Africa in Global Context

ANSO290: Africa in Global Context Spring 2017 Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:10 pm – 2:00 pm Dewing Hall 311 Professor: Matthew Thomann, PhD Contact Info: [email protected], (269) 337-7363, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Dewing Hall, 309 Office hours: Tuesdays 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm, Thursdays 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm ANSO103 Overview: This course is designed to introduce students to the diversity of peoples on the continent of Africa and the ways that groups of people negotiate their identities and roles in the ever-shifting contexts of culture change and globalization. We will begin with a critical examination of the ways that Africa and African peoples have been and continue to be represented in the global North and discuss what those representations mean for our own understandings and assumptions. We will then spend the bulk of the term working to understand the complexity of contemporary issues facing African peoples. Through lectures, readings, discussions and analyses of the news, students will grapple with the historical, cultural and political-economic nature of specific contemporary issues. It is hoped that students will come away from this course with an appreciation for the richness and diversity of the continent, a critical analysis of the neoliberal political-economic structures governing national and international policy, and a heightened ability to sort through the versions of Africa which we encounter here, in Africa, or via other people's accounts. Required Texts: Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind, 3rd Edition, by Curtis Keim. Westview Press, 2013. Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World, by James Ferguson. Duke University Press, 2006. Making War in Côte d’Ivoire, by Mike McGovern. University of Chicago Press, 2011. HIV Exceptionalism: Development through Disease in Sierra Leone, by Adia Benton. University of Minnesota Press, 2015. In-Class Films: Run (Côte d’Ivoire) Fire in the Blood (US) Bamako (Mali) Grading Scale: 92 – 100% 90 – 91% 88 – 89% 82 – 87% A AB+ B 80 – 81% 78 – 79% 72 – 77% 70 – 71% BC+ C C- 68 – 69% 62 – 67% 60 – 61% below 60% D+ D DF Evaluation in this course is based on the following criteria: Active in-class participation (10%). Because I highly value student voice and see this as an important part of the learning process, you will be evaluated on your in-class participation. This requires regular attendance (see below). A half point is possible per class for a total of 10 points (1 x 10). You earn points for being prepared and ready to contribute, earning an 85% (B). “A” grades for participation will be earned by students who consistently contribute to class discussion and demonstrate in-depth interaction with the readings. Images of Africa Assignment (20%). On Tuesday of week 2 you are to bring to class 2 media images of Africa. Be prepared to display and discuss your images in class. On Thursday of week 2, a two-page (double spaced) analysis of the two images is due, incorporating material from our class discussion and from Mistaking Africa. News Notebooks (30%). Beginning in Week 4 and continuing through Week 8, students will hand in news notebooks in which news connected to a weekly theme will be discussed and analyzed using class material. News notebooks will be due on Tuesday and should be approximately 500 words in length. Discussions of your notebooks will kick off each week. Map Quizzes (15%). On three randomly selected days during the quarter there will be a quiz on the map of Africa. Critical Reflection Essay (25%). A 5-6 page (double-spaced) critical reflection essay will be due on Thursday of Week 10. This will be an opportunity to reflect on, capture and demonstrate your learning from the course. A more detailed prompt for this essay will be forthcoming. Attendance: It is my hope that this course will be engaging, dynamic and useful for students. Participation is a major component of the final grade and one must be in attendance in order to participate in class discussion. Note that many of our class discussions will go beyond what we’ve read for that day, making connections to broader topics and themes within the course. You will be expected to apply these discussions of theory in your response papers and your research paper. To this end, please make every attempt to come to class each day. If you have a major medical problem or family concern that requires you to miss more than one class, please provide documentation and we will do our best to help you stay involved. Additionally, please make every effort to come to class on time so as to avoid disturbing the class discussion. Leaving early is also disruptive, so please limit bathroom breaks and leave class early only when absolutely necessary. Statement on Academic Integrity: This course operates under the College Honor System. That means: we treat each other with respect, we nurture independent thought, we take responsibility for personal behavior, and we accept environmental responsibility. Academic honesty is a critical part of our value system at K. When you borrow an idea, either express it in your own words, thus thinking it through and making it your own, and acknowledge the borrowing in a note, or, in certain situations, use the exact words of the source in quotation marks and acknowledge with a note. Ideas raised in class are public domain and need not be acknowledged. If you are ever in doubt about this, you must ask. Students with Disabilities: Any student with a learning difference who needs an accommodation or other assistance in this course should make an appointment to speak with me as soon as possible. Academic Resource Centers: The Academic Resource Centers (ARCs) are