Winner of the John Gilmary Shea Prize

A groundbreaking history of how Africans in the French Empire embraced both African independence and their Catholic faith during the upheaval of decolonization, leading to a fundamental reorientation of the Catholic Church.

African Catholic examines how French imperialists and the Africans they ruled imagined the religious future of French sub-Saharan Africa in the years just before and after decolonization. The story encompasses the political transition to independence, Catholic contributions to black intellectual currents, and efforts to alter the church hierarchy to create an authentically “African” church.

Elizabeth Foster recreates a Franco-African world forged by conquest, colonization, missions, and conversions—one that still exists today. We meet missionaries in Africa and their superiors in France, African Catholic students abroad destined to become leaders in their home countries, African Catholic intellectuals and young clergymen, along with French and African lay activists. All of these men and women were preoccupied with the future of France’s colonies, the place of Catholicism in a postcolonial Africa, and the struggle over their personal loyalties to the Vatican, France, and the new African states.

Having served as the nuncio to France and the Vatican’s liaison to UNESCO in the 1950s, Pope John XXIII understood as few others did the central questions that arose in the postwar Franco-African Catholic world. Was the church truly universal? Was Catholicism a conservative pillar of order or a force to liberate subjugated and exploited peoples? Could the church change with the times? He was thinking of Africa on the eve of Vatican II, declaring in a radio address shortly before the council opened, “Vis-à-vis the underdeveloped countries, the church presents itself as it is and as it wants to be: the church of all.”

Inclusive and equity-minded pedagogy is inspired by a rich array of theories including Black feminist thought, critical race theory, cultural humility, cultural competence, disabilities studies, universal design for learning, and critical information literacy. When we base our instruction on inclusive and equitable pedagogies, we endeavor to connect authentically with students as well as to connect classroom learning to the context of their lives. We share power with students, centering them and their varied learning preferences, and strive to create a culture of care, empathy, and humility both in and out of the classroom. When we clearly share our objectives and expectations for a learning experience, students may better understand us and the learning context we aspire to create.
 
In Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies: Creating Space for All Learners, seven thorough sections across two volumes examine:
 

1. Anti-Racist Approaches
2. Intentional Information Literacy
3. Engendering Care and Empathy
4. Community Building
5. Universal Design for Learning: An Important Benchmark
6. Instructor Identity and Positionality
7. Professional Development

 
Chapters cover topics including dismantling, reexamining, and reconstructing notions of authority in information literacy instruction; teaching technology inclusively; using primary sources to research queer and feminist histories; cocreating knowledge practices with students; prioritizing accessibility in synchronous and asynchronous learning environments; cultural humility, funds of knowledge, and information literacy instruction with first-generation students; designing and managing inclusive group projects; and much more.
 
To become the instructors our students need, we must adopt the mindsets and develop the underlying skills to enact inclusive and equitable teaching and learning. Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies offers reflections, practices, and models that deepen our collective understanding of equitable and inclusive theories and practices and present new grounding for both our individual teaching and our instruction programs.
 

Inclusive and equity-minded pedagogy is inspired by a rich array of theories including Black feminist thought, critical race theory, cultural humility, cultural competence, disabilities studies, universal design for learning, and critical information literacy. When we base our instruction on inclusive and equitable pedagogies, we endeavor to connect authentically with students as well as to connect classroom learning to the context of their lives. We share power with students, centering them and their varied learning preferences, and strive to create a culture of care, empathy, and humility both in and out of the classroom. When we clearly share our objectives and expectations for a learning experience, students may better understand us and the learning context we aspire to create.
 
In Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies: Creating Space for All Learners, seven thorough sections across two volumes examine:
 

1. Anti-Racist Approaches
2. Intentional Information Literacy
3. Engendering Care and Empathy
4. Community Building
5. Universal Design for Learning: An Important Benchmark
6. Instructor Identity and Positionality
7. Professional Development

 
Chapters cover topics including dismantling, reexamining, and reconstructing notions of authority in information literacy instruction; teaching technology inclusively; using primary sources to research queer and feminist histories; cocreating knowledge practices with students; prioritizing accessibility in synchronous and asynchronous learning environments; cultural humility, funds of knowledge, and information literacy instruction with first-generation students; designing and managing inclusive group projects; and much more.
 
To become the instructors our students need, we must adopt the mindsets and develop the underlying skills to enact inclusive and equitable teaching and learning. Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies offers reflections, practices, and models that deepen our collective understanding of equitable and inclusive theories and practices and present new grounding for both our individual teaching and our instruction programs.
 

Inclusive and equity-minded pedagogy is inspired by a rich array of theories including Black feminist thought, critical race theory, cultural humility, cultural competence, disabilities studies, universal design for learning, and critical information literacy. When we base our instruction on inclusive and equitable pedagogies, we endeavor to connect authentically with students as well as to connect classroom learning to the context of their lives. We share power with students, centering them and their varied learning preferences, and strive to create a culture of care, empathy, and humility both in and out of the classroom. When we clearly share our objectives and expectations for a learning experience, students may better understand us and the learning context we aspire to create.

In Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies: Creating Space for All Learners, seven thorough sections across two volumes examine:
 

1. Anti-Racist Approaches
2. Intentional Information Literacy
3. Engendering Care and Empathy
4. Community Building
5. Universal Design for Learning: An Important Benchmark
6. Instructor Identity and Positionality
7. Professional Development

 
Chapters cover topics including dismantling, reexamining, and reconstructing notions of authority in information literacy instruction; teaching technology inclusively; using primary sources to research queer and feminist histories; cocreating knowledge practices with students; prioritizing accessibility in synchronous and asynchronous learning environments; cultural humility, funds of knowledge, and information literacy instruction with first-generation students; designing and managing inclusive group projects; and much more.
 
To become the instructors our students need, we must adopt the mindsets and develop the underlying skills to enact inclusive and equitable teaching and learning. Exploring Inclusive & Equitable Pedagogies offers reflections, practices, and models that deepen our collective understanding of equitable and inclusive theories and practices and present new grounding for both our individual teaching and our instruction programs.