The Course

Syllabus

Geology and Development of Modern Africa Syllabus (Acrobat (PDF) 194kB Jul8 08)

Course Format

After having taught this course several times, I realized that students gained no first-hand experience in data collection and analysis. To fill that gap, I designed a simulated diamond exploration project to replace about four weeks of the middle of the course. Although students do not travel to the exploration site in southern Algeria, they work in groups to design an exploration program, carry out a simulated sample collection project, analyze real samples with instrumentation in our department, carry out simulated geophysical surveys, iteratively plan additional phases of exploration based on results, and prepare an exploration evaluation for a hypothetical client company. At the end of the semester, I bring to campus a colleague who has experience in international mineral exploration and who can play the role of a potential investor, and each team presents and tries to sell its prospect.

On the accompanying CD, version 1 is the course with the diamond exploration project, and Version 2 is the course without the project. Because both versions of the course are valuable, and because the diamond exploration project may be difficult for someone to carry out elsewhere, I have included course materials from both versions of the course. I should say, however, that the diamond exploration project could serve as a template for a different type of exploration project suitable to the resources of a particular department. I should add something about the design process for both the course and the diamond exploration project, because the process is somewhat unique. Designing a course that integrates science with non-science topics is a daunting prospect for most people, and this course was no exception. I began the project with an expert point of view in geology, of course, but I had a limited knowledge of the geology of Africa in particular and only a superficial understanding of non-science issues in Africa. Rather than doing the development work alone, I selected four students to work with me to develop the course during the summer of 1994. I chose three students who had had no geology courses but who were majors in non-science fields and knew more than I about economics, archaeology, and history. One of the students had taken an introductory geology course. All would serve as TA's and tutors when the course was taught the following fall. Three were students of color and would serve as role models for minority students in the course. At the start of the summer, I asked each of the four students to take responsibility for one of the four broad content areas of the course: the Nile River system, the Sahara and Sahel, the East African Rift, and mineral resources. The first half of the summer involved searching for and acquiring books and articles on a broad range of topics in each area and teaching ourselves about the issues in the region. My job was to teach the students geology and to try to learn as much about all four areas as each of the students did. For about a month, each of them knew more about their own areas than I did.

We also interviewed a number of faculty members at Hamilton with specialties in Africana studies, history, economics, politics, and archaeology. Each was enormously helpful in suggesting interesting topics, connections, and resources.

The decision to work with students, rather than by myself or with a faculty colleague, to design the course was a felicitous one. Not only did spreading the work load help make the project manageable in one summer, but the students proved to be a tremendous source both of good ideas and of advice on what works and what doesn't work in class from a student perspective. Working with students also helped avoid the many logistical problems that arise when faculty from different departments try to collaborate on course development and to team-teach a course.

I repeated the process when it came time to design the diamond exploration project. In the fall of 1998, I taught a half-credit seminar on diamond exploration that had the dual aims of

1) teaching the seminar participants about diamonds and diamond exploration and

2) developing a diamond exploration module for the Africa course. The project was big enough that we didn't finish by the end of the semester, and I hired one of my seminar students to work with me for a month the following summer to finish the development work.

Course Management and Logistics

The course is an integrated lab/classroom course that meets for roughly 5.5 hours of class time per week, and all of the laboratory activities are integrated into what happens during class. "Lab" might happen during part of Tuesday class one week, during all of Wednesday and Thursday class the following week, on Friday the week after that, and so on. The course is designed to have students do laboratory activities when they make sense in the scheme of the course for as long as necessary, rather than fitting the topics to a fixed three hours of class followed by three hours of laboratory every week. The class also conducts a day-long series of field investigations to study river processes (something that could be done in virtually any part of the country) in preparation for working on the Nile River system (for Versions 1 and 2 of the course) and to give students experience in heavy mineral sampling (in Version 1 only).

