Wife inheritance and the AIDS epidemic in Africa

By Greg Mitchell

When an African man dies, it is the responsibility of his brother to inherit his widow. This has become a key factor in the spread of the AIDS virus. This plan looks at this tradition and the AIDS epidemic in African countries and students will discuss possible solutions in a Paideia seminar.

Provided by Kenan Fellows Program

Page contents

1. Summary of activities
2. Learning outcomes
3. Teacher Planning
   1. Time require for the lesson
   2. Materials/Resources
4. Activities
5. Assessment

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Learn more

• Learn more about AIDS, Africa, HIV, Paideia, diseases, epidemics, and inheritance.

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Summary of activities

Learning outcomes

Students read an article and consider the following:

• The complexity of the AIDS problem in Africa
• How such a complex problem requires complex solutions
• How different life is in Africa than it is in the U.S.
• What is our responsibility in addressing this problem?

Teacher Planning

Time require for the lesson

This activity will take approximately 60 minutes — 10 minutes for reading the article and 50 minutes for discussion.

Materials/Resources

• Student handout: Paideia Seminar Questions handout
• Student handout: Washington Post article

Activities

1. Students should read the article from the Washington Post titled Wife Inheritance Spurs AIDS Rise in Kenya either in class or for homework.
2. Hand out the discussion questions. These also can be given the day before the seminar so that students are prepared for the seminar.
3. A Paideia seminar is a Socratic type of teaching which encourages students to express their thoughts on a subject. Arrange the classroom in two circles - an inner circle for the students who are speaking and an outer circle for the rest of the class. Everyone should have a turn in the inner circle. The teacher acts only as a facilitator posing the questions to the students in the inner circle. Students may speak freely about the questions and discuss each other’s opinions. It is important to remind students that they should be polite, speak only one at a time, listen carefully, and support their position with facts.

Assessment

Assessment is based on student participation in the seminar and their ability to support their position.