In an interview with CNN.com, Princeton University professor Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah said: “It would be impossible to say how Things Fall Apart influenced African writing. It would be like asking how Shakespeare influenced English writers or Pushkin influenced Russians. Achebe didn’t only play the game, he invented it.”

 Appiah, who wrote the introduction to the Everyman’s Library edition to Things Fall Apart, is not alone in his assessment of the significance of this novel that is called an “instant classic,” a “literary masterpiece.”

The book and its author, Chinua Achebe, are experiencing renewed praise and interest as this year marks the 50th anniversary of Things Fall Apart.

In “Revisiting a Classic,” Diverse correspondent Ibram Rogers provides a comprehensive look at the book’s impact on modern African fiction and African writers.

Says Dr. Isidore Okpewho, a Nigerian novelist and State University of New York at Binghamton professor: There is an “innumerable list of writers and critics — including myself — who have been inspired to contribute to the growth of African literature and make it a force to be reckoned with among the literary achievements of mankind. I doubt that we could have done this without Achebe’s bold and pioneering work.”

“It has contributed more than any other single book in establishing both the Ibo and the African continent as a normal society, a society of culture, tradition, law and government,” says Obiwu Iwuanyanwu, director of the writing center at Central State University, who has written extensively on Achebe.

There are events planned all around the world to honor Achebe and the novel he wrote as a 26-yearold English teacher in Nigeria. He says he had no idea the book would have such resonance. “There was no example to go by. There was no way I could gauge,” Achebe says.

Speaking of resonating, Diverse contributing editor Mary Annette Pember reports in “Diversifying Pedagogy” on the growing popularity of Indigenous Ways of Knowing, a teaching method also referred to as IWOK.

IWOK is a teaching method long used in the tribal college setting, and is now making its way into mainstream colleges and universities. As Mary Annette reports, “IWOK is more focused on the process of learning rather than the outcome and emphasizes the holistic understanding of a topic or situation.

Scholars say many instructors are using elements of IWOK without realizing it, allowing students to explore and discuss concepts in contexts involving real-world problems and projects, says Dr. Dawn Adrian Adams of Tapestry Institute, who says the main stumbling block to IWOK in the traditional Western academy is assessment. In IWOK, the teacher’s responsibility becomes more about helping students rather than simply ranking students through standardized testing.

Lastly, in “Putting First-generation Students First,” contributing editor Dina Horwedel reports on the many programs colleges and universities are offering to first-year, first-generation college students. From community colleges to top-tier universities, institutions are increasingly becoming aware of the unique needs of, in particular, first-generation college students and the support services that will best help them conclude their college careers with a diploma in hand.

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