At the 2024 African Studies Association Conference, the ASA Outreach Council presented Decolonizing the Classroom: Approaches & Open-Access Resources. The Center for African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh contributed to this collaborative session, which provided strategies, definitions, and free resources for educators seeking to create more equitable, accurate, and inclusive curricula about Africa. The session emphasized responsible teaching practices, the amplification of African voices, and the importance of challenging stereotypes in education.

The 2024 ASA Teachers’ Workshop, held virtually on December 7, 2024, explored the theme "Islam in Africa." Organized in partnership with the Center for African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh, the workshop highlighted the history and cultural impact of Islam across the African continent. Sessions included discussions on Ajami manuscripts, the diversity of Muslim identities, Sudano-Sahelian architecture, and historical resources from the Gold Road Project, providing educators with content and teaching tools to enrich their classrooms.

The Boston 2024 Pre-NCSS Outreach Conference, held on November 21, 2024, at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies, brought together Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) outreach professionals to exchange ideas, challenges, and strategies for improving community engagement beyond K-12 education. The Center for African Studies at the University of Pittsburgh participated, contributing to discussions on outreach innovation, measuring program impact, and preparing for future NRC collaborations.

The focus of Fall 2024's Micro-Course is on the role governments and corporations play in the control of information networks and its impacts on privacy as well as ownership and access to data. This will include discussion of the bias and possibilities in surveillance and predictive technology on local and global communities. Virtual links will be shared with registrants. Pitt students who register for and successfully complete the course can receive one credit.

Join the University of Pittsburgh’s Alliance for Learning in
World History & the Global Studies Center for a series of
workshops about using History for the 21st Century (H21)
modules in the classroom. The H21 project offers complete
modules for introductory world history classrooms that include
student readings and primary sources, lesson plans, instructor
guides, and discussion, activity, and assessments suggestions.

Integrating languages and cultures across the curriculum is an innovative approach that fosters a holistic educational experience. By intertwining diverse linguistic and cultural elements into various subjects, students gain a deeper understanding of cultural competence and global perspectives relevant to their disciplines. This method not only enhances language proficiency but also promotes empathy, cross-cultural communication, and a nuanced appreciation for the rich tapestry of human expression.

Human Rights Amid Violent Conflict: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Events in Israel and Gaza is a panel discussion that will try to provide an academic space and context for those seeking to think and learn, as we are all witnessing heart-breaking violence and response in Israel and Gaza. Our goal is to offer academic contexts and input for thinking about the current moment, asking each forum participant to speak about: What sets of academic knowledge and frameworks are you drawing on as you follow the news from afar?

Since the nineteenth century, the West has targeted the Senegal River Valley as an ideal location for environmental and agricultural improvement projects. In the early 1800s, French trading companies hoped to transform the Lower Senegal Valley into a massive plantation economy – one that would replace the devastating loss of Saint-Domingue to the Haitian Revolution.

Jason Rohr is Professor of Biological Sciences, Ludmilla F., Stephen J., and Robert T. Galla College Professor & Department Chair, University of Notre Dame

Professor Rohr will give an overview on Schistosomiasis is a vector-borne parasitic disease.