A last call for Simmons students to study Africa The Fall 2013 semester will be my last at Simmons, after which I will leave to work on a book on the refugees flowing out of Eritrea—dubbed by many the “North Korea” of Africa for its tyrannical regime—and the horrifying human trafficking operation (slavery by another name) targeted at them, which I will be blogging about here over the next few weeks. I am in Africa now researching this, building on trips to Ethiopia last year and to Israel in January—both done with generous college support—and I will be incorporating my findings into my fall course on African politics, POLS 242. I am writing to invite students to register for it as there are still open slots, according to AARC. POLS 242 is an introductory course with no prerequisites and often includes non-PoliSci and International Relations majors. We start with a survey of the impact of European colonialism and move through the rise of nationalism and decolonization to the issues and challenges facing post-colonial Africa. The first book we read, familiar to many of you, is Chinua Achebe’s classic novel, “Things Fall Apart.” You will come away from this with an understanding of what lies behind the headlines on contemporary crises and what else is going on in this tumultuous but promising region that may not be in the news. Part of this will come from choosing a country to research and getting to know it in depth; part will come from hearing what classmates have learned from their research; and part will come from my continuing engagement in the continent. If you have ever been curious about these things and wanted to know more, this is your last chance to explore them with me. If you read this and have already taken classes with me but have no room on your schedule, pass this along to others. See you in September.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:45:47 +0000
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