Overview
Please read Ch. 7 (Sub-Saharan Africa) in your textbook (World Regional Geography) and then watch at least three of the following short videos from Frontline World.
For this week’s DB assignment you should discuss one or both of the following questions:
- How much should Sub-Saharan Africa’s current challenges (poverty, conflict, debt, etc.) be attributed to factors such as European colonization or outside forces such as globalization …or how much are they now the responsibility of Africans?
- Does (and if so, how much) the international community have a responsibility to help Africans with challenges such as diseases (HIV/AIDS, Malaria, etc.), poverty, inequitable land distribution, ethnic and religious conflict, debt, etc.? If so, please give some specific examples of what should and can be done.
Here are the links:
Congo: On the Trail of an Ak-47. China’s calling card in Africa http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/08/congo_on_the_tr.html#
Liberia: Give peace a chance http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/05/liberia_give_pe.html
Zimbabwe: Shadows and Lies http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/zimbabwe504/video_index.html
This Land is Ours: Who should own Namibia’s farms?
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/08/this_land_is_ou.html
Somalia: A Reporter’s Search for Al Qaeda
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/02/somalia_a_repor.html
Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/Your posting for the week should: 1.) Be at least five full paragraphs in length; 2.) Clearly address the assigned question or topic; and 3.) Demonstrate your engagement with, and understanding of, required readings and/or films. In most weeks, you are expected to clearly demonstrate (by making specific references in your comments) that you have viewed a few of the assigned PBS Frontline World films assigned for that week.