In this video segment from Wide Angle, learn about the fence that is part of the border security system between Botswana and Zimbabwe.
I was inspired by approaches from UDL and Open Pedagogy, in particular. I'm trying to apply the idea of shifting away from 'disposable' assignments by eliminating my Final Exam for PS 355U and replacing it instead with the Group Case Profile Project. According to the UN, Africa consists of 54 states (excluding dependencies and disputed territories). In my approach to teaching PS 355U, I present detailed case studies of 10 states, meaning that 44 cases are not covered in depth. I've always felt pressured to cast a wider net in my coverage of cases, but given the time constraints of a 10-week term and the sheer breadth of African politics, I've had to reconcile myself to the fact that I simply can't cover everything I'd like to. So, the idea with the Case Profile Group Project is to have the students, in groups of 4-5, select a country case that isn't already covered and create both a written profile addressing the substantive topics covered in the course (for example, history, ideology, sovereignty, ethnicity and religion, etc.) along with a group presentation. The class typically enrolls around 30 students, so each term I would then have 6-7 new case profiles. I plan to compile these (with the students permission) in a Case Profile Reader that will then become an accompaniment to the existing course materials, ideally as an Open Text. If I teach the course several times, I will reduce the student choice of cases so we don't have repeats. My reason for this is that eventually the Reader could cover all 44 missing country cases.
Learning Objectives:
Write and speak about African politics in an informed, thoughtful and coherent way
Critically scrutinize academic accounts and media representations of the African continent
Analyze the ways in which international politics and the colonial legacy shape contemporary African politics
Interrogate contemporary African politics across various levels of analysis, multiple issue areas, and through the application of different theoretical and conceptual lenses