Virtual Exchange | Co-investigation Clusters
Overview
Colonization, colonialism, and anti-colonial movements are key parts of Africa’s past and present. Colonialism penetrated almost every aspect of life in African countries that were colonized – economic, political, social, and cultural – restructuring, reformatting and often fragmenting the key indigenous institutions that governed identity and social relations along the way. Since independence, African societies grappled with the legacies of colonialism in different ways and with various effects. But the challenges these societies face in confronting legacies of the past — such as systemic racism, poverty, oppression, police brutality, corruption, and injustice — are not unique to the African context alone.
The Black Lives Matter movement in the USA, for example, demonstrates the need to confront not only domestic, but global legacies of colonialism and racism in order to dismantle the systems that perpetuate them. This session engages participants with historical and present-day issues of racial injustice in particular, placing students in conversation with local activists in Kenya and South Africa. Using the past as a lens to explore present-day international manifestations of racism, participants will engage with responses to social injustices through collaborative problem-solving.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this cluster, participants should be able to:
- Identify instances of these in local and global contexts (past and present)
- Devise ways to overcome these oppressions at a global level
Virtual Inclusions
- Small group discussions
- Sensory exercise with SA Struggle Music
- Small group reconciliation challenge
Assessment
A reflective statement to be shared and discussed at the end.
Eligibility Requirements
- Open to participants of any discipline or background
- Must have access to reliable, high-speed internet connection and device from which to connect
- Willingness to collaborate synchronously (in real time)
- Good command of English language
- Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to different accents and ways of speaking in English
- Willingness to engage in constructive discussion on potentially emotive subject matter
Time investment:
3 hours of Synchronous Engagement (2 sessions of 1.5h each)
Min/Max Pax
15-45 participants
Program Cost
$2450 for 15-30 participants.
Additional participants at $20 pp.