UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
The African Studies Outreach Program at Yale University

The African Studies Outreach Program at Yale University

Program Description

The African Studies Outreach Program was established in 1985 when the Council on African Studies (CAS) at Yale University was funded as a Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The program focuses on expanding and enhancing Africanist knowledge in local schools, colleges, and civic groups in Connecticut and throughout New England with several kinds of activities and events:

Pre- and in-service professional development workshops in schools for teachers to develop curriculum materials; lectures, seminars, and conferences open to pre-collegiate faculty and staff; educational visits to Africa for educators; provision for teaching resources; curriculum consultancy; language training; and running of African film festivals open to the public.

Programs for Teachers

A two-week intensive course, "The Teaching of Africa," is organized each summer at Yale for K-12 and college teachers, curriculum specialists, librarians and others. The 1993 summer institute, planned by the four outreach professionals of the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS), is scheduled for July 5-16.

On-site curriculum consultation and professional development programs are organized in school districts for teachers. These programs are tailored to meet the needs of each school, district, regional service center, or curriculum planning group.

Occasional lectures, seminars, and conferences are sponsored or co-sponsored at Yale and open to pre- collegiate faculty and staff. Publicity of these programs are announced in the Yale Weekly Bulletin and the YCIAS and CAS Weekly Bulletins posted on bulletin boards at Yale or through special mailings.

Programs for teachers are planned in accordance with nationwide standards of Continuing Education Units [CEUs] and meet the requirements of the State of Connecticut Department of Education. Yale University is a CEU provider. The African Studies Outreach Program offers J CEUs to teachers who participate in its programs at Yale.

[Overseas opportunities]. The program hopes to lead a group of educators to Africa in 1994 with funding from the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program.

Programs in Schools

[Speakers bureau and event planning programs]. For special programs in local schools and other public events, outreach staff help arrange for presenters and performers; identify and provide resources such as films and bibliographic information; and plan a complementary curriculum. Yale Africanists, faculty, graduate students, and outreach staff with first-hand experience often make presentations.

Other Programs

[Learning resource center]. Several hundred books, curriculum units, audiovisual materials, and artifacts are available for K-12 and college usage. The outreach staff work with the Department of Anthropology in organizing African film festivals, "Through an African Lens," which are free and open to the public each semester at Yale.

The outreach staff lead workshops for K-12 teachers in state and national conferences such as the Connecticut Council on Social Studies, the National Council on Social Studies, the American Forum for Global Education, and the African Studies Association.

Contact for Information

For more information on arranging and participating in the above programs, please call our office at (203) 432-3438 or write to the African Studies Outreach Program, Council on African Studies, 89 Trumbull Street, Box 14A Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520.

9/1/94


Editor: Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.
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