The Social Work in Nigeria Project (SWIN) is an international collaboration between the University of Benin in Nigeria and three Canadian universities - York University, the University of Windsor and the University of British Columbia. The project is focused on strengthening the capacity of the University of Benin, Nigeria to train social workers, a project that can contribute to women empowerment and gender equality in Nigeria. It is funded through a $1M contribution agreement with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) through the Association of Universities and Colleges in Canada (AUCC), and cash and in-kind contributions from all four partner universities, the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in Edo State, Nigeria, the Nigerian Association of Social Workers and a coalition of local NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) from Benin City in Nigeria.
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I realized how absolutely lucky I was to have taught Full Circle, my first academic course at York University, at the Center for Support of Teaching’s new faculty workshop. Here, we discussed the challenges faced by faculty in the classroom. How does one engage and motivate students in the subject material? How can one link subject material to their lived experience? Student motivation, engagement in the material, and connection with their lived experience were the least of my challenges when teaching Full Circle. Students were delighted that such a course was offered at York and they at once understood its relevance and importance; the link between experiential education and internationalization was made real.
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Learning about African politics can be an alienating experience for Canadian undergraduates. Most students have little personal connection to or experience with African realities, and the established academic literature on Africa tends to be broadly-cast – its leading themes derivative of wider debates on globalization, restructuring and democratization. As a result, the richness of contemporary African politics, especially those involving the emergence of “new social movements” across the continent, is often inadequately profiled in the classroom.