Teaching Resources | Context

The African Gender Institute (AGI), at the University of Cape Town, was established in 1996. The main goal of the Institute is to strengthen African researchers', writers', and scholars' understanding of gender analysis and its importance for social transformation on the continent and to support the emergence and growth of African scholarship, writing and research.

Over the past five years, the AGI has developed strong connections with a number of national, sub-regional and continental partners and networks. These connections and its own continental and national curriculum drew attention to the challenges faced by higher education institutions on the continent and, in particular, to the development of Gender and Women's Studies (G/WS) programmes.

Expanding efforts to institutionalise strong and relevant programmes in gender studies at African universities have been hampered by several key challenges, including the structurally weak position of women in tertiary institutions and the often limited resources for teaching and research in gender studies. There is also a dearth of home-grown gender research that addresses the poorly understood realities of African gender relations and cultures.

In 2002 the AGI initiated the 'Strengthening Gender Studies for Africa's Transformation' project in response to the above challenges. The project set out to strengthen African-based teaching and research in gender studies by bringing together teachers and researchers in African universities in a series of strategic training, research and publishing activities. It aimed to enhance the intellectual quality, the strategic relevance and the applicability of African teaching and research in the field of gender studies. Furthermore, the project hoped to generate a strong community of locally-grounded gender-competent faculties, equipped with the analytical and policy advocacy skills required to deliver relevant curricula design, teaching and research that will ensure gender justice in African contexts. This collegial network promises more sustained intellectual and policy dialogue in the field of gender, bringing some coherence to the hitherto often fragmented community of scholars located all over the continent.

The project has evolved through different forms of action. One arena has involved consultation, theoretical debate and networking within discussion contexts. Here, individuals with substantial experience in the field of G/WS research and teaching have attempted to develop strategies to sustain, energise and stimulate diverse G/WS work.The AGI conducted a survey to identify those currently engaged in G/WS in African higher education institutions as well as to gather information on the institutional capacity, areas of specialisation and the ICT capacity of various centres. We have so far identified 30 different sites for teaching and researching gender and women's studies on the continent.

As part of an effort to strengthen transformative teaching and research in the field of G/WS and to enhance its relevance to the particular challenges of African contexts, a teaching resources group (TRG) was convened in 2003 comprising 12 experienced academics from G/WS centres in 6 African countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa). The working group set out to develop conceptual frameworks, methodologies and resources for teaching in areas identified as being of central importance in strengthening transformative practice, writing and research.