Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Berks · Courses
AFR
60 courses with the subject AFR, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
AFR 105African Biodiversity and Conservation3
AFR 105 African Biodiversity and Conservation introduces the topic of Biodiversity in Africa, with a focus on how natural features, flora and fauna, and human livelihood systems interact. Additionally, the course will examine forces driving change Biodiversity Loss and Environmental Change in Africa and how humans are contributing to and adapting to these changes. The course uses an integrated approach to study how humans interact with their environments across different environments and scales. We will look at traditional human livelihood systems will include hunting and gathering, agriculture, and pastoralism. Drivers of environmental change and approaches to conservation will be critically compared, as well as how these impact human well-being. Concepts that will be covered include paired social-ecological systems, habitat and ecology, ecological change and thresholds, sustainable resource use, forces of change (including climate change) and impact of environmental change and uncertainty on human well-being and conservation.
Consideration of influences and forces shaping modern African society; analysis of current local and global problems and issues facing Africa are the central focus of the course. "Introduction to Contemporary Africa" offers students a view of contemporary Africa as a complex, significant, and richly diverse continent which has been heavily impacted by its colonial history. The course presents an introduction to African history, politics and cultures by drawing on intellectual resources from the continent combined with those from the rest of the world. The course aims to expand students' knowledge of intersecting cultures, histories, policies, and economics in a globalized world. The course provides students with an opportunity to deconstruct some of the influences and forces that have shaped and continue to shape modern Africa and thus providing students with an opportunity to investigate, explore and analyze the current local and global issues facing Africa. In this course the student will engage with some of the literature about contemporary Africa and develop skills at reading, analyzing, and writing within the interdisciplinary approach of African Studies. The overarching goal of this course is to help students understand contemporary African societies and their socioeconomic characteristics. The course provides students the opportunity to investigate Africa's multifaceted realities, explore: (1) The continent and its history; (2) Africa's dichotomous political, economic and institutional systems and their impacts and implications for governance and development; (3) The continent¿s social and environmental conditions and their impacts and implications on issues, such as demography, urbanization, gender relations public and social services and lastly; and (4) Characteristics of African culture whereby we explore African literature, theater, cinema, the arts, and belief systems.
A general introduction to human and cultural elements of African origin in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of Latin America. SPAN 132 / AFR 132 / AFAM 132 Afro-Hispanic Civilization (3) (IL) (BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The nations and peoples of Latin America have a unique, interesting history and cultural heritage that are rooted in the traditions, beliefs, experiences, values, and struggles of Native American, European, African and other populations. This course focuses on the presence and participation of African peoples and their descendants in the formation and development of societies and cultures in representative areas of the Caribbean, South America, and Central America and on the evolution, diversity, and richness of the African heritage therein. Course content includes the African background, the experience and impact of slavery, the social, cultural, and economic heritage of slavery, the role of race in Latin America, and Afro-Hispanic intellectual, literary, and artistic developments (e.g., aspects of folklore, music). The course aims to provide students with a general introduction to human and cultural elements of African origin within the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations of the Americas so that they may be more knowledgeable of the meaning, significance and widespread influence of the African diaspora. It proposes to provide the student with a better understanding of Africa's contribution to Latin American identity, diversity, culture, and development; to promote appreciation for the values and practices of other cultures, and greater awareness of the relations between the nations of the region and the United States.
The course is an introduction to the history of Africa south of the Sahara from the origins of humankind to roughly 1750 with a focus on common themes in the cultural and historical development of African societies. Themes include (but are not limited to): Ancient Egypt, Africa's place in the Greco-Roman world, Early African Christianity, Islam in Africa, European contact, and the Atlantic Slave Trade
This course offers an overview of the history of Africa from 1750 to the present. The course introduces students to the diversity of Africa's geography, demography, and history and investigates the experience of modern history through specific, regionally distinct, examples. Students will learn about structures of power, society, and economy in the colonial and post-colonial era in comparative terms, and about a variety of cultural forms and expressions.
This Honors course offers an overview of the history of Africa from 1750 to the present. The course introduces students to the diversity of Africa's geography, demography, and history and investigates the experience of modern history through specific, regionally distinct, examples. Students will learn about structures of power, society, and economy in the colonial and post-colonial era in comparative terms, and about a variety of cultural forms and expressions. The honors course takes time to go into greater depth in a few selected topics, with attention to primary sources, historical method, and historiographic trends.
