SARDC Teaching Research course Phase I 2022-2023

SARDC Teaching Research course ARC 420 was added to the teaching curriculums at two universities

Over the last two years, 2022-2023, the SARDC team have successfully developed a teaching research course that has been added to the teaching curriculum of two universities.

Midlands State University in Zimbabwe, in the last quarter of 2023, has added a course entitled Urbanisation and Development in pre-colonial Africa, a required course for all fourth-year Bachelor of Arts students in the Honors Degree in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies.

University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania has added elements of the course to an existing elective undergraduate course in the Department of History titled Population and Urban History of Tanzania.

The teaching research course will also be added to the newly proposed Masters in the History Department entitled Urbanisation, Society and Environment.

In October 2023, the SARDC teaching team held a Teaching on-site workshop, which took place at the Great Zimbabwe historical site.

The workshop allowed students from three SMUS partner universities to acquire new theoretical knowledge, learn about responsible research practices, gain exposure to archaeological sites, interact with advanced academics and learn about the importance of stakeholder and community engagement.
The workshop also benefited the more advanced researchers in the group by strengthening their teaching skills, facilitating knowledge sharing amongst peers, and facilitating greater interdisciplinary understanding and cooperation.

Great Zimbabwe is a medieval historic site located in the southwest of Zimbabwe near a town called Masvingo, The site is situated on about 730 hectares.  At the height of its economic and political peak, it was a thriving urban centre with an estimated population of between 10,000 to 20,000 people.

Zimbabwe means ‘houses of stone or stone houses’ in Shona, one of Zimbabwe’s main languages. It is called ‘Great’ to distinguish it from the architecturally similar over 300 other structures in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, and South Africa. The structures found at the site are made with precisely chiselled granite from the surrounding environment and do not contain any mortar.

SARDC Phase II (2023 – 2024)

Teaching Exchanges 2024.  The SARDC Teaching Team will work on further developing the teaching course by co-teaching the course and participating in colloquiums.

Developing Teaching guides. The team will also be working on developing teaching guides for teaching on-site.

Teaching Team. Nyasha Gurira, Dr. Frank Edward and Dr. Alexander Antonites.