Chapter Submitted for:Teaching Africa in the 21 st Century Classroom, ed. Brandon Lundy (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, Under Review) 1 Answering the “So What” Question: Making African History Relevant in the Provincial College Classroom Gary Marquardt “So what?” When my graduate advisor first asked me this question, I was taken aback. Was this some sort of intimidation tactic? An academic initiation of sorts? I was relieved, albeit unprepared, when he followed up by asking how my paper was relevant in the larger context of the subject. “So what?” The majority of us teaching in academia have spent the better part of our lives pursuing and justifying this question. As graduate students we poured over seminar books, assessing what relevance they held in the wider pool of literature or how they connected to bigger world events. We also pursued this question and defended it in our dissertations and theses. As teachers of African History, however, too few of us spend time in class answering or even justifying the “so what” question for our students. From a personal standpoint, this is forgivable. We‟ve studied the continent and understand how its history and cultures fit into a global context. Most of us are even enthusiastic and passionate about teaching the continent‟s history. Unfortunately, our knowledge and enthusiasm do not always translate into understanding the “so what” question for the average undergraduate. The relevance of Africa seldom leaves those four walls we teach within I am by no means a pedagogical expert on African History, nor do I have a silver bullet to reverse the prevailing ideas of Afro-pessimism in the western world. For today‟s student, connecting history to the present day is perhaps the key for getting them to understand and appreciate African History in a global context. A major part of this approach is to explore the