”I was co-leading a workshop with an African American man. A white participant said to him, “I don’t see race; I don’t see you as Black.” My co-trainer’s response was, “Then how will you see racism?” He then explained to her that he was Black, he was confident that she could see this, and that his race meant that he had a very different experience in life than she did. If she were ever going to understand or challenge racism, she would need to acknowledge this difference. Pretending that she did not noticed that he was Black was not helpful to him in any way, as it denied his reality – indeed, it refused his reality – and kept hers insular and unchallenged”

Dr. Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

 

”I was co-leading a workshop with an African American man. A white participant said to him, “I don’t see race; I don’t see you as Black.” My co-trainer’s response was, “Then how will you see racism?” He then explained to her that he was Black, he was confident that she could see this, and that his race meant that he had a very different experience in life than she did. If she were ever going to understand or challenge racism, she would need to acknowledge this difference. Pretending that she did not noticed that he was Black was not helpful to him in any way, as it denied his reality – indeed, it refused his reality – and kept hers insular and unchallenged”

Dr. Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Group C

((Re)) flecting Realities

The field of critical whiteness addresses the social construction of whiteness and examines the historical origins of the categorical separation between Black and white people, which has been misused by predominantly white societies ever since as a basis for structural racism against Black people. This interactive workshop for teachers not only examines various forms of institutional and structural racism in detail, but also aims to provide (prospective) educators with the opportunity to question their own prejudices and privileges.

The working group textbook analysis offers an empirical examination of textbooks used in the Austrian education system. Precisely, researchers of this group will examine the portrayal and perception of Africa and its diaspora in textbooks of the subjects "History and Social Studies / Political Education” and "Geography and Economics." In addition to the in-depth analysis of the primary material current research literature on this topic will be assessed in order to provide a well-founded and empirically rich assessment of the image of Africa in Austrian teaching materials.

Desired results for teachers:  Privileges as well as preconceptions and behavior patterns within working environments are made conscious in order to be able to dismantle them and thus initiate processes of change.

Desired results for text book publishers: Organizations can implement the recommendations made by our team, as well as use the AEWTASS – guideline developed for text book publishing houses.

Focus groups: Teachers training for all school levels, text book publishers

VIAD critical Whitness training are designed for organizations, who want to further their diversity and inclusion practice.

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AEWTASS Stichproben. Wiener Zeitschrift für kritische Afrikastudien

Sina Aping, MA

Conducting interviews with children & young people concerning the representation of the African continent and people with African heritage. Textbook Analysis

Ms. Apin, MA graduated with a master’s degree in International Development from the University of Vienna. Her focus is on critical development and race studies. Her research focuses on racism, intersectionality and the African diaspora. She wrote her master’s thesis on the topic “Black EU citizens with othering experiences in the Austrian white dominance society: the meaning of perceptions and appearances from an anti-racist perspective”. She is mainly concerned with the visibility of Black narratives and People of African Descent in Europe (Germany & Austria), anti-discrimination and approaches that deconstruct power structures. She is active in the field of political education and deals with the visibility of Black narratives in Europe (Germany & Austria). She also publishes articles on these topics in professional journals. In 2021 she started working as an assistant to the first Afro-German MEP Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana..

Mag.a Dr.in Bea de Abreu Fialho Gomes

Contact person in regard to the topics of racism and anti-racism

Dr Gomes Is an African Studies scholar with a focus in Critical Racism Studies. Since October 2019 she is a retired member at the University of Vienna. 

She has several publications, including:

Themenheft “Rassistische Dimensionen afrikanischer Geschichte und Gegenwart” (2004, ed. Bea Gomes, Veronika Bilger, Arno Sonderegger) Stichproben – Wiener Zeitschrift für kritische Afrikastudien 4 (6).  “Rassismus – Beiträge zu einem vielgesichtigen Phänomen” (2008, eds. Bea Gomes, Walter Schicho, Arno Sonderegger) Vienna: Mandelbaum Verlag.

Mag.iur. Madeleine Bebe

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the diaspora - including reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique, and more.

Madeleine is a law postgrad working at the intersection of politics and law. She has completed a law degree with a specialization in international law, as well as a bachelor’s and master’s degree with honors in African Studies. Her focus was on African history and societies. Her research interests encompassed human rights protection in East Africa and the African Free Trade Agreement. Since 2018, Madeleine has been working in national and international institutions in the context of human rights.

Immanuel R. Harisch, MA, MA

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the diaspora - including reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique, and more.

Mr Harisch completed his MA studies in African Studies (focus on African History, language training Kiswahili) and International Development (focus on Global Development Policies, Racism Studies) at the University of Vienna and University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) with distinction.
He is currently pursuing a PhD in History with a scholöarship of the Doctoral School of Historical Studies at the University of Vienna. Between 2018 and 2021 he was employed as a university assistant (Pre-Doc) at the research platform “Mobile Cultures and Societies”. Other activities include working as an managing editor of the academic journal “Stichproben. Vienna Journal of African Studies“ and organizer of numerous high-profile events at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Vienna.
Mr Harisch’s main research interests are in the field of African history with a focus on the modern era as well as on the processes of interdependence and interaction between Africa and other world regions. He is the co-editor of an international academic anthology dedicated to these topics on a broad empirical and transdisciplinary basis and has published several peer-reviewed articles in academic journals.

Dipl.-Anglistin Modupe Laja

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the Diaspora - and among other things, reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique and more.

