Difference between revisions of "Benin Learning Community 2014"

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Return to [[Main Page]]
 
Return to [[Main Page]]
  
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==May 13: Benin Learning Community Common Packet==
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This page contains the reading list for the "common packet" of the Benin 2014 Learning Community. Individual students are enrolled in Philosophy 301: Introductory Ethics, Philosophy 495: Philosophy of Culture: Benin, or Broadcast 380: Special Topics. 
  
 
Here's the reading list for the common packet.  We did wind up with a fair amount of reading, but we also want to encourage you to pursue other reading from the program library and investigate new topics of your own.   
 
Here's the reading list for the common packet.  We did wind up with a fair amount of reading, but we also want to encourage you to pursue other reading from the program library and investigate new topics of your own.   
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==Benin Learning Community Common Packet==
 
==Benin Learning Community Common Packet==
  
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All readings are available as pdfs from your course website.  Login and click on "ereserves."
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All readings are available as pdfs from your course website.  Follow and read documents linked below.    Login and click on "ereserves". Take some notes that you can return to. 
  
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===History and Politics===
  
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*Reader, John. 1997. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Vintage. (excerpted in pdf)
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*Reader, John. 1997. "The Atlantic Slave Trade," Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Vintage. (excerpted in pdf, pp. 377-403) (26)  '''(June 5)'''
  
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*Timothy Ford, "Water and Health," Chapter 18, Environmental Health.
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:*What are some of the key facts about the size of the slave trade, who was involved, and when it occurred?
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:*Who was John Newton and what does his life and career tell us about the slave trade?
  
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*Finkel, "Bedlam in the Blood," National Geographic, July 2007.
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*Gardinier, David E. 1997. "The Historical Origins of Francophone Africa." In Political Reform in Francophone Africa, edited by John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, 9-23. Westview Press. '''(June 10)'''
  
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*Gardinier, David E. 1997. "The Historical Origins of Francophone Africa." In Political Reform in Francophone Africa, edited by John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, 9-23. Westview Press.
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:*In what ways (political, cultural or economic) did France relate to its African territories until and after 1960?
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:*What seem to have been some advantages and difficulties involved in the bilateral relation?
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:*What political and socio-economic changes took place in the early 1960s?
  
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*Decalo, Samuel. 1997. "Benin: First of the New Democracies." In Political Reform in Francophone Africa, edited by John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, 43-62. Westview Press.
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*Bierschenk, Thomas. 2009. "Democratization without Development: Benin 1989-2009." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society no. 22 (3):337-357. '''(June 10)'''
  
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*Bierschenk, Thomas. 2009. "Democratization without Development: Benin 1989-2009." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society no. 22 (3):337-357.
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:*In what ways are the 1989 mobilizations and successive political transformations explained in this article and how does this interpretation differ from previously dominant views?
  
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*Mama, Rauf. 1998. "The Dance of Poverty." In Why Goats Smell Bad and other Stories from Benin, edited by Rauf Mama, 45-50. North Haven, Connecticut: The Shoe String Press.
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:*Comment on some economic aspects of Benin that you find particularly striking.  
  
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*Millenium Development Goals for Benin
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:* What is the situation of political culture, civil society and the media in today's Benin?
  
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*Easterly, William. 2006. The White Man's Burden. New York: Penguin.
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===Culture and Everyday Life===
  
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*Songhai Case Study
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*Mama, Rauf. 1998. "The Dance of Poverty." In Why Goats Smell Bad and other Stories from Benin, edited by Rauf Mama, 45-50. North Haven, Connecticut: The Shoe String Press.  '''(June 16)'''
  
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==May 1: Benin Program Learning Community Page==
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*Kpai, Idrissou Mora, ''Si Gueriki'' The Queen Mother.  (Video)  '''(week of June 16)'''
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*Hass, Philip, ''Kings of the Water'' (Video) '''(week of June 16)'''
  
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I'll use this to post resources relevant to interests that cut across courses.  Also, maybe, some program information.
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===Development July Reading Period===
  
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Browse the selected "bookshelf." [http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/faculty/alfino/img_3748.jpg]. There are other books in the bibliography not pictured in this selection, but these seem current and relevant to a cross section of disciplinary interests. I might have added, for instance, E. O. Wilson's, The Social Conquest of Earth, but which I won't recommend as a required text for us.
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*Millenium Development Goals for Benin:  '''(July 7)'''
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:*Guardian, 2013 Millenium Dev. Goal Progress Index [http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2013/may/29/millennium-development-goal-progress-data]
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:*Beninese minister reports progress in achieving MDGs," [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2013-08/29/c_132671720.htm]
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:*IndexMundi, "Benin MDGs" [http://www.indexmundi.com/benin/millennium-development-goals.html]
  
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There are about 75 document records in the Benin Program library.  Here's a link to those. 
 
