Repositioning Africa's Place in the Classroom
Educational Strategies and Approaches
A Workshop for Educators
Join us for a virtual workshop for K-16 educators on Saturday, June 14, 2024, from 8:30AM-4:00PM ET. The workshop themes include African history, literature, fashion, and contemporary music. Scroll down for more information on speakers and presentations and click the link below to register for the Zoom link. This workshop is jointly sponsored by Reinhardt University, The University of Florida African Studies Center, The Boston University African Studies Center, The Center for African Studies at Howard University, The Harvard University Center for African Studies, and the International Studies Consortium of Georgia.
Workshop Agenda
8:30am | Welcome and Program Overview
8:45am | Overview of African Studies National Resource Centers
9:00am | Session 1: Decolonizing African History in the Classroom
Dr. George JS Dei
Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Professor George J. Sefa Dei is an acclaimed scholar in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Prof. Dei is the Director of the Centre for Integrated Anti-Racism Studies, and one of Canada's foremost scholars on race and anti-racism studies. Prof. Dei is a member of the Royal Society of Canada and honoree of many awards including the prestigious Whitworth Award for Career Research in Education (2016) and recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award (2021) from the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators [ONABSE]. He teaches courses in anti-racism education, sociology of race and ethnicity, Indigenous knowledge and decolonization, and education in African contexts.
10:30am | Session 2: Engaging with African Literature in the Classroom
Dr. Ainehi Edoro
Vilas Early Career Professor and Constellations Mellon-Morgridge Professor, Department of English, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Dr. Edoro is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she teaches and researches on African literature, political theory, and literature in social media. She is the founder and Editor of Brittle Paper (https://brittlepaper.com/), a leading online platform dedicated to African writing and literary culture. Her research interest is centered on the form, theory, history, and culture of the novel as it emerged in Africa. Her current book project is titled “Forest Imaginaries: How African Novels Think.” She also writes essays and commentaries about contemporary African literary culture in mainstream publications such as The Guardian and Africa is a Country. Her recent Publications include: “Achebe’s Evil Forest: Space, Violence, and Order in Things Fall Apart Journal of Postcolonial Enquiry,” Journal of Postcolonial Enquiry, Volume 5, Issue 2 April 2018.
11:45am | Lunch Break
1:00pm | Session 3: Centering African Cultural Expressions and Fashion in the Classroom
Dr. Victoria Rovine
Professor African Art History & Director, African Studies Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Professor Rovine specializes in African art with a focus on African textiles and dress practices. She has published widely on African fashion designers, contemporary African artists, and the representation of Africa in Europe through visual culture. Her first book, Bogolan: Shaping Culture Through Cloth in Contemporary Mali (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001; republished by Indiana University Press, 2008) traces the many manifestations of a distinctively Malian textile in Bamako’s fine art, tourist art, and fashion markets. Her second book, African Fashion, Global Style: Histories, Innovations, and Ideas You Can Wear (Indiana University Press, 2015) explores the innovations of African designers, the changing roles and meanings of historical dress styles in Africa, and the influences of African style on European fashion design, past and present.
2:30pm | Session 4: Engaging with Contemporary African Music
Dr. Msia Kibona Clark
Associate Professor of African Cultural and Feminist Studies/Interdisciplinary Studies, Department of African Studies, Howard University
Dr, Kibona’s work explores the role of cultural representations in presenting narratives that shape identities and perceptions around race, gender, and sexuality. Her work also explores African feminist activism and cyberactivism in digital and social media spaces. She has published four books (Hip-Hop in Africa: Prophets of the City and Dustyfoot Philosophers, African Women in Digital Spaces: Redefining Social Movements on the Continent and in the Diaspora, Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa: Ni Wakati, and Pan African Spaces: Essays on Black Transnationalism. She teaches courses including "Black Women & Popular Culture" at Howard University and "Hip Hop and Social Change in Africa." Along with students in the Hip Hop in Africa course, she produces The Hip Hop African Blog hosted at hiphopafrican.com.