This introductory course provides students with a broad interdisciplinary overview of scholarly research and theory related to women and gender studies in Africa, using both historical and contemporary examples from across the continent. We will explore the complex, and oftentimes contradictory, meanings attached to gender and sexuality in various African contexts. For example, what does it mean to be a "good" woman in Uganda today? How does this definition change (or not) if she comes out as a lesbian? What if s/he identifies as a transgender man or rejects gender binaries altogether? What if gender did not matter, or even, did not exist? In addition to exploring these types of questions, we will also examine African feminist thought, paying close attention to the ways in which African feminisms are similar to and/or different from other forms of feminism worldwide. We will also consider what these movements looked like in practice. What strategies did African feminists utilize to promote social change? What challenges did they face? What victories resulted from their efforts? Although topics may vary from semester to semester, key themes include environmental activism, anti-war/peace activism, political activism, sex worker rights activism, activism to support peoples living with HIV/AIDS, and activism against harmful traditional practices. Finally, we will examine the ways in which African feminists have contributed to global debates and initiatives on women's rights and gender equity. Students in this course can expect to engage with diverse texts from the humanities (esp. history, literature, film studies, and philosophy), as well as from the social and behavioral sciences (esp. anthropology, geography, sociology, and political science).
AFR 205 Development and Sustainability in Africa introduces the development and sustainability strategies and theories in Africa, with a focus on how. This course will trace the history of change across the continent and critique the narratives about development in Africa, relative to colonial legacies and African peoples¿ hopes for autonomy. We will cover the concepts of development and sustainability at different scales, from local to international. Students will become familiar with Theories of Development and how they have impacted social, political and economic pathways in Africa. Students will be exposed to an array of development strategies (including agriculture, resource extraction, education and health) and will be asked to interrogate and critically analyze examples of development and sustainability policies and projects: those that have ¿worked¿ and those that have not. Students will learn to assess which future pathways are sustainable and ethically sound. Finally, the course will provide students with the opportunity to practice some participatory development methods used to build consensus and make decisions with communities.
African countries are generally considered to be among the poorest countries on the planet. On average, their incomes are low as are their levels of education. Poor African countries also have a range of peculiar characteristics that negatively affect their living standards. As these standards decline, western audiences have increasingly been targeted by aid organizations seeking donations to help the African cause. Despite growing awareness of African poverty, however, few attempts have been made to locate discourses on African poverty within historical, theoretical, and contemporary contexts. This course provides an overview of the key issues foundational for understanding the dynamics of poverty and human development in African societies. It examines various academic conceptualizations of poverty, the dimensions of poverty in African countries, as well as poverty¿s various causes and consequences. The course also intends to highlight the complex nature of the social, political, and economic causes of African poverty and their implications. Furthermore, it will identify the important challenges to poverty alleviation in African societies, the effectiveness of foreign aid, and alternative strategies to poverty alleviation. The course will also provide unique opportunities for students to develop a focused understanding of specific issues that affect Africa's socioeconomically vulnerable groups as well as related issues relevant for understanding the dynamics of poverty in specific areas on the continent.
This course examines the contribution of language to a variety of social justice agendas by exploring how language is used to form and support unjust social structures. The course has two main aims. First, drawing from sociolinguistic theories of linguistic ideologies, the course aims to show the significance of language in how the hierarchization and ranking of languages in a society are produced, maintained, and reinforced. The second aim is to demonstrate the effects of such a hierarchization and ranking of languages on (in)equality in educational institutions and before the law. The topics covered in this course include the role of language in structuring individual identity and human relations and how this process characterizes the nature of social institutions in producing social inequality. As the course touches on issues pertinent to our daily lives, students' questions, comments, and relevant personal experiences and observations will play an important role in our exploration of how the language we use can affect opportunities and privileges in society.
