Knowledge Acquisition on Africa through African and Gender Studies Curriculum
Black/African Tertiary Students’ Perceptions and Outcomes in a Developing Context (Ghana)
Keywords:
Africa, Gender, Black/African, CurriculumAbstract
This paper seeks to improve the discourse of African Studies by taking a retrospection of an introductory course at a public tertiary institution in Ghana (West Africa). African Studies and Gender Studies are interdisciplinary academic fields that promote African-centred knowledge and gender perspectives. Students gain knowledge of African reality, become conscious of gender- and Africa-related stereotypes, and are equipped to confront these preconceptions. This paper aims to investigate the course’s outcomes and understand how students perceive African and Gender Studies curriculum. A mixed methods research approach was adopted to gather data from 50 Black/African students at a public university who took an African Studies course during the 2022–2023 academic year. The data were subjected to thematic analysis. The study discovered that students were able to relate the course to themselves from Afrocentric and gender viewpoints which will enable them to contribute the knowledge and skills that they learned to the development agenda’s goal of the creation of a sustainable Africa. Moreover, it made it easier for them to connect with their classmates since it taught them to treat everyone fairly and reject sexism. Students also benefitted from the course delivery methods such as group activities, multimedia, and art performances that provided room for greater idea exchange, engagement, discussion, and conceptual clarity. They ultimately provide students with the opportunity to gain practical knowledge about the African continent and the African people, and hence, there is a need for pedagogical modification that places emphasis on practical components.
References
Abraham, G. Y. (2022). Nkrumah’s and Nyerere’s educational visions: What can contemporary Africa learn from them? African Journal of Education and Practice, 8(2), 20–29. https://doi.org/10.47604/ajep.1470
Adams, T. A. (2014). The pan-African studies effect and its impact on undergraduate students. Journal of Pan African Studies, 7(1), 23–37.
Adichie, C. N. (2009). The danger of a single story. TEDGlobal. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?
Akolgo, J. O. (2019). Re-fashioning African studies in an information technology driven world for Africa’s transformation. Contemporary Journal of African Studies, 6(1), 114–137.
Amadiume, I. (1987). Male daughters, female husbands: gender and sex in an African society. Zed Books.
Ampim, M. (2003, June). The “Table of Nations”: Scene in the tomb of Ramses III. Africana Studies from the Primary Sources with
Professor Manu Ampim. https://manuampim.com/ramesesIII.htm
Asante, M. K. (1998). The Afrocentric idea. Temple University Press.
Asante, M. K. (2003). Afrocentricity: The theory of social change (Revised and Expanded). African American Images.
Asante, M. K. (2019). The history of Africa: The quest for eternal harmony (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Asante, M. K. (2021). Analytic Afrocentricity and the future of African Studies. In A. M. Vasiliev, D. A. Degterev, & T. M. Shaw (Eds.), Africa and the formation of the new system of international relations: Rethinking decolonization and foreign policy concepts (pp. 229–238).
Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77336-6_17
Aslam, R., & Khan, S. (2023). Student perceptions of gender studies as an academic discipline in Pakistan. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 25(4), Article 6.
Association of African Universities (2024). Strategic plan: 2024-2030. Association of African Universities.
Bear, A., & Skorton, D. (2019). The world needs students with interdisciplinary education. Issues in Science and Technology, 35(2), 60–62.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101.
Brock-Utne, B. (2002). Whose education for all? The recolonization of the African mind. Taylor & Francis.
Çalışıcı, H. and Sümen, Ö. Ö. (2018). Metaphorical perceptions of prospective teachers for STEM education. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 6(5), 871-880. http://dx.doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2018.060509
Cokley, K. O. (2003). What do we know about the motivation of African American students? Challenging the “Anti-Intellectual” myth. Harvard Educational Review, 73(4), 524–558. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.73.4.3618644850123376
Collins English Dictionary. (n.d.). Sine qua non. In Collins online dictionary. Retrieved July 14, 2024, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sine-qua-non
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Pearson Education, Inc.
Dei, G. J. S., Asgharzadeh, A., Bahador, S. E., & Shahjahan, R. A. (2006). Schooling and difference in Africa: Democratic challenges in a contemporary context. University of Toronto Press.
Diop, N. (2015). Gender equality and sustainable development: Achieving the twin development goals in Africa. Brief for GSDR [Global Sustainable Development Report]. https://sdgs.un.org/documents/brief-gsdr-2015-gender-equality-and-sustaina-20829.
Dodds, J. S. (1993). Healers of Ghana. Films for the Humanities & Sciences.
Electoral Commissioner. (2023). University of Environment and Sustainable Development SRC and JCR Elections 2023.
Falola, T. (2022). Decolonizing African studies: Knowledge production, agency, and voice. University of Rochester Press.
Flannery, I. M. (2022). The entanglement of the disciplines: Why an Afrocentric methodology to advance humanizing research on people of the African diaspora. The Journal of Intersectionality, 5(1), 28–40.