Modupe Laja graduated in Anglophone Literatures (specialising herself in African and Diasporean, Black Studies, respectively), English and Hispanic Studies, and Economics from Justus Liebig University in Giessen. She is an educational consultant and a process guide leading multipliers workshops on discriminatory and racism sensitive topics in schools and in social work, among other places. As a scholar, author and editor she participated in a book project of the academic network “Black Diaspora and Germany”. The book of the same name was published by Edition Assemblage. Modupe Laja is co-author in the German publication “Wie Rassismus aus Schulbüchern spricht” (How Racism within schoolbooks speaks to us) and co-authored a didactic race critcal educational training and learning manual on “Reflecting the image of Blackness, Africa and her Diaspora” within the framework of the academic project IMAFREDU.

Anna Lönhard, MA

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the Diaspora - among other things reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique and more.

Anna Lönhard, MA graduated in African Studies at the University of Leipzig and the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania).

She has obtained her Master’s degree in International Development at the University of Vienna and is writing her Master’s thesis on “Wahrnehmung des weißen Engagements in antirassistischen Initiativen in Wien”.

In addition to AEWTASS, she is involved with the Initiative für ein diskriminierungsfreies Bildungswesen (IDB).

From November 2021, Lönhard will be working for the non-profit association FAIRTRADE Austria.

Mag.a Katharina A. Oke, PhD

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the Diaspora - and among other things, reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique and more.

Katharina A. Oke is a post-doctoral researcher and lecturer (Universitätsassistentin, post-doc) in Global Contemporary History at the University of Graz. Her research focus is on West African, and in particular, Nigerian history. In Graz, she is teaching on African History and Black Austrian History in global perspective. Ms Oke currently holds a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (funded by the EU-Commission, Horizon 2020) in partnership with the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her project studies artisans and craftspeople (goldsmiths and bakers) in Accra, Ghana, and Lagos, Nigeria. It turns to productive processes with a focus on meaning making and creating.

Ms Oke studied Journalism and African Studies in Vienna and obtained her PhD in history from the University of Oxford. Before coming to Graz, she was as a Lecturer in Modern African History at King’s College, London.

Qualified Teacher Status QTS; BSc Chemistry).

Maida Schuller, MA

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the Diaspora - and among others, reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique and more.

Maida Schuller, MA studied Social Work at the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten and at the Alice-Salomon-Hochschule Berlin and completed her Master’s degree in International Development at the University of Vienna. During her academic career she has worked on topics such as political economy, intersectionality, critical race studies, Blackness in Austria and on a global scale, anti-discrimination and equality. She has also held workshops on topics such as racism and political education with students aged 14 years and older. Furthermore, she was a tutor at the University of Vienna from 2018 to 2021. Maida Schuller currently works as a social worker in the field of long-term unemployment, is an external lecturer at the FH Campus Wien and an employee at the Mattersburger Kreis für Entwicklungspolitik.Presentations to teachers and school assemblies on African Achievement as well as African history and its misrepresentation in schools. Active for 11 years specifically in the Austrian school system for lower and upper grades at a Gymnasium and in freelance teaching; was named Teacher of the Year by WBS in 2012
Qualified Teacher Status QTS; BSc Chemistry).

Dr.in Gabriele Slezak

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the diaspora - including reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique, and more.

Dr. Slezak holds a PhD in African Studies with a focus on multilingualism in education, decolonization of knowledge systems and teaches and researches at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Vienna. Due to her many years of experience in transdisciplinary international research contexts, the promotion of critical reflection and the questioning of discriminatory assumptions is of great concern to her. In the field of education, she is responsible for science communication and education projects at the Austrian Research Foundation for International Development (ÖFSE). As a business trainer and coach in the field of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – DEI, she supports organizations and teams in their personal reflection work to promote mutual understanding and respect in the professional environment. Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte erstreckten sich über den Menschenrechtsschutz in Ostafrika bis hin zum Afrikanischen Freihandelsabkommen. Seit dem Jahr 2018 ist Madeleine in nationalen und internationalen Institutionen tätig, wobei ihr Hauptaugenmerk auf dem Bereich der Menschenrechte liegt.

Dominik Spörker, MA, BA

Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the diaspora - including reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique, and more.

Dominik Spörker graduated in African Studies (BA, MA with distinction, focus on African History, language training Swahili) and History (BA) at the University of Vienna. During his studies, he worked as a study assistant at the Institute for African Studies, where he also organised several events. He is currently working on several provenance research projects at the Weltmuseum Wien and the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, investigating colonial acquisition contexts. In the context of his dissertation, he is examining the collections of the Imperial and Royal Navy from East Africa. Since 2017, Dominik Spörker has been a member of the editorial team of the “Stichproben. Vienna Journal of African Studies”.

His research interests include the history of East Africa in the 19th century and (post)colonial provenance research.

MMag.a Anna Steinbauer – Holzer

Survey of children & youth on representation of the African continent and people of African heritage Textbook analysis concerning the representation of the African continent & people of African descent in the Diaspora - e.g. reality content, scientific topicality, ideology critique and much more.

MMag. Anna Steinbauer studied Geography and Economics (GE), Spanish and and the University of SevillePsychology and Philosophy at the University of Vienna. In her diploma thesis entitled “Das Afrikabild in österreichischen GW-Schulbüchern der fünften und achten Schulstufe” (The image of Africa in Austrian textbooks for fifth and eighth grade), she analysed GE-textbooks for their portrayal of the African continent and interviewed students about their perception of African political, economic and social structures. The result of the research suggests a correlation between biased representations in GE-textbooks and students’ stereotypical images of Africa.

iShe is currently working as an AEWTASS member at the Veritas publishing house on a textbook for upper secondary schools and teaches in an International School

iin Lower Austria.