NOTE: This is a stand-alone course that anyone can take, and all are welcome! There are no prerequisites and you do NOT have to study Mdu Ntr to participate!
COURSE GOAL: To provide students with an understanding of the flora and fauna of Kemet—and by extension, Africa at large—that goes beyond common knowledge, without being extensive. If we can lay the groundwork with a method that can be replicated, students will be well equipped to gather more specific information on other species as they see necessary in the future. We will also become more familiar with African scholars in zoology and botany.
METHOD: we will gather information on plant and animal species by way of journal articles, field guides, and specialized texts on species activity and distribution. After acquiring the necessary data, we can then look at these species in the proper cultural context. Class assignments will consist of fact-finding activities beyond tertiary source material, such as encyclopedias. So that more direct observation can be utilized, videos will also be incorporated into class and homework assignments. We will also be consulting Medu Netcher texts that pertain to the use of animal and plant themes in the primary literature. Material culture will also be consulted for context.
Course Materials: Students will be using the following books at different points during the course.
METHOD APPLICATION: At the end of the course, students will do a project focusing on an animal or plant species of their choosing. The chosen species can be one covered during the course, or another not yet explored. Working on these projects with the aid of classmates is encouraged (by "encouraged" I mean "expected").
Course introduction, dispersal of class materials. Species of the Week: African ostrich.
Species of the Week: African bovids and artiodactyls.
Species of the Week: ibises, raptors, and vultures
Species of the Week: various reptiles
Species of the Week: fish, insects, and low-species genera animals
Species of the Week: grasses and sedges
Djedemankh Heka Re was raised in Stedman, NC. As a child in the early 1980s, he developed an affinity for African cultures and pursued this appreciation for his ancestry more intensely as an adult.
He earned an associate's degree in Information Systems Technology in 2004. It was during his college years when he first tried his hand at Medu Netcher, but it wasn't until after college that he could fully pursue the study of the script. After years of self-study, Djedemankh became a student of Rkhty Amen and Bonotchi Montgomery and finished the Medu Netcher program joined by his classmates Chris Frye, Khepera Mery Amen Kieta, and Ra Nwb Shepeses, along with A.J. Giles whom he and Chris began their journey with.
He utilizes his love of the natural world to augment his studies by studying Africa's flora, fauna, and natural phenomena to better understand the Medu Netcher script and place Kemet back into its African context.
