Model African Union:
Participant Student Learning
Political Science Course on Africa
3 credit course* 790:369:03
Please Note:
Special Permission numbers are required and can be obtained from Professor Lewis in the Political Science department.
Professor Barbara Lewis:
bclewis@rci.rutgers.edu or cell 908.420.6660
The Model African Union (M.A.U.) is a research based program in which
students represent one or more African countries from many points of view. Each
student will be writing resolutions which reflect the interests of the
country that student and 4-5 other students will represent. The Model
African Union Summit will bring all the country “teams” together at
Howard University during the first weekend of March. In preparation,
students will explore issues such as issues and interpretations of
democratization in Africa, modes of conflict resolution in Africa, and
explanations for slow economic development. Students will learn as much
as possible about their country and also think comparatively about the
other African countries Rutgers will represent. The course does not
assume prior course work on Africa.
Represent an African Union member state: Model African Union March 1st
The culminating experience at the beginning of March in Washington,
D.C.; the M.A.U. will mark the end of the course. Student
representatives come from over 30 colleges and universities across the
country. Each college group becomes the A.U. delegation for the country
it represents. This is a careful simulation of the real African Union
Summits and other meetings. While in D.C., each student delegation
meets with the ambassador of their country for briefings regarding that
country’s role in the A.U. and what its positions are on the issues confronting Africa and the A.U. At that time, each country team will
present resolutions they have prepared to one of five Commissions: the
Economic Commission, Social Commission, African Economic Commission,
Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, and the
Council of Ministers. Each year a “political crisis,” which is not known
in advance, will be addressed by the African delegates.
You will be the “expert” on “your country”, but you will also need to
know enough about other African countries to discern which one might be
your ally, which might be an unstable or even dangerous neighbor, etc.
African Magazines, African Press Websites, Videos,
Articles and Books
Specifically, students involved in Model African Union meet weekly to
discuss articles, UN and AU reports, news stories from the African and
American press and country studies relevant to your country. I plan to
show weekly videos on African countries, economic development, wars,
education, “brain drain,” barriers to economic progress, etc. For
example, US “dumping”: when US producers get US government subsidies which enable the American corporation to undersell poor third world
countries who cannot match these low, subsidized prices. This is an
issue which has brought African countries together at the Cancun World
Trade Organization meeting in 2003 to demand that the US stop “dumping”
its products on international markets.
Syllabus, Work Load
1. You will purchase 3 paperbacks; other materials will include library
books and articles found through the Library’s remarkable index program.
The books will include “Viewpoints” which focuses on dilemmas that
apply to many of the African states, one book on African foreign
policies, including issues among African states and between African
states and other international actors.
2. Your bibliography , which you will create in collaboration with your
group, will be an important tool for information-gathering about “your”
country. We will work with the Africana librarian at Alexander to help
you learn how to locate sources such as book chapters, journal articles,
electronic journals, etc.
3. You will write four papers -- three 3 pages long, one 8-10 pages
long. These will be evaluated by a few students representing other
countries and become the basis of class discussion. Students will
collaborate with team members to make presentations.
*Course credit will be calculated like two “mini-courses: 1½ credits
for the fall semester, 1½ credits in the spring, from January until the
Howard Model African Union meeting in early March. Note that you can
get 1 ½ credits if you stay in the class throughout the fall semester,
but you must be in the class fall and spring semesters if you want three
credits.
RU students draft resolutions which are presented annually at the Model
A.U. National Summit in March in Washington, D.C. RU student
participants will represent the designated African country (this year
it is Cameroon) that is assigned to the group by the national office
headquartered at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Participating
students receive 3 Internship credits from the Political Science Department.
Other student representatives come from over 50 colleges and
universities across the country. Each college group becomes the A.U.
delegation for the country they represent. This is a true simulation of
the A.U. Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While in D.C., each
student delegation meets with the ambassador of their country for
briefings regarding that country’s role in the A.U. and what its
positions are on the issues confronting Africa and the A.U. Some of
the resolutions proposed focus on economic development, mechanisms for
peace, proliferation of hunger and joblessness, political issues, and
others.
The research that each student does permits us to invite persons with expertise on Cameroon
and to hold meetings with other faculty members of the Center for African Studies,
Humphrey Fellows from Africa, and members of the permanent observer mission
of the A.U. at the United Nations. When we go to Washington, we will
meet with a representative of the Cameroonian Embassy.
Student delegates will be charged with doing research in preparation for
their participation on the following commissions:
• Economic Commission
• Social Commission
• African Economic Community Commission
• Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution
• Council of Ministers
The Model A.U. is composed of students from all ethnic backgrounds,
including Africans studying in the U.S. Many students who participate
in the Model AU count the experience as a rare opportunity to learn
about Africa from this unique perspective. Every year over 350 students
from throughout the United States participate. Their experiences may well lead
to research topics for honors papers and other projects. Students need
not have prior courses on Africa.
OBJECTIVES:
The Model African Union provides a unique opportunity for students to
study the role, organization and conduct of the A.U. via simulation
augmented by briefings at African Embassies in Washington, D.C.
More specifically, the national Model African Union is designed:
• To increase awareness of the role, organization, and performance of
the African Union
• To highlight key economic, social and political security issues facing
African states
• To uncover patterns of cooperation and conflict between AU members from
various African regions
• To learn the determinants, capabilities and constraints shaping the
foreign policies of AU state
• To highlight the impact of great powers’ global policies on economic,
social and political security issues facing the African continent as
well as attempts to influence the policies of major powers in matters of
common concern
Please feel free to call me, Barbara Lewis, at home with any questions you may
have.
My home phone is 732.247.1196; my cell is 908.420.6660.
Course Requirements:
Internet: Cameroon, African Union…. many others
Books on reserve or inclass handouts
Book purchases; Reserve books:depends on number of students.
(Reserve OK if
you can all use Reserve books.)
Viewpoints: Why is Africa underdeveloped? Very argumentative, but
also provocative
Delancy, Mark (short book on Cameroon, relatively recent.
Grading: Basis of 3 Credits:
--25% x 3 Three papers on topics relating to Cameroon
--25% for preparation and presentation(at RU and DC) of your Commission
topics
Some Issues that are of Particular Interest in Cameroon
Nigerian and Cameroonian oil
Use of revenues
Regional disputes
Oil pipeline linking oil pumped north of Cameroon to Atlantic
Other sources of revenue, in past and currently
Regional divisions; source of tension/hostility within Cameroon and with
neighbors (Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo (not ex-Zaire), Gabon,
Gabon,
Equatorial Guinee)
Elections due this year; political history and prospects for this year
Sources of opposition
External pressures for “free and fair” elections
Health issues: AIDS Tuberculosis Malaria Polio
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