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This workshop brings scholars in the social sciences together for a 10-week “Interdisciplinary Research Methods Exchange.” Scholars speak to a group of social science undergraduate majors about their current and prior research, highlighting their background, education, methodological challenges, and successes. A series of short writing assignments and optional methods assignment for thesis or capstone classes asks students to reflect on their experiences with the speakers, and a pre- and post-survey helps instructors assess whether learning objectives were met. This workshop functions as an integrated part of the course schedule and aims to expose students to the diversity of research topics, approaches, and methods in the social sciences and to increase interest in and knowledge about social science research careers. 

The Georgia Department of Education has clearly defined standards for learning about Africa in the seventh grade. However, there exists great variation in how textbooks present this material and address these standards. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, we assess the presentation of Africa in three widely used Georgia social studies textbooks. We document and analyze coverage of Africa across Georgia’s seventh grade world studies learning domains. Our research demonstrates: 1) that, despite widespread calls for decolonization of education and strengthening of multicultural education, Euro-American perspectives on Africa are still prevalent; 2) textbooks vary widely on how they choose to address the social studies standards for Africa; and 3) negative stereotypes of Africa and its peoples continue to be reaffirmed, to the detriment of Georgia students. Lastly, our research also contributes to larger conversations on the utility of content analysis as a methodology for understanding educational practices.