This new course focuses on African Union (AU), including its foundations, mission, accomplishments and challenges.  The first part of the semester course will examine the AU’s genesis in the ideas of Pan Africanism, the efforts to bring about unity among peoples in over 54 countries, the struggles for national liberation, achievements of independence,  and a survey of the strategies and tactics used by prominent pre and post-independence leaders to unite peoples living in colonially-drawn artificial boundaries.  In the second part of the semester, students will undertake model simulation exercises that mirror those of the African Union. Course participants will be organized into teams to research current African issues and integrate their findings into simulation sessions.  Participants may also join the OSU Model African Union club, which competes yearly in a MAU simulation in Washington DC.

The course is taught by Dr. Brook Hailu Beshah, a former diplomat who served as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the UN, as well as working with UNESCO. He has taught international relations and related courses at Ohio University, Carnegie-Mellon, George Washington and other universities.   

This 3 credit course is IS 4195, class number 32979. It is offered Fall 2015, Thursdays from 4:00 – 6:45 PM, in 137 Caldwell Laboratory.