AFR 233Connecting Social Movements: U.S. Civil Rights and African Liberation3
This course examines the interconnectedness of African liberation movements and the United States Civil Rights Movement, specifically focusing on periods of the 1950s through the 1970s. This course has three main aims. First, drawing from a political philosophy lens, the course aims to show the significance of how race was constructed, how racialization informed political systems/structures, and how racialization led to imperialism, colonialism and racial subjugation. The second aim is to demonstrate the impact and interconnectedness of African and Black American liberation movements through the lens of Pan-Africanism. The third aim is to explore the consequences of colonization and the social, cultural, and political impact of decolonization, post-colonialism, emancipation, and Black consciousness. Students will use their examination of African liberation movements and the U.S. Civil Rights movement to connect with their knowledge, observations, questions, and experiences with social justice, liberation, and social change movements in the present-day context.
AFR 234Environment, Climate Change and Resilience in Africa3
This course provides an overview of the relationship between environment, climate change and livelihood resilience in Africa. The AFR 234: Environment, Climate Change and Resilience (3 credits) course uses an interdisciplinary approach and a combination of conventional scientific and indigenous knowledge about environmental change, to enable students to develop a critical understanding of the concepts of environment, climate change, and sustainability and resilience in the face of environmental degradation in Africa. Topics to be covered in the course will include environmental change and extreme climatic conditions such as hurricanes, droughts, floods and winds in Africa; climate change and agriculture, natural resource conservation and conflicts, population growth and climate change, environmental sustainability, and indigenous resilience strategies to combat climate change and its sundry impacts on the continent and its peoples. Various ongoing resilient ecological management strategies, including indigenous knowledge, expertise of locally trained environmentalists, along with regional and global institutional perspectives of climate change, will be identified and discussed using case studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of environmentally, friendly and climate change management policy debates in Africa. The course will be taught through class lectures, seminars, workshops, and scheduled field coursework in specific regions in Africa as a summer study abroad component of the course.
Course will develop awareness of contemporary issues in global health. BB H 305 Introduction to Global Health Issues (3) This course is an introduction to health and related issues in the global context. It is intended to be an overview of fundamental perspectives about the historical, current, and future public health challenges facing developing and industrialized countries. The course will explore the interrelationships among social structure, culture, demography, health promotion/disease prevention, biology, ecology and health policy of various countries and international health organizations. This course will 1. present key issues related to the history, conceptual frameworks, economic conditions, and policy affecting public health in the global context, 2. examine reports and studies pertaining to major global health issues and comparative research, 3. discuss the role of social structure, culture, gender roles, government policies, and the increasing numbers of the elderly in preventive health behaviors and health promotion in the global context, and 4. critique theories and models used to inform health and development programs in non-Western nations.
This is a course on language rights, policy, and planning from individual, group, inter-ethnic, and national perspectives. Linguistic minorities are a consequence of colonization by European powers in different regions of the globe. Other effects of colonization and political conflicts include mass movement, migration, and the emergence of nationalism. In such contexts, minorities have made demands for language rights and used language policy and planning as strategies to realize demands for social justice. This course will examine how linguistic minorities secure opportunities to use their own languages and have them accommodated in official legislation as mother tongue, second, or foreign languages. The course will adopt a global perspective and analyze language rights as well as language policy and planning in diverse regions of the globe, including but not restricted to, Africa, Asia, and South America. Analysis will primarily focus on how language policies can be carried out from different perspectives (e.g., literary, linguistic, and political) in different geographical regions. After examining how language policies operate in and influence society, the course will use sociopolitical ideologies to explore the nature of the relationship between language policies and language rights and the ways this relationship enables one to achieve an expanded understanding of the impact of language policies and language rights on local language practices.
Introduction to the visual arts of Africa, including contemporary African art and the influence of African art outside Africa. ARTH 335 / AFR 335 African Art (3)(GA;IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. The course will examine the arts of various African peoples in historical, religious, sociological and geographic contexts, providing an introduction to the many visual art forms of Africa including masquerade, costume, and indigenous architecture. While many of the arts in this field of study are from west and central Africa, the course will also include materials from southern and eastern Africa. Contemporary African art, African Diaspora arts, and the influence of African art on European art are important topics that may be included. In addition to the traditional format of a geographic organization of the material, students will explore thematic approaches. Each of the assignments requires completion of essays which draw upon the multiple course texts and readings. Exams include image identification and short essays.