Frehiwot, M., McGhee, C., & Aduako, H. B. (2022). Liberate your mind: Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah’s influence on contemporary pan-African consciousness in the USA. Journal of African American Studies, 26(2), 125–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-022-09572-8
Frindéthié, K. M. (2010). Globalization and the seduction of Africa’s ruling class: An argument for a new philosophy of development. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.
Gates, H. L. (2017). Africa’s great civilizations—Part 1: Origins. Virginia: Public Broadcasting Service.
Hakim, A. (2023). Subject lecturers’, EAP tutors’, and students’ perspectives on the initial implementation of university-wide academic literacy support in an emerging EMI context. Journal of Academic Language and Learning, 17(1), 19–39. https://journal.aall.org.au/index.php/jall/article/view/879.%0A
Harper, S. R. (2009). Niggers no more: A critical race counternarrative on Black male student achievement at predominantly White colleges and universities. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 22(6), 697–712. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390903333889
hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Routledge.
hooks, b. (2000). Feminist theory: From margin to center. Pluto Press.
Jack, Patrick (2024, 16 April). Decolonisation of African universities ‘could reduce brain drain’. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/decolonisation-african-universities-could-reduce-brain-drain
Kambon, Ọ. (2017). Intellectual warfare, theory and practice: Gates, Thornton, white world terror domination and the war on Afrocentricity. Journal of Pan African Studies, 10(3), 75–99.
Kambon, Ọ., Songsore, L., & Aketema, J. (2023). 400 years? Ancestors disappear! Historical misorientation and disorientation in the Year of Return and the 400 years narrative. Journal of African American Studies, 27(3), 304–328.
Karenga, M. (2010). Introduction to Black studies (4th ed.). University of Sankore Press.
Maldonado-Torres, N. (2007). On the coloniality of being. Cultural Studies, 21(2–3), 240–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548
Mama, A. (1995). Beyond the masks: Race, gender, and subjectivity. Routledge.
Mama, A. (1996). Women’s studies and studies of women in Africa during the 1990s. African Books Collective.
Manuh, T. & Sutherland-Addy, E. (2013). Africa in contemporary perspective: A textbook for undergraduate students. Sub-Saharan Publishers.
Mazama, A. (Ed.). (2003). The Afrocentric paradigm. Africa World Press, Inc.
McDougal, S. (2021). The Africana studies effect: Creating space and viralizing consciousness. Journal of Negro Education, 90(2), 158–172.
McDougal, S., & Fischer, D. (2018). D. Ku Komena Nyundo: The Africana studies effect. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, 11(2), 22–40.
Middleton, L. (1985). African origin of civilization - Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop. South Carolina Educational Television Network.
Mikell, G. (Ed.). (1997). African feminism: The politics of survival in sub-Saharan Africa. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Mkabela, Q. (2005). Using the Afrocentric method in researching indigenous African culture. The Qualitative Report, 10(1), 178–189.
Mkandawire, T. (2005). African intellectuals: Rethinking politics, language, gender, and development. Zed Books.
Mudimbe, V. Y. (1988). The invention of Africa: Gnosis, philosophy, and the order of knowledge. Indiana University Press.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2024). Ten challenges in reconfiguring African Studies. Review of African Political Economy, 51(179), 117–134.
Nkrumah, K. (2013). The African genius. In E. Sutherland-Addy & T. Manuh (Eds.), Africa in contemporary perspective: A textbook for undergraduate students (pp. vi-xiii). Sub-Saharan Publishers.
Nkrumah, K. (1970). Consciencism: Philosophy and ideology for de-colonization (Rev. ed.). Monthly Review Press. (Original work published 1964)
Nkrumah, K. (1961). I speak of freedom: A statement of African ideology. William Heinemann Ltd.
Nnaemeka, O. (2005). Bringing African women into the classroom: Rethinking pedagogy and epistemology. In O. Oyěwùmí (Ed.), African gender studies: A reader (pp. 51–65). Palgrave Macmillan.
Ou, Q. (2017). A brief introduction to perception. Studies in Literature and Language, 15(4), 18–28. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/10055
Oyěwùmí, O. (1997). The invention of women: Making an African sense of Western gender discourses. University of Minnesota Press.
Rashidi, R. (2017). My global journeys in search of the African presence. Black Classic Press.
Sackey, B. M. (2014). African studies: Evolution, challenges, and prospects. In S. Agyei-Mensah, J. A. Ayee, & A. D. Oduro (Eds.), Changing perspectives on the social sciences in Ghana (pp. 239–262). Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8715-4
Said, E. W. (1995). Orientalism. Penguin Group.
Steele, C. M. (1997). A threat in the air. How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. The American Psychologist, 52(6), 613–629. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.52.6.613
Stewart, J. B. (2024). Higher flight: Refocusing Black/Africana studies for the 21st century. Zed.
Traoré, R. (2007). Implementing Afrocentricity: Connecting students of African descent to their cultural heritage. Journal of Pan African Studies, 1(10), 62–78.
Zeleze, P. T. (2009). African studies and universities since independence. Transition, 101, 110-135.
Zulu, I. M. (Ed.). (2007). Africology: A concise dictionary. Amen-Ra Theological Seminary Press.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development (JESD)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
