AFST 3580. TRADITIONAL AFRICAN WORLDVIEW AND EDUCATION. (3-0-3)

This course is designed to introduce students to fundamental concepts of African world view and to see how the traditional educational system in Africa relies on these concepts. Students will become aware of the essential role of symbolism in the African cultures, and will focus on the notion of multiple meanings for each symbol and each experience in African culture. Students will also be introduced to the changes in African culture as the European educational system (a result of colonialism) began to dominate the formative years of children in Africa. Students will learn about the problems that occur when a very different world view is juxtaposed onto a traditional world view. Students should exit the course with an enhanced understanding of the foundations of traditional African culture and how subsequent generations of colonialism, and then independence, have altered that world view.