African Studies wins

$210,000 NEH grant The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Penn's African Studies Center a highly competitive $210,000 grant. The African Studies Center and 11 other recipients beat out 310 other applicants. The money will be used to develop innovative educational methods to teach Swahili and East African culture to Philadelphia-area high school students. The major goals of the proposal include creating a nationally televised course in the Swahili language and a "living library" of educational resources available at the Penn's African Studies Center Web site, according to African Studies Center Director Sandra Barnes. "What makes our proposal so unique is that we're using multiple technologies to disseminate information to teachers," Barnes said. The Center has a history of utilizing technology to distribute information on Africa. Its Web site is the largest source of information about and from Africa on the Internet, according to Barnes. He explained that there is a clear need for East African enrichment in communities in Philadelphia. "We have 57 Africanists within the African Studies Consortium, and our web site gets 150,000 hits a month," Barnes said. Carolyn Holmes, who oversees African and African American studies for the Philadelphia school system, also saw a need for East African curriculum development in schools. "This is terrific," Holmes said of the school district's involvement in the program. "Not only do we need African enrichment in classrooms, but its so important to build partnerships between University faculty and teachers." Holmes explained that her department got involved with Penn's African Studies Center two years ago when Philadelphia teachers expressed an interest in using the Center's Web site and other Internet resources in their classrooms. In addition to their information on the Web, the Center provides regular training sessions for teachers, librarians and administrators. NEH Chairperson Sheldon Hackney served as University president for 12 years, resigning in 1993 to head up the NEH. "With the funding of these projects, the NEH is setting a high standard for content in the educational software available for teaching," he said in a statement. "As the nation's schools? become equipped with computers and gain access to the information superhighway, it is paramount that high-quality? materials be available." In addition to the NEH grant, Penn's African Studies Center already receives funds by the U.S. Department of Education as a national resource center for the study of Africa. Their mandate is to engage in community outreach programs on a continual basis, Barnes said.