Even though this week marked the
official start of our first full week of classes, classes have really been in
session since the first day we landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. From the
Hector Peterson Museum to meeting with Representatives from the ANC and the DA;
these museums, historical sites, and lectures have facilitated insightful and motivating
discussion among our group. We
constantly had to think critically and analyze the information presented to us
in these unofficial classrooms. It is
this kind of critical thinking, inter-active, co- learning community which I
have seen take shape in our first week of classes. Our courses utilize lectures,
guest speakers, and field trips to help us gain an all-around understanding of
the issues and topics covered.
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| Team building during week 1 also played an important role in forming our interactive, co-learning community |
Our small class sizes make for great
engagement and participation in discussion. I am also very happy with the
student-centered approach taken by CGE in which many different types of
learning techniques and styles are taken into consideration and utilization.
Most of the learning takes place in our very own living room where we meet for
most class sessions. I am very happy with this arrangement as classes have
felt more like an exchange of ideas and discourse between each other.
During this first week of classes we
covered topics spanning religious identity, yoga philosophy, post-apartheid
constitutionalism and an introduction to the traditional people of Namibia.
Wednesday morning we had our first
religion course taught by Rev. Dr. Paulus Ndamanomhata. In this initial meeting
we each presented on the development and evolution of our own critical analysis
of religion and social change. We focused on what we saw the role of religion
or spirituality to be in our lives and how it has created change in our
communities, country and in the world. During this course we had a discussion
pertaining to the role that parents should play in facilitating religious
exploration for their children. The overarching question in this discussion
was, should parents wait until their children were old enough and let them
decide what religion to practice?
I personally felt it was perfectly fine
for parents to bring their children up in whatever religious forum they saw
fit. The bases for my belief was parents will always want what’s best for their
children, and no parent would deprive their child of something they see to be
beneficial or they themselves partake in. I also felt parents should be open and honest in facilitating discussion and questions
from their children concerning religion.
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| Students gathering in the living room before classes begin |
This spirit of discourse continued into
our first history course on Thursday where we explored questions such as why we
study history, and the many different methods of historical enquiry available. We
discussed how history is often told and written favoring the perspective of
those in power.
We concluded the week with Yoga and Political
Science. In Politics we discussed the role which constitutions and
constitutionalism has played in Africa, focusing on the role which
foreign and international parties should have played in the drafting of African
Constitutions. We also discussed whether a perfect constitution, which reflects
the realities of society and is regarded by all inhabitants of a nation, could
ever exist.
This quote by Nelson Mandela best captured
my feelings during the first week of classes.
“No single
person, no body of opinion, no political doctrine, no religious doctrine can
claim a monopoly on truth.” –Nelson Mandela
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