African Art & Life Contributor:  E. Gracie Huntington, 19 March 2002  [HUM 211 student, Winter 2002] Introduction:  I chose to research African Art and see how it relates to life in that time period. I have chosen this topic because I love art and was interested in seeing African art. I also find that usually art is a great depiction and important to understanding a society. I actually found many different galleries to chose from, but I chose those that seemed to me also did some educating about Africa or the meanings of the Art and how it is important to the African culture. I found this mini research project very enjoyable. It was not only pleasing to the eye, but also interesting to find out more about the meanings of these works of art and how they relate to the society or tribe of the time. I even found one site that was a gallery of the art of musical instruments and how they were used. This site I found to be crucial since African culture is all orally based. Overall I found this research project to be enriching to my mind and my sight.  [E.G.H]
Smithsonian National Museum of African Art URL: http://www.nmafa.si.edu/
	Annotation:  This site has four different sections and they are exhibitions, education, museum resources, and general information. Overall I found this site to give a great variety of African Art. Some of the art was just household appliances and others were made to symbolize power. The site not only gave you some history, but also shows you on the map what area these artworks were from and a quick overview about the piece of art. These works of art portray the many aspects of the African people’s life, physical and spiritual.
African Art: Aesthetics And Meaning Benjamin C. Ray, Dept. of Religious Studies, Guest Curator Bayley Art Museum, Univ. of Virginia, 1993. URL: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/clemons/RMC/exhib/93.ray.aa/African.html
	Annotation:  In this site information was given on the elements of African Aesthetics and also African religious values. I found this site to be a wonderful combination of beautiful artwork that comes with an explanation of how it is used and it’s meaning. I found this to be very educating which brings to life the piece of artwork. By doing this you can get a wonderful image in your mind that is more accurate of the culture since art is just a reflection of a culture.
[The Art of African Musical Instruments] The Heritage of African Music.  Arts Education Experiences at LACMA: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, with UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History and California African-American Museum. URL: http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/african/body.htm
	Annotation:  This site is made up of four sections, such as skins, strings, winds, and everything else. The instruments pictured are a drum, a trumpet, a harp, and a thumb piano. Each instrument’s use is explained, it’s history, and it’s meanings. African history and culture is in the oral arts and sometimes when singing history, poems, or stories beautiful instruments were also used. Thus I give the reason that I feel this site is important because it emphasizes the importance of the oral arts to the African culture.

Atlantic & Eastern Slave Trades Contributor:  Deke DeMars, 15 March 2002  [HUM 211 student, Winter 2002] Introduction:  For my final topic [in HUM 211, Winter 2002] I went back and chose the Atlantic slave trade and middle passage. I wanted to get a lot of different views and information so I made the topic fairly broad. I picked this because we only briefly touched up on this and I was really interested in learning more. The sites I picked were all off of the Timelines that were linked to the course plan. They talked about how more then 20 million slaves were kidnapped during this time. I also learned about how the Arabs came in a forced slave trade, which is sometimes over looked. It took place from 700 to 1911 AD. It is estimated that about 14 million people died during the slave trade. Many Islamic people were drove to northern Africa in the 7th century. I learned lots of new information just about the pain that people went through and the tragedy they suffered. . . . I also went back and read some of the [HUM 211]  Discussions from earlier to see other people’s views from our class.  . . . If you are interested in learning more about the middle passage and the holocaust then I suggest you look into these sites that I found. [D.DeM.]
The Slave Kingdoms: Confronting the Legacy of the African Slave Trade PBS Online's Wonders of the African World with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1999. URL:  http://www.pbs.org/wonders/fr_e3.htm
	Annotation:  This site had some great maps of the passages and where the slaves went and were from, and a lot of good introductory information to help a student get a good handle on the topic. The site covers information from the beginning of the Black Holocaust and the Europeans, and went in depth to some extent.  I highly recommend this site it is easy to access and has a lot of information. It shows a great overview of the time frame in which this took place.
The Forgotten Holocaust: The Eastern Slave Trade The Black Holocaust: From Maafa to Colonization.  KAMMAASI / Sankofa Project Guide, 1999. URL: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/9912/easterntrade.html
	Annotation:   Arab Slave Trade, from A.D./C.E. 700 to 1911: "Estimates place the numbers [of Africans sold in this system] somewhere around 14 million: at least 9.6 million African women and 4.4 African men."  This is also a site that I would recommend. It offers good background information leading up to the actual slave trade, with some good pictures of traders and slaves.  One focus of the site is the impact of trading practices on individuals, especially children and men (many of whom were castrated and very young).
