Potential of Using Cultural Artefacts to Enhance the Critical Study of International Law in Africa

This article examines the role cultural artefacts can play in counteracting the systemic erasure of non-European ideational iterations in international law. Cultural artefacts, in both physical and digital/pictorial forms, are valuable tools for enhancing learners’ cognitive abilities. In the context of international law, cultural artefacts can elicit the critique of hegemonic discourses, emphasising the imperative of engaging other disciplines in addressing critical issues, and encouraging the development of new terminologies for expanding the ideational parameters of the discipline. In order to achieve these lofty goals, international law teachers must be intentional about identifying the relevant artefacts and incorporating them into learning activities that equip learners with critical intellectual capacities. Such engagement not only centres learners’ cultural worldview in the learning environment but also makes them active thought leaders and change agents.