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part ii african arts Interpreting the African “Text” as advocated throughout the first part of Teaching Africa, establishing a context for learning about africa builds a necessary base, without which, the subsequent knowledge structure would crumble. The second leg of the pedagogical journey, “feeling/heart,” is about pushing beyond acquiring knowledge. in terms of scientific inquiry, observations and descriptions should now start to give way to more interpretive initiatives. in Part ii, “african arts: interpreting the african ‘Text,’” the reader is encouraged to think critically about what he or she has learned thus far, challenging the “facts” when necessary, encouraged by the provisioning of both an emic or insider ’s worldview and, at other times, an etic or outsider’s expert testimony about what is going on in particular circumstances throughout the next six chapters. With luggage and ticket in hand, the students board their long flight to the continent . Throughout, they are free to consider what is to come. Maybe they have been there before and daydream about remembered tastes and smells. Maybe they have contacted and interviewed a diasporan, read a novel, or taken an afrocentric course. The learning on this second leg of the journey is more personal, although it still benefits from facilitation by learned experts. in this section, the reader is invited both to explore the authors’ experiences and approaches and to bring these into his or her own classrooms and pedagogical endeavors . These dialogic and sensual techniques are focused more on specific african cases and contexts to further develop a depth of understanding about a variety of topics and teaching styles, including (1) oral narratives (chapter 14); (2) violence and conflict management (chapter 15); (3) african music and literature (chapters 11, 12, and 13); (3) simulations (chapter 16); and (4) inversions and comparisons (chapters 11 and 12). Parts i and ii expose the reader to the disciplines of african studies, anthropology , conflict management, education, english, foreign languages, geography, history, literature, music, and political ecology. This interdisciplinary and geographic breadth in conjunction with experiential learning allows for a more comprehensive and relevant treatment of africa in any classroom. This page intentionally left blank ...

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