Mapping Africa: Africa and the Diaspora Movement  Kennedy Center's African Odyssey Interactive -  text & clickable maps URL:  http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/aoi/resources/hg/ae-map.html
	Annotation:  This last site is a great one. I highly recommend checking it out. It shows great maps of the European countries involved in the trade. It also shows the countries of Africa. It goes on to show where the boats traveled and what paths they took. There is also some good historical and geographical information along with the maps at this web site. This source really helped me get a good idea of where everything took place and what countries were really involved. I think it would help other readers out too.
Ship's Plan for Middle Passage Elizabeth Clement, History/Women's Studies 345, Univ. of Penn URL:  http://www.history.upenn.edu/hist345/wass3.html
	Annotation:  The informational value of this site is limited, but it does offer two good pictures which are worth checking out: "Ship's Plan for the Middle Passage" shows the bottom of a ship filled with slaves and the other is a watercolor of the Middle Passage painted by a naval officer serving aboard a slave ship.

AIDS in Africa ~ Contributor:  Brenda Beutler, 19 March 2002  [HUM 211 student, Winter 2002] Introduction:  In the winter of 2000, I wrote a report in AIDS and Africa. I went back to review the numbers that I had collected then and researched new numbers and startling facts. I was shocked to learn what changes have occurred over the past two years. I am a pre-pharmacy major with high hopes of revolutionizing world wide affordable medication. Visiting these websites and seeing startling photos of AIDS patients dieing of AIDS is more disturbing than just raw numbers. Often times we hear statistics involving horrendous numbers and can not realize the magnitude of them. Seeing the photographs on the websites that I chose really made an impact in my life. I encourage you to view these informative sites and take to heart the tragedy that Africa as a continent is facing. Next ask yourself … “what can I do as an American so far away?”. Some sites have information on donations as little as $17.00, or you could just e-mail the authors your support and respect for photographing the unspeakable.      When I wrote my AIDS paper the numbers showed that in 1997 2.7 million Africans had AIDS. This equated to 1 in 8. This week in 2002, the numbers have inflated to 27 million! One in four! While visiting the first site the numbers of HIV infected rose from 27,002,627 to 27,002,689. [B.B.]
McGeary, Johanna.  Death Stalks a Continent. Time Magazine, February 12, 2001. URL: http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/cover.html [accessed 19 March 2002]. Photo Essay: Crimes Against Humanity URL: http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/photo.html  Interactive Map: A Continent in Peril. URL: http://www.time.com/time/2001/aidsinafrica/map_flash.html
	Annotation:  This web site has starting photographs of AIDS patients struggling to survive the daily routines of life. This site reports that every 25 seconds, another person is infected with HIV. It also states that an education kit can be provided for $17.00, a care kit for $19.00, and an education kit for $25.00.
AIDS in Africa, Heartbreak and Hope. News, Features, & Viewpoints. United Methodist Committee on Relief, General Board of Global Ministries. URL: http://gbgm-umc.org/programs/aidsafrica/newsfacts.stm  [accessed 19 March 2002].
	Annotation:  This website has a wonderful informative time line of AIDS and its rapid sweep through Africa.
Gideon Mendel, Network / SABA.   Aids in Africa. MSNBC, 2002 URL: http://www.msnbc.com/modules/aids_in_Africa/aIDs_in_Africa_front.asp?cp1=1  [accessed 19 March 2002].
	Annotation:  This posting also has pictures of AIDS patients. It states that 86,000 children in Zimbabwe have lost their teachers due to AIDS. Mzokhona Malevu, age 29 says, “I am unhappy that people overseas can get better from the good drugs they are given, while we in South Africa have to die”. It is a shame that drug companies profit enormously while AIDS patients are left without help of medication to prolong their lives. Here in America, at least an American who is dieing of AIDS can have the help of “ you and me” insurance to pay for the million dollar drugs. I pains me to see their continent so poor and unable to provide and government assisted medical coverage.

Effect of AIDS on Africa's Economic Development Contributor:  Derek Fitzpatrick, 18 March 2002  [HUM 211 student, Winter 2002]
Introduction:  I chose my topic to be HIV/AIDS in Africa and the effect that it is having on society and the economic development in Africa. I chose this topic because I was looking over the examples and I saw the one about HIV/AIDS in Africa and I thought that it looked interesting. Throughout my search I found a whole lot of things on the disease itself but not on the effect that it was having on Africa. Eventually I did find several articles on my specific topic. [ D.F.]
Dixon, Simon. "The Impact of AIDS on Africa's Economic Development." British Medical Journal 324.7331 (February 2002).  EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite.
