How does shared identity between researcher and the researched influence trust-building for data generation and knowledge production? We reflect on this question based on two separate studies conducted by African-based researchers in sociology and political science in Nigeria. We advanced two interrelated positions. The first underscores the…

This paper describes a relatively new active learning approach--Design Thinking--and its adoption in two comparative politics courses. I draw on my experience using Design Thinking in political science courses to offer instructors another pedagogical tool in the active learning toolkit. I outline the rationale for adopting a Design Thinking…

This teaching note outlines an innovative simulation game realized in response to post-pandemic experiential learning needs. The game introduces a fictional African country experiencing a series of political and financial shocks. Students are assigned membership in social groups and must implement the national policies that would improve outcomes…

This article illustrates the profound learning that occurs--for students and instructor alike--when a class on third-world development attempts to undertake foreign aid. With undergraduate, graduate, and departmental money, I purchased bulls and carts for farmers, and goats for widows, in two West African villages. Such experiential learning…

There are many impediments to the development of political science as a true academic discipline in the Arab world. Each nation has its own ideological and political framework, and freedoms are determined within this framework. To operate outside this framework is considered an attack on the legality of the system and a possible threat to national…

Examines educational policies and issues in small nations and territories with high degrees of administrative autonomy. Maintains that strong feelings of nationalism can be both a benefit and a barrier to establishing an effective educational system. Argues that small countries are not simply scaled-down versions of larger nations; they have an…

A five-year project that used evidence from a variety of disciplines and cultures to develop a framework to help educational policymakers identify ways of achieving the full range of human potential in a given population is described. The project sponsor is an international non-profit institution dedicated to the cause of disadvantaged children…