GST 272: Periclean Scholars

Fall 2007

Instructor: Dr. Heidi G. Frontani

Office Hours: Tues/Thurs 8-10:15am; Office: Powell 217-C

Phone: 336-278-6462; E-mail: glaesel@elon.edu

Course Description: This course will focus on socio-economic development in Africa, with a special focus on Ghana. Development issues will be addressed within the broader political, social and cultural contexts. Cases studies will be used to address what can be done to level uneven development and access to resources among especially vulnerable stakeholder groups such as ethnic and religious minorities, women, peasant farmers and fishers. This seminar is the foundational course in the Periclean Scholars program and acceptance into the 2010 Periclean Scholars class is a pre-requisite. Experiential learning, or learning by doing, is significant portion of this and other Periclean Scholars courses. By the end of the series of five Periclean Scholars courses you will have gained an understanding of the philosophy behind ‘participatory development’, learned how to ‘do development work’ and experienced some of the challenges and rewards of being an informed and active global citizen.

Course Goals:

Ø IMPROVE PEOPLE’S LIVES: Our number one goal for our sequence of five Periclean Scholars classes is to improve the lives of Ghanaian people. There are more than 22 million Ghanaians, so we can’t expect to assist everyone.

Ø SUSTAINABLE PROJECT(S): In this foundational seminar our goal will be to select, in consultation with experts, two or three communities in Ghana with which to establish relations and do specific development projects. These communities will likely be in or near cities or villages visited annually by Elon’s Ghana Abroad Program. This will allow our project(s) to be sustainable and continue beyond 2010.

Ø COLLABORATE EFFECTIVELY: The 2010 class of Periclean Scholars forms a community of learners with a common interest in African Studies/Ghanaian Studies and/or Development Studies. We have the special opportunity by virtue of being in the Periclean Scholars program to develop strong ties with likeminded people through multiple shared classes over several years. Our goal will be to collaborate effectively, keeping the ‘big picture’ (our number one goal) in mind, each doing our share of the work, and demonstrating respect for members of our learning community even if we disagree.

Ø OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: Part of effective development work involves outreach and education or getting the word out about what problems exist and letting people know how they might help solve these problems. In addition to planning specific development projects in Ghana, we will work to educate the US public, starting with the Elon campus, by hosting educational events (speaker visits, information tables at Moseley Center, articles in Pendulum, Times-News, etc., short stories, poems, or photographs in Colonnades, SURF, SURE, or NCUR presentations, dinner with Ghanaian food, films, festivals, etc.) which inform people about challenges faced by people living in poorer countries such as Ghana.

Ø FUND RAISING: Getting the word out will help us with our goal of fund raising. People do not generally offer financial support to causes they know nothing about. The more money we raise the more likely we are to make a greater impact in the communities with which we partner. Some outreach/educational events may also serve to raise funds.

Ø PERSONAL GROWTH: Development work is not charity. We give because we want to and because we can, but must recognize that we often receive or take much more than we give. Our Ghanaian hosts will be teaching us about their cultures and ways of life, how to find happiness with few material possessions, live life consuming virtually no fossil fuels, demonstrate respect for elders, value community over individual well-being, creatively recycle and reuse, and keep up hope in the face of many significant life challenges. Thus, our final goal is to undergo personal growth, in part through being appropriately humble in recognition that the many intangible gifts we will receive from Ghanaians are much more valuable than our (most likely) more tangible ones. In measures of human happiness across cultures the intangibles (positive social relations, strong friendships, respect, feelings of self-worth, etc.) are consistently recognized as superior to the tangibles (nice car, big house, fine clothing, jewelry, etc.).

Grading Scale:  

A	Excellent work, generally the top 10% of the class. (A- = 90-94, A = >94)	90-100%
B	Solid, university-level work.  (B- = 80-83, B = 84-87, B+ = 88-89)	80-89%
C	Adequate work, lacking in one or more areas.   (C- = 70-73, C = 74-77, C+ = 78-79)	70-79%
D	Passing work, but with serious deficiencies. (D- = 60-63, D = 64-67, D+= 68-69)	60-69%
F	Failing, unacceptable work for the university level.	<60%
I	You will be issued with an incomplete (I) if you are unable to complete enough work to be given a fair grade, and where this is justified on grounds of illness, bereavement or other extenuating circumstances approved by the instructor.

All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date due and may only be turned in late without penalty if you have a medical excuse AND spoke with or otherwise contacted AND came to an agreement with the instructor.

Required readings:

Ø Easterly, William 2006. The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. Penguin Press.

