Ben Gardner teaches at the African Leadership University

Associate Professor, Ben Gardner spent part of his sabbatical teaching classes at the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda. Gardner taught a class on Globalization and Commodity Chain Analysis and a class on Qualitative Research Methods to help students Address a Grand Development Challenge and/or Opportunity. ALU has a lot in common with IAS. They are both interdisciplinary programs focused on access, innovation and student centered education. Rather than declaring a traditional major, students at ALU, who come from all over the African continent choose a “mission,” that is, an important challenge they hope to address or an important opportunity they hope to maximize. The skills they learn (identifying a problem and then curating learning resources to solve that problem) will continue to serve them well, regardless of the work they choose to do. Gardner taught classes, ran workshops and worked with ALU faculty on pedagogy and curriculum.