"Now is as authentic as then"

Today, we enjoyed our first class together!  We met for 4 hours in the room where our study of Africa began as a group, Room 210 (now adorned with a beautiful mural of the bright continent by our very own Eden!)  In our class, we discussed a terrific article called "Cosmopolitan Savages," which explores the ways westerners have created the concept of the primitive as well as the way the Maasai (the "textbook primitives") have proven themselves to be the true cosmopolitans by mediating pre-modern, modern, and post-modern ways of being, seeing, and operating.  A powerful quote from author Vanessa Wijngaarden for our consideration: "[to the westerner] the Maasai are admired and highly regarded only when they visibly present themselves as people who have resisted the onslaught of Western civilization."  Thus, we spent our time discussing why westerners are interested in the primitive and how the Maasai navigate the concept.  We also explored the concept of "place."  I look forward to traveling with this open, fun, thoughtful, and committed group of students as we seek to gather stories, mediate various concepts of authenticity, and forge our own sense of the places to which we will journey.  One of my favorite expressions of what Africa "is" comes from an article by Holland Cotter:  "Africa is a habit breaker.  It teaches that the ideal of unalterable tradition is an illusion, that change itself is a tradition, maybe the great modern one. It teaches us that now is as authentic as then."  Please join us virtually on our journey!  I promise to make sure every student's face is visible in all future group photos, but here is one featuring most of our group with Ambassador Mukantanaba (June 7th).  We are off....