Ø Gocking, Roger S. 2005. The History of Ghana. Greenwood Press.

Ø Salm, Steven J. and Toyin Falola 2002. Culture and Customs of Ghana (Culture and Customs of Africa series). Greenwood Press.

E-reserve readings will be available through our course BlackBoard site.

Course requirements:

Map quiz	September 6^th	5 percent
Three year plan	September 27^th	10 percent
Projects related to three-year plan described in four progress reports	Due monthly (mid-month)	4 @15 percent each = 60 percent
Class participation including presentation(s)	Every class period	15 percent
Reflection essay	Due during final exam period	10 percent

MAP QUIZ: For the map quiz you will be given a word bank and two blank maps (one of Africa, the other of Ghana). You will put the number corresponding to the proper physical feature, country, province, or city on the appropriate blank map. Approximately 35 physical features, countries, or cities will correspond with the African continent map and 15 physical features, cities and provinces with the Ghana map.

CLASS PARTICIPATION: We will not have formal exams. You will demonstrate your knowledge of course readings through active participation in class discussions. Every person need not speak in every class period, but most people should speak most class periods. For several readings there will be study guides/discussion questions posted in advance on BlackBoard and they will form the basis of our discussions. Class participation will also be based on contributions to brainstorming sessions, discussion of progress to date on our class goals, and informal presentation of items and issues researched in pursuit of our individual and class goals, and demonstration of the ability to collaborate effectively.

PROGRESS REPORTS AND THREE-YEAR PLAN: You will keep track of your contributions towards meeting group/course goals and your individual goals for the first semester of your three-year plan and summarize these contributions in a one to two page typed progress report due every two to three weeks. The first report is due September 13^th.

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SAMPLE Three Year Plan (to give you an idea of what one might look like)

NOTE: Individual three-year plans will vary considerably by student, but each should include a summary, information on proposed major and minor, and entries for each fall, winter, spring, and summer from fall 2007 through spring 2010. Generally each Periclean Scholar will propose one major/longer term project and one to three minor/shorter term project(s) to conduct over their three years, plus assist with fundraising. [Note: for a Business Major the major project and/or minor project(s) may be fundraising project(s).]

Each student’s three-year plan should draw on his or her strengths and fit within his or her overall academic and/or career objectives (i.e. a cinema student might propose a film project related to Ghana or Ghanaians, an English major a writing project which results in an article, short story, or poem about Ghana in a campus or national-level publication, a business student create or support a small business in Ghana, an art student create a painting, mural, sculpture, or photography exhibit on Ghana or members of its Diaspora, a sport management major organize an Africa Fest on campus with sporting, musical, research and other components, a theatre student perform in a play written by an English student which highlights the life of a Ghanaian with AIDS, a pre-med student volunteer at a hospital in Ghana for a semester, an ‘undecided’ major organize for a Ghanaian or Ghanaian-American to visit campus to speak with our class and other classes, etc.). Students from any major can propose research papers/ presentations at the campus or national level. These are just SOME IDEAS, be creative in designing your own three-year plan.

Name: ____

Proposed major: Communications, with a concentration in Cinema

Minor(s): African/African-American Studies

Summary

My goals are to: give a SURF presentation in my sophomore year; research, obtain video footage, and study abroad in London my junior year; edit my film footage my senior year. My major contribution will be to create a short video highlighting life in one or more predominantly African-descended communities in London (Brixton, Dalston, and/or Lewisham) for use by Elon’s International Programs office to encourage students planning to study in London to actively seek out the city’s vibrant, but less-visited immigrant communities.

Sophomore Year

FALL 2007

Ø My major individual goal for GST 272 I will be to in the area of outreach and education. My plan is to access Ghanaian newspapers online (http://www.world-newspapers.com/ghana.html) to gather information on contemporary issues related to communications and the mass media in Ghana for a possible Student Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) presentation in the spring. I plan to read Ghanaian newspapers two to three times per week over a 10-12 week period. By mid-November I will write a 12 to 15 page paper on my background research and findings and submit it to Dr. Frontani for grading. The paper will build on my research on mass media in West Africa which I started in GST 110 with a paper on Nigerian Newspapers.

Ø I’ll give a timed 15 minute presentation by late November in GST 272 on my research as a trial run for SURF.

WINTER 2008

Ø I plan to take a course on campus towards my JCM major and time permitting continue to work on my ‘Contemporary Issues in Communications and Mass Media in Ghana’ paper.

