<p>He's outlining an approach he plans to take for the major research paper in next semester's "Image of Africa" course.</p>
<p>My unscientific sample indicates Swatties find his proposed assignment pretty interesting, at least if e-mail discussions three months before the course starts is any indication.</p>
<p>I think it's great that a professor puts so much creativity into an assignment that forces students to think about an issue on many levels. The reality, the perception, how the perception came about, etc.</p>
<p>The thing I really like is that these students, for the rest of their lives, will never be able to accept a "pop culture stereotype" again without at least pondering for a moment if it is true or not. Now, THAT is what a liberal arts education is all about.</p>
<p>Interesteddad, as with the other parents on this board (and we're lucky to have so many Swat parents participating here, at least from my viewpoint), I am not really boasting about anything here... but a year at Swarthmore has done wonders for my son. I can tell from my conversations with him. We are close and discuss a lot of things together. He has grown a whole lot intellectually and I understand about development of critical thinking capabilities that you refer to here. Now he explains stuff to me instead of the other way around! And not to mention, his confidence in himself has grown as well. I am excited!</p>
<p>I know what you mean. I've seen exactly the same transformation.</p>
<p>We watched "Hotel Rwanda" last night and, after we both wiped away the tears, had a conversation about Africa, warring factions (is it ethnic? or just plain old power struggle?), genocide, the dilemma faced by the West, etc. complete with the coffee table world atlas spread out on the kitchen table at midnight.</p>
<p>D and several friends are signed up for Tim Burke's "Images of Africa" class and I know they are looking forward to it. They've already been talking about the "trope" assigment.</p>