dedicated to the idea of students helping students to raise academic achievement. Students who study in pairs or small groups tend to learn more and perform better than students who study in isolation. The ARCs capitalize on the strength of peer collaboration by hiring students who have distinguished themselves in math, writing, science or library research to work with other students in these areas. Experienced students are an excellent resource. Because they remember what it was like to learn the material, they are adept at perceiving points of confusion and explaining difficult concepts. In addition, students who seek help from their peers tend to feel less intimidated about asking questions because of the inherent equality in the peer relationship. The ARCs currently offer peer assistance in math, physics, writing, biology, chemistry and library research. There is also support for English as a Second Language. Centers provide a quiet place to study as well as find help. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly these peer assistance services are available to all students at no cost. Locations: English as a Second Language—Learning Commons (Upjohn Library) Writing Center—Learning Commons (Upjohn Library) Library Research—Learning Commons (Upjohn Library) Policies and Procedures: 1. I will take 1/3 of a letter grade for each day an assignment is late. 2. Students are welcome to use their laptops to take notes. Please do not mess around on Facebook or other sites. If I find this to be the case I will ask students to no longer bring their laptops. 3. Respect others perspectives and viewpoints. I will not tolerate put downs or disrespectful language. 4. Listen to each other! We need not always raise our hands in a class like this but we will not speak over one another. 5. Come to class prepared to discuss the readings for the week. This is an important part of your participation grade. 6. If you are having trouble grasping course concepts or readings, notify me early through email or in-person during my office hours. SCHEDULE OF CLASS DISCUSSIONS AND READINGS Part 1: Establishing Foundations: Perceptions and Representations Week 1 Class 1 (3/28): Course Introduction - In-Class Video: The Danger of a Single Story, TedTalk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Class 2 (3/30): - Read Keim, Parts 1-2 (pgs. 3-107) - Read Wainaina, B. (2005). How to Write About Africa. Granta. https://granta.com/Magazine/92/How-to-Write-about-Africa/Page-1 - In-Class Video: BBC Audio Slideshow: Mapping Africa, Cliff Pereira and Zagba Oyortey, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12675464) Week 2 Class 3 (4/4): - Read Keim, Part 3 (pgs. 107-166) - Read Conrad, J. (1899). Heart of Darkness, Part 1 (pgs. 1-62) - Flynn, G. and S. Scuti (2014). Smuggled Bushmeat is Ebola’s Back Door to America. Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2014/08/29/smuggledbushmeat-ebolas-back-door-america-265668.html - Hogenboom, M. (2014). Ebola: Is bushmeat behind the outbreak? BBC News. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29604204 - McGovern, M. (2014). Bushmeat and the Politics of Disgust. Cultural Anthropology. https://culanth.org/fieldsights/588-bushmeat-and-the-politics-ofdisgust - Africa in contemporary media: Bring 2 contemporary media images of Africa to class Class 4 (4/6): - Read Conrad, Part 2-3 (pgs. 63-162) - Read Achebe, C. (1977) An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'. Massachusetts Review (18) (pgs. 251-261) - Images essay due Part 2: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order Week 3 Class 5 (4/11): - Read Ferguson, Introduction & ch. 1 - Read Mbembe, A. (2001). On the Postcolony. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 1-23 (Introduction). Class 6 (4/13): - Read Ferguson, ch. 2-3 - In-Class Video: African Postcolonial Development, TedTalk by Fatoumata Waggeh Week 4 Class 7 (4/18): - Read Ferguson, ch. 4 - News Notebook due (Theme: NGOs) Class 8 (4/20): - Read Ferguson, ch. 6-7 Part 3: Development and Global Health Week 5 Class 9 (4/25): - Read Benton, Introduction & Ch. 1-2 - Read Trouillot, M. The Anthropology of the State in the Age of Globalization: Close Encounters of the Deceptive Kind. Current Anthropology 42(1): 125-138. - News Notebook due (Theme: Development) Class 10 (4/27): - Read Benton, Ch. 3-4 - In-class Film: Fire in the Blood Week 6 Class 11 (5/2): - Read Benton, Ch. 5 & Conclusion - News Notebook due (Theme: Health) Class 12 (5/4): - In-Class Film: Bamako Part 4: Politics, Conflict, and Belonging Week 7 Class 13 (5/9): - Read McGovern, Ch. 1-3 - Read Maalki, L.H. (1995). Purity and Exile: Violence, Memory, and National Cosmology among Hutu Refugees in Tanzania. Chicago: Chicago University Press. pp. 52-104 (Chapter 2 “The Mythico-History”). [Moodle]. - News Notebook due (Theme: Conflict) Class 14 (5/11): - Read McGovern, Ch. 4-5 Week 8 Class 15 (5/16): - Read McGovern, Ch. 6-Afterward - News Notebook due (Theme: Africa is a Country) Class 16 (5/18): - In-Class Film: Run Part 5: Reconstructing Images and Ideas of Africa Week 9 Class 17 (5/23): - Read Keim, Part 4 - Appiah, K.A. (2010). Europe Upside Down: Fallacies of the New Afrocentrism. In Perspectives on Africa. Pp. 48-52. http://www.aei.org/publication/fallacies-ofeurocentrism-and-afrocentrism/ - Jentzch, C. (2013). “Africa is finally seizing control of its image” – but which Africa and which image”? http://africasacountry.com/2013/07/africa-is-finallyseizing-control-of-its-image-but-which-africa-and-which-image/ - In-Class Video: The Hip Hop Generation in in Africa: Ghana’s Hip Life and Ivory Coast’s Coupé Décalé, AfroPop WorldWide Class 18 (5/25): - Read Tadjo, V. (2009). Queen Pokou. Ayebia Clarke Publishing. Week 10 Class 19 (5/30): - TBA Class 20 (6/1): - TBA - Semester Wrap Up - Critical Reflection Essay due