SPRING 2008

Ø I will submit my abstract to the Undergraduate Research Program in late February in the hopes of giving a SURF presentation in April

Ø Enrollment in GEO 320 Africa’s People and Environments to keep up with other Pericleans, learn more about Africa, and gain credit hours towards a minor in African/African-American Studies. I hope to begin research on the Ghanaian Diaspora (in Chicago, London, etc.) and the importance of remittances from these communities to Ghana’s economy. I would use Baumann (1996), Danziger (1997), Hamnett (2003), McAuley (1993) and other relevant sources for my paper.

SUMMER 2008

Ø Relax and spend time with family and friends. Time and funds permitting, I may stop in Chicago for the annual Ghana Fest and/or attend the African Film Festival in New York City.

Junior Year

FALL 2008

Ø In PER 371 I will continue my research on the Ghanaian Diaspora with a specific emphasis on Ghanaians living in West African descended communities in Southeast London. I will formulate the story line for my short film and come up with the questions I will ask people while studying abroad in London in the spring.

Ø I will submit all relevant forms to Elon’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) in order to gain the required approval do work with human subjects.

WINTER 2009

Ø I would like to spend January in Ghana with Elon’s study abroad program. I will be able to visit one or more of the sites where our class will have ongoing development projects. I hope to do a bit of fundraising at home over the holidays to contribute to the funds our class is raising. I will ask the Ghanaian lecturers speaking with our study abroad class if they have any relatives living in London. This will give me an ‘in’ when I arrive. The Ghana program passes through London on the way back to the USA so this will be a perfect way to begin my spring term in London.

SPRING 2009

Ø Spend the semester in London. Conduct interviews and film in South/Southeast London (hopefully I can work this into one of the classes I’ll be taking for credit).

SUMMER 2009

Ø I’d like to travel in Europe a bit before heading home.

Senior Year

FALL 2009

Ø Use PER 471 to edit my hours of London footage down to 15-20 minutes or less. Try to get the film in good enough shape to show to students planning to study abroad in London during the winter or spring.

WINTER 2010

Ø Final edits on my film while taking a course on campus.

SPRING 2010

Ø Enroll in PER 472 and use my short film to help me get a job or graduate school offer. Graduate as a 2010 Periclean Scholar!

References mentioned in my three year plan:

Ø Baumann, Gerd 1996. Contesting Culture: Discourses of Identity in Multi-Ethnic London. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ø Danziger, Nick 1997. ‘Brixton’ pp. 9-19 in Danziger’s Britain. London: Harper Collins.

Ø Hamnett, Chris 2003. Unequal City: London in the Global Arena. London: Routledge.

Ø McAuley, Ian 1993. ‘Black London’ pp. 185-214 in Ethnic London. London: IMMEL Publishing.

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COURSE OUTLINE (subject to change): Overall we will devote more of the first half of the course to lectures, discussing readings, and viewing videos and preparing for doing development work. The second half of the course will focus more on planning and fund raising for our develop projects.

Week 1—Overview of Africa’s People and Environments

What are the major biomes, religions, languages, political and economic patterns, etc.?

Week 2—Development in Colonial and Post-Colonial Africa

What’s worked and what hasn’t: learning from the past and ‘putting the last first’

Map quiz

Week 3—Overview of Ghana’s People and Environments

Contrasts and commonalities across Ghana’s sub-regions

Week 4—The Volta Region

Large scale dam projects, agriculture, and rural development

Week 5—Ghana’s Coastal Zone

Urbanization, tourism, fisheries and coastal management

Week 6—Northern Ghana

Dry lands and range management, Islam, park and wildlife management

Week 7—Project Presentations

Students will give short presentations about their progress to date on project(s) scheduled for completion or partial completion this semester.

Weeks 8 to 15—Fundraising activities, outreach and education activities, research and collaboration on specific development projects

We will make decisions as a group about the specifics for this part of the course, but each class member will be responsible for contributing to or leading initiatives which help us meet our class goals.

Our goals and objectives as Periclean Scholars should not be foreign to Ghanaians. The “Siamese” Crocodiles below are a symbol of democracy and unity from Ghana. The proverb ‘They share the same stomach yet they fight over food’ is associated with the symbol. The proverb tells of the harmfulness of infighting and ‘tribalism’ and the importance of unity and oneness despite cultural differences. The two crocodiles are but one example of an ‘Adinkra’ or traditional symbol from Ghana (and the Ivory Coast) used to pass along wisdom.

FUNTUMMIREKU-DENKYEMMIREKU (name of the symbol)