	Annotation:  This journal article primarily focuses on how economic research helps to estimate the effects of HIV/AIDS on the African economy and the cost-effectiveness of programs for prevention and treatment of the disease. Dixon predicts that HIV/AIDS will continue to reduce labor supply,  productivity, exports (while increasing imports), and the average national economic growth rates across Africa.  However, prevention and treatment programs and other economic measures would limit the negative effects of HIV/AIDS.
Malan, Rian. "AIDS in Africa."  Rolling Stone Issue 882.  EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite.
	Annotation:  This particular magazine article focuses on the outbreak of ebola fever among heterosexuals in Africa. Emergence of non-governmental AIDS organizations. It also looks at the examination on the relationship between human Immune Deficiency virus and AIDS, and the amount of AIDS-related funding in Africa.
Ramsay, Sarah. "Shocking AIDS Data Released in South Africa." Lancet Vol. 358. EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite.
	Annotation:  The article discusses a report by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC) that stated that AIDS has become the single biggest cause of death in South Africa. It talks about how the disease has taken over the whole area and seems to be unstoppable.
Green, Edward C.  AIDS and STD's in Africa.  Boulder, CO:  Westview Press, 1994.
	Annotation:  This book talks about the impact that AIDS has had on the entire continent and how the citizens are dealing with it. It also talks about what types of measures are being taken by the government to help slow the disease.

The Validity of Christian Missions in Sub-Saharan Africa  Contributor:  Chris Shepherd, 1998  [HUM 211 student, Fall 1998]
Introduction:  During this course we have been presented a great deal of literature and film which portrays various African societies before, during, and after colonization; one aspect of colonization was the presence of Christian missions. I have chosen to examine the validity of these missions. I am using the term validity here in the sense of acting in a manner congruent with that of Christianity, rather than with political, personal, or social motives.      It seems obvious enough that there are a myriad of benefits in general when observing history, I specifically chose this subject because it has relevant applications to the way I live day to day. A cases can be made that all people who consciously make decisions to adhere to one lifestyle or another are missionaries of their own lifestyles… we all have certain ideals that we feel are universal. Considering this I have chosen to examine the work of Christian missionaries because we both theoretically are of the same belief. By researching the effects these missionaries had on their surroundings I have been able to pick out seemingly positive characteristics of my life which I now have a different perspective of.      The materials I chose to research provide alternative perspectives to the subject of Christian missions in Africa. I feel they are good sources because their interpretations of history are not blatantly extremist (with some exception to Heathenization of Christianity in African Society), and they all provide positive solutions (or would-be solutions) for the area of mission work they perceive to be harmful.  [C.S.]
Nyang, Sulayman S. Islam, Christianity, and African Identity. Brattleboro, VT: Amana Books, 1990.
	Critical Review:  This book provides a detailed theory of African identity and the effects of both Islam and Christian infiltration. A major strength of this book is the sound reasoning and the depth of research that went into it. The author keeps from becoming too extreme in his thesis and provides ample evidence for those thesis. The section concerning African identity speaks primarily on how European colonialism has shaped the general identity of Africa from a contemporary African perspective. Nyang asserts that African identity is generally defined negatively as that of an oppressed race, instead of an identity of "a common genetic heritage." It is argued that the loss of traditional identity was a result of depersonalization, defined as the result of the original African personality being replaced with a more western one. Depersonalization resulted from Christianity being taught within a sphere of European social values. Naturally the medium for this type of education was missionary schools.      The section concerning the arrival and spread of Christianity is curiously titled "The Western Conquest and African Society." In this chapter Nyang points out that the original introduction of Christianity was independent of political ties and also failed. The second wave of Christian missionaries had more of a business-like relationship with the European colonizers. With the help of European militaries, missionaries were able to reach areas of Africa that were at a previous time unreachable. The colonizing countries also benefited by missionary schools teaching an intertwined doctrine of Christianity and contemporary western social values. Aside from the depersonalization of native Africans, Nyang also states that there were four other influences on African life by the missions. These were the written preservation of native languages, an improved intellectual life, the cultural homogeneity of Christian converts, and the development of technological and ontological thought… I am skeptical as to the benefit of these influences. As a conclusion to this subject Nyang presents a solution in lieu of the past and in hope of the future; that is that Christianity is allowed to become "Africanized" to allow for the preservation of a traditional African heritage.      This is incredibly relevant to my subject because Christianity was shaped to appear as something that it was not. Christianity is not defined by social or political norms, it is self-defining. In the past Christianity has adapted to Middle Eastern, European, and American social structures; it is the authors contention, as well as my own that it should have been allowed to conform to the traditional African way of life.