Africa's global cultural, political and economic importance should not be underestimated as it continues a period of unprecedented growth. Projections indicate that by the end of the century Africa will be home to a 1/3 of the world's population and 13 of the 20 world's largest cities. As Africa fuels global growth, external actors will have to increasingly deal with Africa on Africa's terms by showing an understanding and appreciation of African history and cultures. Often portrayed in Western media as a marginal and backward continent in need of external assistance, this course will examine how African governments and peoples are asserting their independence from foreign domination, defining their interests, and ensuring their voices are heard in the global arena. This international relations course provides an introductory overview of global politics from an African perspective. A major focus will be on the historical evolution of Africa as an important global region with its own institutions, norms and rules that guide intra-African international relations within the continent. On the global stage the focus is on efforts to coordinate diplomatic activities to push African agendas in global forums like the UN. The course examines the utility of different international relations theoretical perspectives for understanding Africa's place in global politics. Areas of substantive concern include: the historic marginalization of African interests and voices in international affairs; intra-African international relations including the role of the AU and regional international organizations in creating a more peaceful and secure continent; Africa's relations to global military and economic powers like the United States, China, Europe, and Russia; the International Political Economy of African development, and Africa's agency in global political, religious and cultural movements.
This course will provide an introduction to language in Africa from linguistic and cultural perspectives. Course topics include: the study of African language families and what they teach us about the history of the continent, the analysis of unusual linguistic structures found in indigenous African languages, multilingualism in Africa and the interaction between colonial and indigenous languages, linguistic traditions such as storytelling, ceremonies, ethnobotany, etc., and language development, including literacy practices and language and technology. The course will explore these topics in-depth through case studies focusing on four diverse geographical areas in West, North, East and Southern Africa. The capstone of the course will be a two-week trip for interested students to study linguistic practices in Benin, West Africa in both urban and rural settings.
This course will examine the relationship between war and development in sub-Saharan Africa in the post colonial era. PLSC 434 / AFR 434 War and Development in Africa (3) (IL) This course will examine the relationship between development and war in sub-Saharan Africa in the modern era. Specifically, it will analyze the extent to which the processes of state building, nation building, and international intervention have contributed to the incidence of both civil war and international conflict in Africa. We will begin with a review of several theoretical arguments on the causes of warfare in Africa and then turn to a discussion of theses on African political development. This course complements present offerings in international relations and comparative politics in the PLSC department and can serve as an advanced undergraduate offering in the African Studies concentration in AFR. The course directly complements our present offerings in international conflict given that we don';t have a regularly offered course that focuses on conflict in a specific region. In addition, it will augment our comparative politics offerings with an examination of prominent issues in comparative politics such as political development, democracy, and modernization. The course will fulfill the IL requirement and encourage students understanding of the historical background as well as the political, economic, and cultural factors that influence African politics. African conflicts are often viewed as "ethnic conflicts" and in this class students have an opportunity to assess the extent to which ethnic, linguistic, or religious factors influence the likelihood of conflict and contribute to development in African states. Students will also be required to write essays evaluating the contribution of a range of theoretical arguments on Africa';s conflicts in order to assess the degree to which cultural more than political or economic factors contribute to their onset. Students will then have the opportunity to conduct more extensive research on a specific African case to develop their analyses further. These exercises will often require that students reevaluate their beliefs about social identities such as race (e.g. in Rwanda the difference between Tutsi and Hutu is often viewed as a "racial" difference between black Africans, which is at odds with most Western conceptions of race). They also require students to challenge stereotypes regarding the subordination of African values in conflicts to a simple concern with "tribe". Students will gain a broader knowledge and appreciation of the different values, traditions, and cultures evident in Africa and understand how these can both exacerbate and mitigate conflict. Evaluation in the course will consist largely of examination of the students' brief expository essays and larger case studies for which students will be encouraged to conduct original research. The course should be offered biannually with a class limit of about 40 students.
African and African Diasporic peoples have been central to the creation and transformation of global ecologies and landscapes. As the birthplace of humankind, the African continent features the longest archaeological record in the world, with abundant, yet often underrepresented, material and historical evidence for remarkable Indigenous African innovations in the areas of technology, food production, and resource and land use. This course specifically examines Black ecologies preceding and then radically transformed by the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Beginning in the late fifteenth century, the enslavement of millions of Africans and their forced translocation to the Americas and Caribbean precipitated ecological transformations on all sides of the Atlantic, as African peoples, knowledge, resources and ecological inheritances were appropriated by the European mercantile system. Enslaved Africans transformed American landscapes via extractive industries of plantations and mines and suffered the emergence of toxic landscapes and disease alongside Native American communities. Africans also recreated African ecologies as they created livelihoods and landscapes of resistance and freedom in the Americas. The legacies of the Atlantic Era maintain a persistent dynamic in which African and African Diasporic communities experience disproportionate burdens of environmental injustice today. The concept of Black ecologies reflects the marginality, systemic racism and dispossession experienced by Black peoples and their landscapes. Black ecologies also allow us to understand African and African Diasporic ecological innovations, resistance and resilience, and the pathways to future sustainability and justice they promise.
