Outreach Program

 
Who We Are
The Center for African Studies' educational mission is especially vital in today's global age - a time that promises and requires greater international understanding, cooperation and appreciation. Preparing a new generation of students as well as the broader community, represents a unique challenge that the Outreach Program gladly accepts. Outreach at Illinois is a service oriented program, designed to increase public knowledge about Africa and also to enhance the understanding of African peoples and cultures. The Outreach Program is a service provided by federally funded Title VI African Studies Centers.

There is a need as informed citizens to learn about and to appreciate the non-western world - and especially Africa. Knowledge of Africa is essential to understanding the dynamics of international affairs. The Center for African Studies engages in educational outreach efforts in response to the growing interest in African cultures and society by K-12 educators, students, the elderly, parents, community colleges, community groups, the media, and the business community. It provides programs for the community, and offers training and resources for K-12 teachers, community colleges, the business community, and the media.

What We Do
The Outreach Center serves the interests of K-12 public school teachers, community colleges, businesses, media, and community groups. The Outreach Program mounts and supports the following activities or initiatives:

For Teachers:

• Teacher curricula workshops/institutes
• Summer grants for teachers for curricula development
• Study abroad programs for teachers
• Classroom visits and presentations
• Publication (curriculum) series for schools
• Library with books, magazines, videos and slides

For Community Groups:

• Workshops and presentations for community groups
• Media workshops for journalists, policymakers, media experts and scholars
• Regular radio program on Africa and other international issues
• Workshops for the business community
• Library with books, magazines, videos and slides
• Through the African Lens: an African film series

For Businesses:

Illinois Africa Business Outeach Project
Businesses in Illinois interested in trading with African firms may want to read more about our Illinois Africa Business Outreach project. This project is an attempt to provide more information to interested Illinois firms. The Africa business hospitality index presents a ranking of selected African countries with perceived hospitable business conditions, while the country profiles documents has more information on the countries highlighted in the business hospitality index.

African businesses may want to learn about soybean-related international extension opportunities through UIUC's INTSOY program.

Other Key Resources
General or specific information on Africa is provided in many ways. Services such as electronic inquiries and responses are provided in addition to bibliographies, lists of available videos and films, curriculum materials upon request. The Outreach Program maintains a library of slide sets and other audio-visual materials on Africa for public distribution. A few of the topics covered in the slide sets are African ecology, West African occupations, African artists, and urban Africa. Among this collection are also artifact kits. In addition, in response to community requests for information about Africa, the Center recently added a speakers bureau service. The bureau provides on-site school classroom presentations for students and consultation services for teachers and administrators focused on school curricula development.

Supplementary resources are available through the University of Illinois Library. Illinois residents are entitled to many services that are provided by the library. The Africana bibliographer can, for example, search a variety of databases and answer reference questions dealing particularly with Africa. Most public libraries in Illinois have access to the UIUC data base so that a resource may be acquired through inter-library loan.