectations of what constitutes African Studies, the aim is to map out the history and contemporary parameters of the field, including current debates and views as to what African Studies is, can, or should be. Such introductory courses hinge on opening up critical ways of thinking about and studying Africa, and Africa in the world, rather than narrowing the boundaries of African Studies. This roundtable brings together colleagues who are already teaching such introductory modules (or have done so in the recent past) to explore the frame-setting potential of such modules. Questions to be addressed may include: How does the changing place of Africa in the world influence how we situate and introduce African Studies? How do we deal with the history of African Studies alongside new challenges and expectations for the field, such as those emerging from decolonisation movements? What is the transformative potential of an introductory module in African Studies for individual students or perhaps for an entire programme of studies? How do we address student communities with different backgrounds? What literature and pedagogical methods have worked particularly well for us (and what went horribly wrong)? Roundtable panelists are Elisio Macamo (Basel), Dmitri van den Bersselaar (Leipzig), Kole Odutola (Florida), Lisa Mbuli (African Leadership Academy), David Ehrhardt (Leiden).
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 12 June, 2019, -Kole Odutola Odutola (University of Florida)
Paper short abstract:
Gavin Kitching gave reasons why he gave up African studies. My presentation will give reasons why the use of media can help rave up African studies Africa through films, movies from selected African countries are screened weekly. Students get to read scholarly articles that extend their knowledge.
Paper long abstract:
Gavin Kitching (2000) gave reasons why he gave up African studies. My presentation will give reasons why the use of media can help rave up African studies.
The media landscape on the African continent harbors a diversity of forms and platforms that make projecting both national and sub-national identities a herculean task. To compound the situation, the most visible part of the media landscape is populated by publications and broadcasts in the languages of former colonial masters. The language issue is important in introducing students to the diversity of authentic expressions on the continent. The content of some of the films and print media further helps to engage topical issues that leads to nuanced understanding of the African continent. How can films facilitate discussions on immigration, race, socio-economic disparities, politics, religion, environmental issues, etc.
This presentation shares a recent experience as a means of evaluating what worked and what did not. The innovation of contacting Africa-based filmmakers and the responses they gave provided the students with a stronger connection to the content of the course. The idea was to connect town to gown with the use of information and communication technology. Finally, I will address the transformative potential of this introductory module in African Studies for individual students and myself as the designer of the course. One downside that will feature during the presentation especially in the realm of pedagogy is how to gauge the number of scholarly articles to add to a course such as this for undergraduates.
Amanda Hammar (Copenhagen University)
Paper short abstract:
This intervention draws on the experiences of designing and running a compulsory MA course, 'Introduction to African Studies', to engage with the key questions raised in the Roundtable abstract. It further considers what this means for distinguishing African Studies degrees from Global Studies.
Paper long abstract:
Running a two-year MA in African Studies, with students from/with a range of disciplines, locations, cultural origins and future expectations, raises immense intellectual and political-ethical challenges in the framing of the entire degree. Part of our efforts to address such challenges at the Centre of African Studies (CAS) at Copenhagen University, have been channeled into designing a new compulsory course, 'Introduction to African Studies'. In doing so, we have been confronted with addressing some of the key conceptual and pedagogical questions already identified in the Roundtable abstract as a whole. In addition, we are prompted to consider how a degree in African Studies - and clearly defining its unique parameters and value-added - can clearly distinguish itself from the flourish of new university degrees that focus increasingly on an amorphous 'global'. The intervention in this Roundtable will draw on recent experiences of designing and teaching the Introduction to African Studies at CAS to reflect on these and other concerns.
Lisa Mbuli (African Leadership Academy)
Paper short abstract:
A high school curriculum offers a unique space in which introductions to disciplinary knowledge can be facilitated. African Leadership Academy has scoped out African Studies in three ways: through the structure and sequence of the programme, the framing of content and approaches to assessment.
Paper long abstract:
A high school curriculum offers a unique space in which introductions to disciplinary knowledge can be facilitated. Luke et al define school subjects as "'a selective tradition' with conscious and deliberate inclusions and exclusions from a vast range of possible disciplinary contents available"(11). This makes African Leadership Academy, a school in Southern Africa, an interesting case study when it comes to defining the field of African Studies. ALA has defined African Studies through:the structure and sequence of the programme; the selection and framing of content and approaches to assessment.
At ALA, African Studies is defined as an interdisciplinary Humanities and Social Science course that introduces students to the principles, practices and procedures of selected disciplines and gives students the opportunity to apply these to African contexts. In their first year students are led through a series of themes and use concepts and approaches from the disciplinary fields of Sociology, Politics, History (to name a few) to organise and understand content. In second year, students move into a multidisciplinary study of more clearly bounderised disciplines, exploring fields such as African Philosophy, African Literature or Gender Studies.
ALA's African Studies courses include three elements: conceptual or theoretical knowledge; African case studies or examples to which the theory is applied; and opportunities to apply and evaluate arguments. Through our approach to assessment students have the opportunity to practice identifying arguments and to deliver their own arguments using various forms. Through common assessments we ensure we achieve standardisation regardless of the content taught.
David Ehrhardt (Leiden University)
Paper short abstract:
This contribution reflects on the limits of functionalist explanations in teaching Introduction to African Studies to non-African students and makes a case for seriously talking about difference through more 'experiential' teaching methods.
Paper long abstract:
One of my key challenges in introducing African Studies to non-African Liberal Arts students has been to move beyond functionalist modes of explanation. Take the example of religion. Many of my largely secular students are puzzled at Africa's predominantly deep religiosity, in particular where this is infused with magical and spirit-based beliefs. In response, I tend to use the Introduction to African Studies to emphasise functionality and familiarity: given the context and incentives many Africans find themselves faced with, being a religious person and having these spiritual beliefs is a logical and perfectly understandable choice.
This mode of explanation is attractive because it emphasises universality and similarity between the students and the people they are trying to understand. It says to them: "you would have done the same thing, if you would have found yourself in their shoes". It is also attractive because much of the scholarly literature, particularly in the social sciences, is predicated on a similar kind of explanatory logic.
The problem, however, is that this functionalism is incomplete: it fails to communicate the real and deep differences between the students' lives and that of many Africans. But how to teach difference without exoticising it, at a distance and in a context where public discourse on the subject constantly promotes exoticism? This is the challenge I would like to reflect on, by making a case for practical ways of teaching beyond functionalism by letting students 'experience' life in different parts of Africa from a distance.