The course is designed to analyze the ecological, economic, political and cultural factors that influence resource extraction and governance in Africa. The course will examine traditional, colonial and post-colonial resource management systems and philosophies, as well as the reengagement and empowerment of local communities in the management of resources. The benefits and trade-offs between conservation, resource extraction, development and justice will be explored. Many students are particularly interested in solutions for biodiversity conservation and climate change; this course will examine theories of behavior change related to environmental management and governance. Students will be introduced to current evidence on how, when and why people take action to address complex environmental issues, including climate change. Finally, the course will explore strategies for evidence-based environmental policy and equitable policy enforcement.
Recent events in sporting history have precipitated changes in perception for many in Africa relative to the historic legacies of racism and colonial rule. These events lead to pivotal questions -What are the broader social and political meanings of sport in African society? And what does the study of sport in Africa tell us about Africa¿s place in world history? This course uses the lens of sport to examine the social and political histories of Africa and the wider diaspora in historical perspective. From the racial and gendered hierarchies of colonialism to the use of sport to protest against social injustices, students are challenged to analyze the interdisciplinary significance of sport far beyond the playing field. One of the main intellectual goals of this course is to use sport to deepen our understanding of specific outcomes in African sport (e.g. South Africa¿s remarkable transformation from pariah of international sport to host of global events like the 2010 World Cup, and Kenyan running successes) from a variety of perspectives. We also consider how Americans travelled to and engaged with African societies as athletes, ambassadors, and activists. Broadly, this course explores sport and social change in Africa from the late nineteenth century to the present. It examines the sporting lives of African athletes, fans, reporters, coaches, and organizers and then connects them to shifting racial identities and power relationships on the continent as well as elsewhere around the world. These histories shed light on the pivotal role of sport in the everyday lives of people across the continent. In the process, we pay attention to primary sources, analyzing the ways in which Africans thought, talked, and represented themes discussed in assigned readings. Ultimately, this course will strengthen student skills of critical thinking, oral communication, collaboration, research, and writing.
Contemporary African politics, institutions, and ideologies; patterns of change, social forces, and nation building in selected African states. PLSC 454 / AFR 454 Government and Politics of Africa (3) (IL)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. In this course, we will discuss the current democratization trend in Africa by focusing on the experiences of African countries.The course is divided into three sections. Part One considers a range of factors that affect politics in Africa. We will discuss in depth the following factors: colonialism, nationalism, the relationship between state and society, ruler-ship, the military, political parties, and economic development. Then, we will consider the experiences of our four cases, to gain a historical background. In part two, we will focus on democratic transitions. We will discuss the factors that enable transitions to occur, as well as the process that transitions follow. Then, we will consider four transitions: two that resulted in the installation of a democratic government (Nigeria in 1979, Sudan in 1986) and two that ended in continued authoritarianism (Angola in 1992, Kenya in 1978). Part three considers the prospects of democracy. We will discuss the probability of a democratic transition occurring in the near future.The goals of this class are four fold. First, students will gain detailed knowledge about four African countries. Second, we will learn how to compare countries. Third, students will have a better understanding of the democratization process in general, and will be able to explain or predict democratization beyond the four cases discussed in this class. Finally, the experiences of these four countries offer a deeper understanding of what democracy is and provide students with greater flexibility to fulfill requirements in either the African and African American Studies major or the Political Science/International Politics major. PLSC 454 / AFR 454 will be offered once per year with 35-50 seats per offering.