  
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[[Current Endnote Records on Benin]]. 
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:*Easterly, William. 2006. excerpt from The White Man's Burden. Chapter 1, "Planners vs. Seekers," (July 17)
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:*Nzamujo, Fr. Godfrey.  "Using agriculture to challenge Africa's triple threat."  Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo, founder of The Songhai Center. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Caw2htKiT0I] or, Father Godfrey - How the South Can Feed the North [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xbGsFg046I]
  
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Please browse them sometime.  I hope we'll be adding to and updating this literature during our time in the learning community.  Within a few days, I'll get you access to pdf versions of much of this.  For now, though, he's my recommended Browse list:
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==Other Resources==
  
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*Avorgbedor, Daniel K. 2005. "Musical Traditions of the Ewe and Related Peoples of Togo and Benin." In A Handbook of Eweland: The Ewe of Togo and Benin, edited by Benjamin Lawrance, 197-213. Accra: Woeli Publishing Services.
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Here is an accessible blog presentation of the Songhai concept. [http://olawaleojo.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/training-at-songhai-farms-porto-novo-benin-10-things-you-should-know/]
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*Bierschenk, Thomas. 2009. "Democratization without Development: Benin 1989-2009." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society no. 22 (3):337-357.
 
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*Blier, Suzanne. 1995. "Vodun Art, Social History, and the Slave Trade." In African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power, edited by Suzanne Blier, 23-54. Chicago: University of Chicago.
 
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*Coates, Tim. 2001. King Guezo of Dahomey 1850-52: The Abolition of the Slave Trade on the West Coast of Africa (Uncovered Editions). London: The Stationery Office.
 
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*Decalo, Samuel. 1997. "Benin: First of the New Democracies." In Political Reform in Francophone Africa, edited by John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, 43-62. Westview Press.
 
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*Easterly, William. 2006. The White Man's Burden. New York: Penguin.
 
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*Gardinier, David E. 1997. "The Historical Origins of Francophone Africa." In Political Reform in Francophone Africa, edited by John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, 9-23. Westview Press.
 
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*Mama, Rauf. 1998. "The Dance of Poverty." In Why Goats Smell Bad and other Stories from Benin, edited by Rauf Mama, 45-50. North Haven, Connecticut: The Shoe String Press.
 
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*Nanda, Serena, and Richard Warms. 2007. "Chapter Three: Doing Cultural Anthropology." In Cultural Anthropology, edited by Serena Nanda and Richard Warms, 58-84. Thompson/Wadsworth.
 
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*Reader, John. 1997. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Vintage. Excerpt available in esreserves!
 
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For Ethics and Philosophy of Culture Students, please follow the wiki for particular courses.  We will try to connect our courses with an online discussion exercise at some point in the summer.
 

Latest revision as of 03:24, 9 July 2014

Return to Main Page

This page contains the reading list for the "common packet" of the Benin 2014 Learning Community. Individual students are enrolled in Philosophy 301: Introductory Ethics, Philosophy 495: Philosophy of Culture: Benin, or Broadcast 380: Special Topics.

Here's the reading list for the common packet. We did wind up with a fair amount of reading, but we also want to encourage you to pursue other reading from the program library and investigate new topics of your own.

Benin Learning Community Common Packet

All readings are available as pdfs from your course website. Follow and read documents linked below. Login and click on "ereserves". Take some notes that you can return to.

History and Politics

  • Reader, John. 1997. "The Atlantic Slave Trade," Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Vintage. (excerpted in pdf, pp. 377-403) (26) (June 5)
  • What are some of the key facts about the size of the slave trade, who was involved, and when it occurred?
  • Who was John Newton and what does his life and career tell us about the slave trade?
  • Gardinier, David E. 1997. "The Historical Origins of Francophone Africa." In Political Reform in Francophone Africa, edited by John F. Clark and David E. Gardinier, 9-23. Westview Press. (June 10)
  • In what ways (political, cultural or economic) did France relate to its African territories until and after 1960?
  • What seem to have been some advantages and difficulties involved in the bilateral relation?
  • What political and socio-economic changes took place in the early 1960s?
  • Bierschenk, Thomas. 2009. "Democratization without Development: Benin 1989-2009." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society no. 22 (3):337-357. (June 10)
  • In what ways are the 1989 mobilizations and successive political transformations explained in this article and how does this interpretation differ from previously dominant views?
  • Comment on some economic aspects of Benin that you find particularly striking.
  • What is the situation of political culture, civil society and the media in today's Benin?

Culture and Everyday Life

  • Mama, Rauf. 1998. "The Dance of Poverty." In Why Goats Smell Bad and other Stories from Benin, edited by Rauf Mama, 45-50. North Haven, Connecticut: The Shoe String Press. (June 16)
  • Kpai, Idrissou Mora, Si Gueriki The Queen Mother. (Video) (week of June 16)
  • Hass, Philip, Kings of the Water (Video) (week of June 16)

Development July Reading Period

  • Millenium Development Goals for Benin: (July 7)
  • Guardian, 2013 Millenium Dev. Goal Progress Index [1]
  • Beninese minister reports progress in achieving MDGs," [2]
  • IndexMundi, "Benin MDGs" [3]


  • Easterly, William. 2006. excerpt from The White Man's Burden. Chapter 1, "Planners vs. Seekers," (July 17)
  • Nzamujo, Fr. Godfrey. "Using agriculture to challenge Africa's triple threat." Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo, founder of The Songhai Center. [4] or, Father Godfrey - How the South Can Feed the North [5]

Other Resources

Here is an accessible blog presentation of the Songhai concept. [6]

Retrieved from "http://wiki.gonzaga.edu/alfino/index.php?title=Benin_Learning_Community_2014&oldid=15243"