The conference brought together educators, as well as university students preparing to be teachers, for a day of workshops and discussions designed to equip participants with the tools to bring global awareness to K-12 classrooms. The conference was co-sponsored by CIS, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois, and was free for all participants. Visit the conference website for more information.

Tue. Aug. 15 8:00-10:00 AM: General Introduction: "Thinking about 'Africa;'” "Africa in the Global Economy: from Gold and Slave Trades to Structural Adjustment and NGO’s" Ralph Austen, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of History

• Prereading: "Talking About 'Tribe'"
• Reading lists

10:15 Am - 12:15 PM: “African Literature: Oral Epics, Modern Novels and Post-Modern Videos” Ralph Austen, Ph.D., Professor, Dept. of History

12:15 - 1:00 PM: "Africa through Cartography” Thomas Feldman, Ph.D., Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Natural Sciences

Thur. Aug. 17 8:00-10:15 “Corruption, Ethnicity, and Moral Rehabilitation Projects in Contemporary Kenya” Robert Blunt, Ph.D. Cand., Dept. of Anthropology

• Prereadings: "'Satan is an Imitator;" "A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa?"

10:15-12:15 “The African Diaspora” LaRay Denzer, Ph.D., Dept. of History

• Prereadings: "Black Americans and Africa;" "Recollecting Africa"

Fri. Aug. 18

8:00-10:00 “Public Health & Human Rights” Babafemi Akinrinade, J.S.D., Human Rights Program

• Prereadings: "Regional Overview;" "The Scandal of 'Poor Peoples' Diseases;"

10:15-12:15 “Youth Culture: Issues of Sex, Gender, and Romance” Jennifer Cole, Ph.D., Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Comparative Human Development

• Prereadings: "Fishing in Troubled Waters;" "Fresh Contact in Tamatave, Madagascar"

The Center for International Studies &the Center for East Asian Studies collaborated with Moraine Valley Community College to organize a professional development/curriculum building seminar on Japan. The day long seminar aimed to internationalize course teachings of Moraine Valley CC educators and familiarize them with Japanese culture(s). Speakers:

• Yuki Miyamoto (DePaul University) on the role of religion in the 20th century. Reading: Takashi Nagai, "Visitors to my Hut." from Bells of Nagasaki
• Norma Field (University of Chicago) on the post-World War II Constitution: peace, women, and educational opportunity. Reading: Gavan McCormack, "Introduction." from The Emptiness of Japanese Affluence
• Brian Bergstrom (University of Chicago) on family values in Japan. Readings: Takeo Doi, selections from The Anatomy of Dependence; Maggie Jones, "Shutting Themselves In," New York Times Magazine, 1/15/06; Outline and glossary; Bibliography - Japanese Literature in Translation
• Hans Thomsen (University of Chicago) on woodblock prints of the 19th and 20th century. Readings: Stephen Addis, "Woodblock Prints." from How to Look At Japanese Art; Suggested Readings
• Christopher Oakes (University of Chicago) on philosophical and religious themes in 20th century literature. Readings: Mori Ogai, "Kompira." from Youth and Other Stories; Bibliography: Religion and Literature; Religious and Philosophical Themes in Twentieth-Century Japanese Literature
• Mamiko Suzuki (University of Chicago) on classroom resources. Readings: A Select Bibliography of Classroom Resources for Teaching About Japan; Select Books Available in the Moraine Valley Library

In the first part of this teacher workshop Prof. Austen presented a comparative view on the African slave trade in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean trade zone.  In the second part of the workshop teachers were offered the opportunity to discuss their approach to this topic in their own courses: teaching materials, and strategies and activities used.  In the third part of this workshop Prof. Austen tightened the focus of his presentation to discuss aspects of the African slave trade that receive less attention in our survey texts, specifically outside the Atlantic system, and African slavery in the 19^th century.   

Presented by: Ralph Austen, Professor of History and co-chair of the Committee on African and African American Studies at the University of Chicago . His current research focuses on the political economy and cultural dimensions of European overseas expansion, the Atlantic Slave Trade in African and African-American memory, and the historical development of African oral and written literature (focusing on the Mande region of West Africa ).

Presentation materials:

• Prof. Austen's PowerPoint
• The African slave trade and European feudalism
Robert Hayden: "The Middle Passage" Excerpt from Abiola Felix Iroko Selected Bibliography

Sponsored by: The Center for International Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago; Center for the Teaching of World History & Global Studies at Francis W.Parker School.

In the first hour of this teacher workshop presenter Jim Tallon of the University of Chicago set out the general picture of the history of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires in the late 17th and the 18th centuries, drawing connections between these empires, and with their Afro-Eurasian neighbors.  Many of us world history teachers of this region use materials that don't go much beyond the "decline of" narrative, overshadowed, or crowded out, by the rise of the West narrative.  After Mr.Tallon's opening presentation there was discussion about how we teach this region and time period in our own world history courses, and the materials that we use to illustrate this complex episode of world history.  In the third part of our workshop Mr. Tallon shifted focus onto the more particular case of the Ottoman Empire's rise and subsequent revival during the 18th century.  Mr. Tallon, a seasoned world history teacher, and a scholar of the early-modern Muslim world, made use of non-mainstream materials to illustrate his presentation.  (download PowerPoint presentation of maps used in workshop)

Presenter: Jim Tallon is a PhD candidate in the department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. He specializes in the late Ottoman period in Anatolia and southeastern Europe. He has traveled and studied in Turkey, most recently in the summer of 2005.  He is currently teaching Islamic History at DePaul and taught world history at St. Xavier University for three years. He received his BA from Winona State University in Minnesota.

Sponsored by The Center for International Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago; Center for the Teaching of World History & Global Studies at Francis W.Parker School

Workshop Presenters
Vivek Nayak is currently a second year student majoring in strategic management and finance at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.  He received his MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1998 and his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1996.  His primary interests include the relationship between economic development and social inequality in South Asia, strategy and entrepreneurship.

Dingding Chen is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Chicago. He is also a preceptor in the Committee on International Relations. His research interests include Chinese political economy, international relations theory, and human rights.

Sponsored by the Center for International Studies, Center for East Asian Studies, and
the South Asia Language and Area Center at the University of Chicago; Center for the Teaching of World History & Global Studies at Francis W.Parker School