Prison pedagogy: teaching ancient African history at San Quentin Prison, USA.

Africa is probably the most mis-represented continent today - and in the past. Contemporary stereotypes of Africa as a single entity beset by disease, disaster, violence and instability co-exist with stereotypes of Africa’s past as either absent or relatively homogenous and as represented exclusively by certain places – like ancient Egypt – or periods – such as the trans-Atlantic slave trade. We also suffer from the perception that while Africa is the biological home of humanity, our cultural origins and development lie beyond Africa’s borders. These – and other – stereotypes were brought forcefully to my attention while teaching a course on Ancient African History to a class of 35 students at San Quentin Maximum Security Prison in California. 26 of the students were African-American and very invested in the course – which had not been taught in over a decade. The students’ notions of Africa were complex amalgams of media representation, black liberation/pride stereotypes and outdated literature. Being a white male South African instructor also did not help - at least initially.

Initial disbelief at facts such as African complicity in the trans-Atlantic slave trade were, however, gradually overcome as students became adept at using an archaeological sensibility. This sensibility links to bell hooks’ notions of ‘radical’ pedagogy – how archaeology can literally and metaphorically get beneath exterior surfaces, exposing the many layers of meaning that support and/or contradict the surface appearance. In addition, the way in which archaeology approaches materiality or ‘evidence’ via multiple hypothesis testing, helped liberate students’ able minds that had been trapped within Africa stereotypes. The course content thus gave the students the substance with which to apply their otherwise well developed critical thinking skills to substantive problems like the question of human origins; the development of states, and the politics of the past. In return, I was given some insight into non-traditional teaching environments and the problems of teaching African archaeology out of Africa.