Praise Poetry

The Ohio State University

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Dr. Irele

Learn more about Dr. F. Abiola Irele, Project Principal Investigator.

Dr. Mphande

Learn more about Dr. Lupenga Mphande, Project Co-Principal Investigator.

About the Project

As with many societies, the history and culture of southern Africa is embedded in an oral literary tradition where information is passed from one generation to the next orally, and where what is spoken is just as important as how it is delivered. The message is in the performance and the audience interaction as much as it is in the words. Traditionally, faculty at OSU have relied upon written transcripts of these performances to introduce students to important historical and cultural information. However, in written transcript form, students were receiving only part of the story.

In 1999, the Department of African American and African Studies at OSU was awarded funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to solve this difficult teaching/learning problem. A team of faculty and staff, led by Francis Abiola Irele, Professor of African American and African Studies, and Lupenga Mphande, Associate Professor of African American and African Studies, traveled to South Africa, hired a film crew, and went to a variety of locations to film these important historical and cultural, Praise Poetry, performances.

OSU now has over 60 hours of footage from several different locations and events that will change the way students experience these rich cultural and historical traditions.

What's next?

Humanities Information Systems (HIS), the instructional and technology support unit for Humanities departments at OSU, is now in the process of working with the field research team to convert and edit the footage and other digital media into a variety of formats that will ultimately find their way into the classroom.

Our first task is to build a Web-accessible multimedia database where all 60 hours of footage can be cataloged, searched, and viewed. This database will help faculty identify specific segments to be used in both survey-level courses and graduate seminars. And, since the collection will exist entirely on the Web, faculty will be able to assign segments for homework, student research projects, etc.

Next, HIS will help develop a series of instructional DVD programs. What's important here will be the use of DVD's multi-angle capabilities. This way, an instructor will be able to jump from one camera angle to another "on the fly" highlighting different aspects of the performance.

Finally, a more in-depth Web site will be developed that will enable teachers from around the world to share Praise Poetry with their students. We envision not only the raw footage, but pre-selected groups of clips based on a variety of themes, lesson plans, commentary from experts in the field, and much more.