Pedagogical Resources

CURRICULUM and LESSONS

K-12 Lesson Plans from the Boston University African Studies Center 

Masks and Masquerades have been a contentious subject in teaching about Africa, for the obvious reason that they have been taught reductively, in a decontextualized way, and have been appropriated in ways that are not respectful of people’s actual practices they come from. These two curriculum units created by Alumni from the BU Masters in Art Education and the Teaching Africa Program present a culturally responsive way of teaching about masks that engages students with mask-making without appropriation, reduction, or reproduction.

Dancing with the ancestors: A study of Egungun Masquerades and Nick Cave’s Soundsuits, Pre-K-K unit designed by Paula Mans

Exploring Identity through Yoruba culture, Masks, and the Contemporary Artists of the Diaspora, 6th-7th grade unit designed by Marie Darling

HOW-TO AND PRACTICAL/APPLIED BOOKS:

Title: Making Masks 

Author: Melody Anderson

Publisher: Blurb, 2022

Link (digital PDF and softcover): https://www.blurb.com/b/11031604-making-masks

Title: Masks and Masked Faces: A Manual for the Construction of 22 Masks and their Variations

Author: Deborah Hunt

Publisher: MaskHunt Motions, 2013

Link (where available):

Title: Maskmaking

Author: Carole Sivin 

Publisher: Davis Publications, Worcester, Mass., 1986

Link to free digital version: https://archive.org/details/maskmaking0000sivi

Title: The Mask Handbook

Author: Anita Sinclair

Publisher: Anita Sinclair, Maldon, Vic., 2010

Link:

Title: The Mask Handbook: A Practical Guide

Author: Toby Wilsher 

Publisher: Routledge, London, 2007

Link:

Title: The Prop Builder’s Mask-Making Handbook

Author: Thurston James

Publisher: Betterway Publications Inc., White Hall, Virginia, 1990

Link:

Title: The Other Face: The Mask in the Arts

Author: Walter Sorell

Publisher: Publisher Bobbs-Merrill, 1973

Link to free digital version: https://archive.org/details/otherfacemaskina0000sore/page/24/mode/2up