Teaching Africa
“Anything that has to do with Africa in general is not well-covered,” says Eke, an English professor at CMU. “Much attention is not paid to the continent in general unless there is a crisis. The subject of Africa is always at the margins – in the periphery of any conversation.”
Eke does what she can to change this through her three-week summer seminar for teachers, supported by a $119,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant. This is the fourth year that Eke has received the NEH grant to fund the teachers’ books, travel, and room and board on campus.
This summer Eke’s seminar focused on the representation of the people and culture of Africa, with special attention to the Congo and Nigeria through discussion of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible, Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God and Things Fall Apart, and Wole Soyinka’s Ake and Death and the King’s Horseman.
The group examined and debated the books in detail, resulting in new ways to interpret the texts that the teachers can take back to their classrooms.
For instance, Eke says Conrad’s 1899 Heart of Darkness is taught in most high schools. But even so, some scholars of Africa have criticized the book for being racist, since Conrad’s African characters rarely speak and have little or no individual identities. The most vocal of these critics is Chinua Achebe, one of the authors the seminar covered.
Eke’s teachers examined the book, considered information that Conrad didn’t include, and filled in the gaps with historical details.
“If these teachers are teaching Conrad, they should be aware of other comparative works out there,” Eke says. “And if they’re talking about emigration or colonization, they should look at other perspectives. The seminar provides alternate views and perspectives on these issues.”
This summer’s participants were English and social studies teachers from across the country.
Aeriale Johnson traveled from Kiana, Alaska, for the seminar. Others attended from Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania – all with their own reasons for participating.
“I teach native Alaskans, and there are parallels between their experiences and African colonization,” Johnson says. “Discussing African literature helps them to analyze their situation.”
“What we’re discussing has a direct influence on my current job as a high school English teacher,” says Denise Dafeamekpor of Baltimore, Maryland. “It broadens my perspective as a professional. I also have a personal interest, as I married an African man. I definitely need a stronger root on the various points of view of African literature.”
In addition to reading books, the group looked at African art, listened to music, and took trips to the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways in Mount Pleasant and Detroit sites such as the Museum of African American History, the Second Baptist Church Underground Railroad Station, and the Motown Historical Museum.
“We’re teaching our students to look at the world in its diversity,” Eke told the teachers one morning of the seminar. “Part of that is acknowledging other cultures and perspectives. Give your students permission to recognize other values and systems and critique them, but be careful not to judge.”
Eke says the seminar builds a mini learning community, as participants spend almost all their time together and end up renting additional movies, reading extra books, and carrying on discussions long into the night.
“Every group has behaved like that – talking until 3 a.m.,” Eke says.
And the seminar’s location on campus is a plus for CMU, as it gives teachers direct exposure to the university’s facilities and resources.
“This is a great accomplishment for CMU; it gives us national presence,” Eke says. “It also is a great recruiting tool, as teachers come from across the country to spend time at CMU, and several of them have recommended CMU to their students.”
Eke maintains an e-mail discussion list with the 60 teachers who have participated over the years. And her next dream involves taking teachers to Africa to give them firsthand experience in the culture about which they teach.
“A trip would be invaluable. But until we find funding for that, the NEH seminar is crucial in helping to educate teachers nationwide. It changes the way they look at things,” Eke says.
Fifteen teachers at a time.