Finding Expertise Everywhere with Prof. M. Amah Edoh

Though there’s widespread consensus that the slavery and colonization that characterize the history of European relations with Africa represent a legacy of grave injustice, there is much less agreement on how to redress that injustice. Professor M. Amah Edoh, who teaches in MIT’s Department of Anthropology, designed the course 21A.S01 Reparations for Slavery and Colonization with the goal of honestly facing the historical record and openly discussing how best to respond. Because she believes expertise is too often conceived of as something that flows “north-south” from the developed nations toward the developing world, she structured the course to embrace expertise wherever it might be found—recruiting guest lecturers from various disciplines and from institutions around the world, as well as activists currently involved in the quest for reparative justice. She even went a step further, sharing the lecture videos on YouTube while the semester was still ongoing and inviting viewers to contribute their own insights into how to deal with the ongoing legacy of historical wrongs. In this episode, Prof. Edoh describes the motivation for this innovative course structure and reflects on the challenges of grappling with such a sensitive subject.Relevant Resources:MIT OpenCourseWareThe OCW Educator PortalShare your teaching insightsProfessor Edoh’s faculty pageCourse materials by Professor Edoh on OCW21A.S01 Reparations for Slavery and Colonization on OCWOpen Learning story on 21A.S01OCW YouTube playlist for 21A.S01Africa’s Expertise (YouTube lecture by Prof Edoh)African Futures Action LabHow Africa Has Been Made to Mean (2020 episode of Chalk Radio)Music in this episode by Blue Dot SessionsConnect with UsIf you have a suggestion for a new episode or have used OCW to change your life or those of others, tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you! Call us @ 617-715-2517On our siteOn FacebookOn TwitterOn InstagramStay CurrentSubscribe to the free monthly "MIT OpenCourseWare Update" e-newsletter.Support OCWIf you like Chalk Radio and OpenCourseware, donate to help keep these programs going!CreditsSarah Hansen, host and producer (https://twitter.com/learning_sarah)Brett Paci, producer  (https://twitter.com/Brett_Paci)Dave Lishansky, producer (https://twitter.com/DaveResonates)Show notes by Peter Chipman Connect with UsIf you have a suggestion for a new episode or have used OCW to change your life or those of others, tell us your story. We’d love to hear from you! Call us @ 617-715-2517On our siteOn FacebookOn XOn InstagramOn LinkedInStay CurrentSubscribe to the free monthly "MIT OpenCourseWare Update" e-newsletter. Support OCWIf you like Chalk Radio and OpenCourseware, donate to help keep these programs going! CreditsSarah Hansen, host and producer Brett Paci, producer  Dave Lishansky, producer Jackson Maher, producerShow notes by Peter Chipman