Benin Learning Community 2014

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This page contains the reading lists for the "common packet," Philosophy of Culture, and Ethics. All course readings are in the "ereserves" section our your course website (alfino.org, click on "courses," then your course).

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.

• Reader, John. 1997. "The Atlantic Slave Trade," Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: Vintage. (excerpted in pdf, pp. 377-403)

• 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.

• Bierschenk, Thomas. 2009. "Democratization without Development: Benin 1989-2009." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society no. 22 (3):337-357.

• 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.

• Millenium Development Goals for Benin:

• Guardian, 2013 Millenium Dev. Goal Progress Index [1]

  Beninese minister reports progress in achieving MDGs," [2]

• IndexMundi, "Benin MDGs" [3]

• Easterly, William. 2006. The White Man's Burden. New York: Penguin.

• 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]

• An Overview of the African Slave Trade (Full Documentary) [6]

Benin 2014 Philosophy of Culture

• The Anthropological Frame

• Geertz
• Hessling O'Neil

• History and Religion

• Coates
• Hammer
• Blier
• Rosenthal

• Development Aid

• Sachs
• "Good Intentions"
• Acemoglu
• Songhai Self-Study
• Current Project: Youth Entrepreneur Partners [7]

Other Resources

Here is an accessible blog presentation of the Songhai concept. [8]