AFR 479History of Imperialism and Nationalism in Africa3
A selective overview of the history of iumperialism and nationalism in Africa. HIST/AFR 479 History of Imperialism and Nationalism in Africa. This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. History/African Studies 479 will provide a selective introduction to major developments and issues concerning Africa's colonial and postcolonial history. The beginning of this course will concentrate on the meanings of imperialism and nationalism and the fact that there is no "single" African experience with either of them. This will be followed by a discussion of 19th and 20th century political history in specific contexts in North, East, West, and Southern Afria. The course concludes with a review of African decolonization and the most notable manifestations of recent nationalism on the continent. Special attention will be given to the methods of colonial takeover, methods of African resistance, the West's role in Africa, and Africa's formative role nstruon the West. Religion, the military, and racial/ethnic identity politics will be recurring themes in the course. The actual time devoted to each topic and the sequence of topics will vary from instructor to instructor. The objective of the course is to intrroduce to the causes, nature, and consequences of modern imperialism in Africa. In doing so, students will receive a comprehensive history about a region of the world that is often misunderstood and misrepresented. Also, the course emphasizes critical thinking and analytical writing. The course will consist of polls, pratice discussions, quizzes, response papers, and a final project. As a general education course, this class will provide an introduction to African political history for students of anyn major. Students majoring or minoring in History, African Studies, International Relations, or Political Science will learn vocabulary and information that is basic to the field and broaden their knowledge of History.
"Greece, Rome, and Africa" is an interdisciplinary course that investigates the cultural, political, and intellectual interactions among ancient Mediterranean civilizations, with a particular focus on the relationships between Greece and Rome and African societies such as Egypt, Nubia, and Carthage. The course emphasizes both connectivity and disconnection across these regions, encouraging students to explore how ancient peoples constructed identity through race, gender, social status, and legal frameworks. Students engage with a wide range of primary sources, including literary texts and material culture, and apply methodologies from Classics, African Studies, Egyptology, Archaeology, and related disciplines. The course also examines how modern scholarly and cultural narratives have shaped - and sometimes distorted - our understanding of Africa's role in antiquity. Special attention is given to the ways in which African civilizations have been marginalized or erased in traditional accounts of Mediterranean history, and to efforts aimed at restoring their centrality. Figures studied may include ancient individuals such as Hatshepsut, Herodotus, Hannibal, and Cleopatra, as well as modern thinkers and writers like Johann Joachim Winckelmann, W. E. B. Du Bois, Pauline Hopkins, and Gustave Flaubert, whose interpretations have influenced contemporary views of the ancient world. Through these case studies, students critically assess how historical narratives are constructed and revised over time. The course fosters skills in close reading, analytical writing, and critical thinking. Students participate in discussions, complete written assignments, and conduct independent research on topics related to the course themes. While specific assignments may vary by instructor or location, the core emphasis remains on interdisciplinary inquiry and the development of informed, reflective perspectives on the ancient Mediterranean and its legacy. This course is suitable for students interested in Classics, African Studies, Archaeology, Egyptology, and related fields. It provides foundational knowledge for further study in these areas and encourages students to think broadly about cultural exchange, historical memory, and the politics of interpretation.
This course is an interdisciplinary research seminar in African Studies for graduate students in the humanities. In the seminar, students will explore key debates and issues in the field while examining the diversity of theoretical and methodological approaches that scholars of African Studies have used to approach these debates. Through research articles that each employ a different set of methodological tools to examine questions of modernity and tradition, development, gender, ethnicity, conflict, and transnationalism, students will understand the possible approaches that can be employed to identify a research questions, gather evidence, and analyze it. Through reading and discussing such research articles, and discussing with scholars who visit class to present their research, students will gain conceptual tools to advance a research project in methodologically-grounded ways. While some topics will apply more directly to the student's individual research project, the themes studied are those that all scholars of African Studies should have some knowledge and mastery over, and each module will give students an opportunity to experiment by applying the theory and methods referenced in the scholarly literature to primary sources relevant to the student's own research. See syllabus in supplementary materials for more information.
The term post-colonial within itself has manifold meanings and implications. It is also considered a controversial term as many wonder exactly what is post to colonialism. In this class, we will explore colonial discourse theory, the roots of European imperialism and racism, and feminist constructions in relation to post-colonial theory. We will engage with and read critical theory, literature, and film to analyze the relations of power that (re)generate the roles of domination and dominated, and the in-between states of negotiation.
