The MA African Studies started! Classes began the 9th of the September with our course, the Researching Africa in the 21stCentury at 11:15 am. After a few classrooms changes, after all the university is also slowly getting back into the hang of things after summer, we all found our seats and introductions began.
First days are always about concentrating, trying to remember everyone’s name, focusing on matching names to faces and making sure you understand the complexity of the syllabus. As you try to highlight all the deadline the summer stress free feeling starts to fade away and you promise yourself this semester you’ll finally get organized do all the readings.
Lucky for our students, this class is not just about readings and listening, read to engage in discussions but come to class prepared to move out of your seat. Prepared to learn about research ethics, decolonizing research and cameras, sound and lighting.
What are research tools? The camera, a book, a pencil, a movie, the internet, chatting, listening, interviewing and much more. And what about research? The digital is a new space, we live in this space, and this space changes us, and it changes research as well. This class will be all about innovative research methods.
So it begins, we are lucky to have such a diverse group this year. Different nationalities and educational backgrounds some with more experience than others in methodology, research interests that cover a range of topics from mobile health to fashion. Nonetheless everyone is eager to learn and start engaging with research tools. Stay updated for more updates about how our class is moving towards diversifying our research methods and learning how to engage with research! Exciting things to come this semester!