marcus garvey pan african university - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 12 – The Marcus-Garvey Pan- African
Institute /University (MPAI / MPAU) - A Work in Progress
be limited to, indigenous agricultural, pastoral, fishing,
metallurgical, meteorological and medical knowledge,
historical and cultural accounts, cosmological and ethical
wisdom.
Mission
Based on this vision, MPAU will develop a structure of
knowledge, production, documentation and
dissemination that stands on two pillars namely the
Campus and Community sites of knowledge.
Objectives
(a) undertake research in areas of Afrikan
Knowledge and Wisdom and profile such knowledge
into a global research agenda
(b) recover the feminine principle and document
Afrikan Women’s knowledge from an African-cradle
perspective
(c) identify and strengthen community Sites of
Knowledge as one of the pillars of the University
(d) recruit researchers to undertake research on a
new epistemological basis with(in) Community Sites of
Knowledge and link them with other institutions of
higher learning so that their research findings can be
exposed to peer review and recognition
(e) link some of the research activities to the
university’s own staff development and training
programmes
(f) ensure that research findings are shared with the
communities from which the knowledge was derived
including documenting them in their respective
languages
(g) utilize the results of the research to develop
curricula and create a new epistemology that can
mainstream Afrikan Knowledge and Wisdom
(h) document all materials obtained through
research both at the Community Sites of Knowledge and
at the Institute so that libraries can be built both at
community levels and at the Institute
(i) in collaboration with other institutions, develop
ICT projects that can link rural communities to
institutions of higher learning, secondary schools,
primary schools, hospitals, spiritual and health centers
for purposes of e-learning and e-health for the rural
communities
(j) publish the results of the research in the form of
textbooks, monographs and booklets that can be used in
kindergartens, primary and secondary schools as well as
institutions of higher learning, so that these materials can
become the basis of developing both a school and
University system based on Afrikan Knowledge Systems
(k) at some stage, through affiliations offer courses on
Afrikan indigenous knowledge and wisdom at diploma or
degree levels with the existing institutions of higher
learning in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa as well as
globally leading to joint degree awards
(l) build a new model of the restorative economy
based on research, innovation, learning and doing with
Community Sites Knowledge as sites of production and
exchange, and vice versa
(m) raise resources for self-sustainability of the
institution
(n) build up collaborations and partnerships with other
institutions both locally and globally in order to promote
the above objectives
(o) encourage and facilitate the use and terminological
development of native African languages as media of
instruction and intellectual discourse at all levels
CORE PRINCIPLES OF MPAI-MPAU
MPAU stands by the following principles, which are drawn
from the African historical experience and heritages, which
Africans have achieved through interactions with other
communities throughout its history:
• The Principle of MAAT of balance and Connective
Justice;
• The Principle of Restoration and harmony in the
community;
• The Principle that the African Community is dynamic;
• The Principle of sovereignty, democracy, and full
participation
• Principle of self reliance and interdependence;
• Principle of reciprocity and solidarity;
• The Principle of Honesty and Uprightedness; and
• The Principle of Transparency and Accountability
The new transdisciplinary approach is based on
Afrikology that removes strict boundaries between
academic disciplines. Such an approach aims to work with
rural and urban communities in the areas of expertise they
possess. To access their inherit knowledge through
research and teaching, and will necessitate the creation of
appropriate protocols that can enable the Institute / University
to establish an ethical relationship between the
Institute, the researchers and the custodians of knowledge
Continued on page 14
-13- Traditional African Clinic August 2013