AFR 512Decolonial Methods for Interdisciplinary Research3
This course surveys contemporary scholarship in multiple disciplines to provide an overview of decolonial research methods and analytical frameworks. Each week, the readings will engage a different topic related to historical and contemporary ways of thinking about land, personhood, and power. Intended for students who are interested in initiating their own research projects in the future, the course is structured to enable students with little prior knowledge of archives or research methods to plan, begin, document, and revise an original project. Combining the study of theoretical readings with weekly research and reflection, students will develop critical tools for thinking, speaking, and writing about colonialism at the University and in a subject area of their choice. Theories are enabling, dynamic, and helpful tools for approaching texts, objects, situations, places, narratives. In this course, they will encounter things both familiar and unfamiliar in ways that unsettle not only their expectations but also their presumed relationship to what they know, where they are, and what might happen next.
AFR 520 is a graduate seminar that gives students an overview of key literatures, methodologies, and debates in recent scholarship concerning various areas of precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial African history. Its broad temporal framing reflects the long, diverse histories of African peoples and their relations to Europe, the Americas, and Asia, while also allowing for examination of more recent and localized histories. Beginning in the era of transatlantic slavery and continuing to the present day, the selected texts constitute a sweeping examination of African history. In addition to covering a wide geographic scope-with works situated in North, East, South, and West Africa-the books engage with themes including slavery, health and healing, gender, religion, colonialism, nationalism, postcolonialism, and China's work on the continent. In addition to covering more recent additions to African historiography, course readings and assignments will encourage students to refine their research questions, interrogate the craft of history, strengthen their analytical writing, and expand the contours of their own fields. Graduate students will be prepared to: teach on the most recent studies of North and Sub-Saharan African history; more efficiently read and review academic texts; and carefully consider how they would frame, market, and detail their prospective dissertations as a potential book. This course is open to graduate student across departments.
The African continent may be the most diverse of all the continents in its composition of ethnic groups, social and kinship arrangements, belief systems, and political processes. Its cultures have been subjected to further transformation by different colonial governance structures, decolonial apparatuses, differing ideals of modernity, and differing interactions with religions like Christianity and Islam. However, with all the differences and transformations, what are the elements that tell us about societies across the continent? This course details various social and cultural systems, from a regional perspective, to provide background knowledge to help students develop their understanding of the many different societies on the continent. The regional focus is further divided by into topics such as kinship relations, governance, and religion. As each region and topic area is covered, students will begin to understand areas of intersection, fissures brought by modernity, bridges and divides across ethnicities and regions: Kinship This subsection of the course on kinship provides an analysis of how kinship theories of social formation can facilitate our understanding of the different dimensions of African social practices in historical and contemporary Africa. It propels students' understanding of multiple theories of kinship, with a focus on the relationships between kinship and life-span relations, pension sharing, circular migration, gender, politics, and patronage. Governance Most African countries, irrespective of their degree of economic sophistication, are characterized economically by dual forms of governance-one that derives its authority from the state and the other that may be construed as traditional. The traditional governance section of the course addresses three overarching questions: (1) Why have traditional institutions of governance remained relatively robust in post-independent Africa even when faced with relatively hostile governments? (2) What are the levels of adherence and allegiance of rural Africans to traditional institutions? and (3) How are disputes resolved within traditional institutions? Religion There are three dominant forms of religions in Africa: Christianity, Islam, and Traditional African religions. These practices of these religions were affected by the experiences of colonialism and postcolonialism as well as Africa's subsequent integration into the global economy. All of these religions are related to various forms of social organization, authority, and power and may vary between regions and ethnic groups.
AFR 527Migration, Urbanization, and Policy in the Developing World3
This course examines the dynamics of migration and urbanization processes, as well as their policy implications, in non-industrialized regions of the world.
AFR 530Perspectives on African Language Research in the Global South3
The innovations and challenges of the Global South extend beyond an agenda that redresses exclusions. Rather, these are deep-seated challenges to the core tenets of language research as well as new directions for theories and practices on language research in the Global South in general. A renewal of southern epistemologies requires an understanding of the absences such knowledge implies. To engage with the transformative potential of non-Eurocentric thinking, the course explores the relevance of a decolonial imagination that makes it possible to envisage an alternative reality and justice that engenders"radical hope." Topics central to the course are the decolonization of research methods, feministic perspectives on African languages, Southern Multilingualisms and education, digitization of African cultural practices, indigeneity, an engagement with "Indigenous cosmovisions," and reinvented traditional concepts, such as ubuntu or sumac kawsay, that suggest that the formation of other worlds is feasible. These newly reinvented cosmovisions render it feasible to move beyond the limitations of Western-centric politics and knowledge production. The course is far more than a critique of the Global North's scholarship. It will cultivate a decolonial imagination, consequently producing African language knowledge with the South, and not on the South.