Akande, Ola. "Heathenization of Christianity in African Society." USA Today (Magazine) May 1998, 66.
	Critical Review: This article is a critique from the perspective of a pastor. I felt it was a good source because it provides an alternate perspective from most critiques on Christian missions in Africa. A major strength of the paper is that it provides an example of traditional African values, followed by a critique of both the pagan aspects of African religion and the misconceptions of Christianity. Although the paper is understandably biased, the second half develops an extremely fundamental attack on the heathen practices of African religion. I would say that the first half of this paper is very useful, but the second half takes an extreme stand that clouds the truth of Christianity.      The article begins by giving a characterization of African society including family customs, heathen practices, and religious doctrine. Following this Akande examines the interaction of African religion and Christianity. Naturally the paper begins a discussion of the incompatibility of these two religions from a Christian perspective. Granted the discussion is very biased, Akande is not so far as to be unfair. He asserts the importance of preserving African artifacts to help preserve and understand traditional African religion. Furthermore, the importance of a self-defining religion is characterized: "The churches of the West can have no definition of Christianity of their own. Neither can African Christians have a definition of Christianity other than one that emphasizes faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God…"      This paper reiterates the fundamental message of Islam, Christianity, and African Identity that Christianity does not contain a preference of social norms, and that it is a religion which speaks to individual redemption transforming into social change, rather than social change transforming into personal redemption.
Mugambi, J.N.K.  "African Churches in Social Transformation." Journal of International Affairs 50.1 (Summer 1996): 194.
	Critical Review:  This paper sets out to examine the role of the church in South Africa as well as critique the role it played in transforming the social and political foundations in Africa. A major strength of this paper is that it is written from a fairly neutral position; it does not contain biased undertones within the discussion. I feel the paper could have been stronger if more concrete examples were cited in relation to some of the opinions argued (namely the arguments of the church bringing major social change during early colonization). The underlying thesis of the paper is that missions, in general, have had a growing involvement with the various colonies/countries they reside in. Mugambi asserts that missions were originally self-sustaining and free from partisan ties. In his opinion, missions existed entirely independently of European colonization during the early arrivals. It is pointed out that missions were actually punished for starting or assisting in the creation of independent African churches, which taught Africans to be culturally self-confident. The paper argues that colonial governments justified their claims to African territory by early missionary success in converting native Africans to Christianity. So by either "design or accident," the church was directly involved in the social and political transformation of Africa. It is at this point that missions lost their political innocence. Missions created schools teaching westernized values and religion in return for grants provided by the colonial governments for health services, agriculture, etc. The paper continues in a discussion of the present day involvement of the church in Africa. Perhaps the most dignified remark of the paper was: There were missionaries who were racial bigots and colonial bullies, but there were also others who were excellent pastors, counselors and teachers. Some were businessmen, and others were diplomats. Thus both the negative and the positive influences must be acknowledged in a balanced assessment of the missionary impact in tropical Africa.
Conclusion:  I feel I have gained a more accurate conception of the history of the church's involvement in the social and political transformation of Africa. More importantly though, I have seen the effects of greed and how it can infiltrate into nearly every aspect of our lives. It seems as though the key concept in this case is compromise. Even if the early missions were established in accordance to the doctrine they live by, it is obvious that there was a compromise of Christian ideals to further the success of the missions. In my opinion this is where the true spirituality of African Christianity dissipated, that is the love for God was replaced by the love for the mission. This is crucial for an accurate understanding of African history because it allows us a glimpse into the general motive of the colonizing forces (missions and governments)… namely to expand at all cost, even that of spirituality and identity.      Other subjects have been raised as a result of this study. Most interesting to me is the roles of schools. In early African colonies schools were the direct medium for transposing native people into westernized subjects/servants. What does this say about education today? I believe that our schools do teach principals such as obedience to authority, and democratic principals as universal truths. In no way am I advocating the illegitimacy of schools or their faculties because schools are made of us, people, Americans… we have all been molded to this way of life. I believe it is important for each of us to consider how our own ideals have been subconsciously crafted by the society we live in.      I feel the original research question has been answered. The answer is not black and white, but it seems that nearly all answers to complicated questions have a grayish hue. Originally, missions were established in Africa to spread a religion that these missionaries perceived as truth. Eventually a less dignified relationship began between missions and colonial governments in order to successfully branch to larger areas of Africa. History, in this case, contains a lesson directly applicable to my life. That is to recognize my ideals in their entirety, and not compromise them without careful consideration to the indirect consequences that will follow. An expansive perception is the key to living freely and conscientiously.  [C.S.]