I typically enlist the support of two or three students who have previously taken the course to serve as undergraduate TAs for the course. They come to class, help students who are having difficulty, and serve as after-hours tutors for those who are having trouble. They are truly "assistants" - they do not actually teach class.

Extending What You Have Learned in This Course

Ground rules for Part III: You may discuss ideas for this question only with me. You may not discuss this question with other members of the class.

First: The North African and East African Rift portions of theis course emphasized connections between geology and human events as we have looked at how geology/geologic processes have had an underlying influence either on past or present human events or enables us to predict the future. Answer the following in one sentence each:

- Which connection(s) surprised you the most? Why?

- Which connection(s) interested/intrigued you the most? Why?

- Which connection provided the biggest leap in insight (change) for you in understanding something that you thought you understood before or hadn't understood at all?

Second: Think about what you have learned over the past several years in courses in history, literature, anthropology, art, music, religion, psychology, sociology, economics, government, and so on. What connections might exist with geology and geologic processes? In other words, how might understanding geology help us understand human events more deeply? Offer 5 distinctly different ideas that would be worth following up. I will give extra credit for more than 5 ideas. Here are two examples (you may not use either of these specific examples in your answer). As you are thinking about possibilities, remember that the study of climate change falls under the auspices of geology!

- Homo sapiens migrated to North America very late in human history. Sometime in the past 10-20,000 years or so, people from Asia migrated from Siberia to Alaska across what is now the shallow Arctic waters of the Bering Strait. Why didn't they arrive earlier? To what extent were geologic factors (tectonics, climate change) involved in the "peopling" of North America? What can the geologic record tell us about when the Bering Strait was emergent and passable over the last 100,000 years to allow migration of Homo sapiens out of Asia and into North America?

- Flood legends are a common in many cultures (e.g., the Gilgamesh legend, the Noah story). Is it possible that these legends are more than simply stories? Is it possible that an actual catastrophic geologic event might have occurred and given rise to the legends? What kinds of geologic events can trigger catastrophic floods, and are any plausible in the areas and times where the flood legends originated? Might geologic evidence consistent with catastrophic flooding be found in those areas?

Some additional guidance for Part III:

1) Your ideas must be specific and relate to specific places, times, and events or occurrences or trends in human history. Your examples must not be ones we studied in class.

2) Your ideas must be 5 distinctly different ones. If two examples amount to the same thing or show essentially the same connection, I will count them as one example.

3) You may add silly ideas as extras for fun, but I'll only give you credit for serious ones.

4) Use the following format for each idea:

- State the event/occurrence/trend/observation first. This could be something you've learned on your own or in another class at some point. Clearly articulate your idea and be as specific as possible. Elaborate as necessary so that I know precisely what you are talking about, when it occurred, where, etc.

- Speculate on the underlying influence of geology. Be specific. Don't just say, "Gee, I wonder what geology had to do with that?" Make a plausible connection with a particular aspect of geology and/or geologic processes.

5) Here are some ideas of possible general topics to get you started in thinking about specific events and connections. Remember that you're after examples of how knowledge of geology and geologic processes would give you a deeper understanding of some aspect of human events:

- distribution and character of mineral/petroleum resources as influences on international relations, power and influence of people and nations, causes of war, immigration/emigration, etc.

- influence of bedrock geology and geologic history on settlement patterns, transportation types and routes, migration patterns, invasion routes, trade routes, cultural isolation, cultural diffusion, agriculture.

- influence of local geology on art and architecture

- geology or geologic processes as explanations for legends, stories, myths

- influence of climate change on history, settlement patterns, rise and fall of nations, etc.

6) Examples will not immediately pop to mind, and I expect you to be persistent in thinking creatively and broadly. Start by thinking about non-science things that you know something about, and evaluate them for possible geological influences. You might decide that no obvious influence exists, and you'll have to discard the idea. On the other hand, you might need a little more information, particularly about the geology of an area. If so, come see me, or e-mail me.