An enquiry into the relationships between the environment, resource control, resource conservation, rurual livelihood systems and poverty in Africa. AFR 532 Environment and Livelihoods in Africa (3) The seminar examines the relationships among the environment, resource control, conservation and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Readings will allow students to develop a critical understanding of the ideology and epistemology of environmental management, resource control, rural development and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Students will be encouraged to interrogate modernist doctrines such as population-environment narratives, poverty-stewardship narratives and related environmental ideologies/narratives that embody sustainability and rural (under)development in sub-Saharan Africa. Through case study examples, students will use these conceptual foundations to trace the relationships between sustainability and poverty in a number of livelihood systems and resource control regimes. Some examples are resource (land/water) management between the state and nomadic pastoral systems; land reform and rural peasant livelihood systems; mining and rural livelihood systems; and national parks, trans-frontier parks and rural livelihood systems.
AFR 534Political Economy of Energy and Extractive Industries in Africa (Oil and Mining)3
Given the rising global demand for energy and resources, Africa's production of oil and solid minerals has already produced very significant positive as well as negative impacts on the continent's political, economic, and social conditions. This seminar examines the extractive industry-driven changes in Africa's political economy, as well as in the continent's foreign relations. Students will examine the institutional basis under which the expansion of the industry is taking place in Africa. This will involve discussions of the institutional characteristics of Africa, including issues of land tenure and property rights laws, how institutional systems are changing in order to facilitate the industry's expansion, and the repercussions of these changes upon society. The course also interrogates the relevance of international efforts to mitigate some of the adverse impacts of the industry. Among such efforts is the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. Overall this seminar examines the industry's impact on Africa's socioeconomic development and global relations, and concludes with how African countries might deal with the adverse impact of the Oil and Mining industry.
AFR 543Comparative and International Trends in Adult Literacy Education3
This course critically examines the broad contemporary issues and interdisciplinary trends of literacy education with an international and comparative framework. CI ED (ADTED/AFR) 543 Comparative and International Trends in Adult Literacy Education (3) This course provides a comparative synthesis of what is known about literacy education and adult learning and what it will mean for the 21st century: the context in which literacy takes place; who participates; what they learn and why; the nature of the learning processes; new approaches to adult learning; social media and mobile devices; development theory in adult learning; and other issues relevant to understanding literacy education and adult learning in sociocultural, political, and international contexts. It also examines the newer approaches to adult learning: embodied, spiritual and narrative learning; learning and knowing in non-western perspectives; and cultural theory, poststructural and feminist perspectives. This course investigates questions such as: What does it mean to be literate in the 21st century? Why are teachers experiencing difficulty teaching students skills needed to understand and produce written work? Can schools in the 21st century inundated with digital technologies help students navigate the new literacies? How should adult literacy participants deal with the reality of new media and new literacies? What is the role of non-governmental organizations in this crisis? Overall, this course challenges graduate students to engage other international and non-western frameworks of learning and knowing to think about the purpose of education and learning as well as question the nature of knowledge production itself.
African feminisms are deeply rooted in the continent's rich historical traditions and diverse cultural contexts. In this interdisciplinary graduate seminar, students will become familiar with the theoretical frameworks that guide African feminist scholarship, as well as the activist histories from which they emerged. This course will consider the epistemological foundations of African feminist thought and how they differ from feminisms in other parts of the world. This course will also examine key areas of conjuncture - how African feminisms map on to larger transnational movements. Particular emphasis will be placed on the fluidity of African gender systems, the ways in which African women have negotiated politics, religion, militarism, sexuality, and violence, and the role of creativity, art, and beauty in nurturing and sustaining activist momentum. Students in the course can expect to engage with a number of different types of texts: documentaries, feature films, memoirs, novels, newspapers, scholarly books, and articles.
Formal courses given on a topical or special interest subject which may be offered infrequently; several different topics may be taught in one year or semester.
