African Studies Center

University of Pennsylvania
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Fall 2014 Course List
Course Name Course # Section Cross– Listings Type Instructor Fulfills Meeting Time CU's Notes
Hearing Africa: Old & New Diasporas In this seminar you will learn the history and culture of gospel music as an African American and contemporary African musical form. You will come to know gospel music as a written, recorded, and living musical tradition, thorugh close listening, reading and writing about, the music; and you will participate in a class research project with Philadelphia based gospel musicians. AFST 016 401 AFRC 016 MUSC 016 Sem Muller Freshmen Seminar TR 12-1:30pm 1
Black Cityscapes This seminar examines fiction and films set in cities including Dakar, Palmares, Kingston, Paris, Bulawayo, Algiers, London, and Johannesburg. In each text experiences of urban space are central. We will consider what is unique about cities in the African diaspora and in Africa, and what may or may not justify calling metropolitan cities like Philadelphia part of the African diaspora. In addition to analyzing texts in the classroom we will engage with Penn’s neighborhood, West Philadelphia, where emerging relationships between recent blackimmigrants and the historical African American culture(s) of this city reveal new aspects of “diaspora.” We will draw upon critical essays on geography and space by authors such as Henri Lefèbvre, David Harvey, Achille Mbembe, Arjun Appadurai, Édouard Glissant, Brent Hayes Edwards as we work out our own definition(s) of a "cityscape."  ENGL 016 401 AFRC 016 Sem Jaji Freshmen Seminar  TR 12-1:30pm 1
World Music & Cultures This course examines how we as consumers in the Western world engage with musical difference largely through the products of the global entertainment industry. We examine music cultures in contact in a variety of ways-particularly as traditions in transformation once it is removed, and recontextualized in a variety of ways. The purpose of the course is to enable students to become informed and critical consumers of World Music by telling a sereis of stories about particular recordings made with, or using the music of, peoples culturally and geographically different from the US. Students come to understand that not all music downloads containing music from unfamiliar places are the same, and that particular recordings may be embedded in intriguing and controversial narratives of production and consumption. At the very least students should emerge from the class with a clear understanding that the production, distribution, and consumption of world music is rarely a neutral process. AFST 050 401 AFRC 050 ANTH 022 FOLK 022 MUSC 050 Lec Sykes Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
MW 2-3:30pm 1
AFST 050 402 AFRC 050 ANTH 022 FOLK 022 MUSC 050 Lec Staff Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
MWF 10-11am 1
AFST 050 403 AFRC 050 ANTH 022 FOLK 022 MUSC 050 Lec Staff Cross Cultural Analysis
Arts & Letters Sector
MWF 11am-12pm 1
Sounding Poetry: Music/Lit Never before has poetry been so inescapable. Hip hop, the soundtrack of our times, has made rhyme, meter, and word-play part of our daily lives. How did this happen? This course begins not on the page, but in the bardictraditions of Homer's Iliad, which encoded many of the values of its time in oral formulas. Poetry was, however, no mere encyclopedia, but also a source of risk, as we will read in Plato's warning against its hypnotic powers. Where has oral poetry led us? We turn our attention to living epics of West African singing poets (griots) and Southern African praise songs, and how these oral traditions inform contemporary writers. We ask similar questions about what traces of these traditions we hear in the blues. We will listen to early blues recordings and discuss the politics of collecting folklore, and the work of modernists Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound and Georgia Douglas Johnson who all brought vernacular speech onto the page and experimented with making the ancient new. Following their innovations we will read and listen to a number of 20th century poets inspired when page meets stage in experimental sound poetry, jazz poetry, dub poetry, spoken word, and hip hop. ENGL 054 401 AFRC 054, COML 054 Lec Jaji Arts & Letters Sector TR 3-4:30pm 0  
Africa Since 1800Survey of major themes, events, and personalities in African history from the early nineteenth century through the 1960s. Topics include abolition of the slave trade, European imperialism, impact of colonial rule, African resistance, religious and cultural movements, rise of naturalism and pan-Africanism, issues of ethnicity and tribalism in modern Africa. AFST 076 401 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Lec Cassanelli Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
MW 12-1pm 0 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 402 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Staff Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
F 11am-12pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 403 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Staff Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
F 11am-12pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 404 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Staff Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
F 12-1pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 405 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Staff Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
F 12-1pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 406 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Staff Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
R 4:30-5:30pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 407 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Staff Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
R 4:30-5:30pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
AFST 076 408 AFRC 076 HIST 076 Rec Cassanelli Hist & Trad Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
R 12-1pm 1 Registration required for Lec, Rec
Africa in World HistoryFreshman Seminar: Africa in World History<span class="courseDesc">This seminar examines Africa connections--economic, political, intellectual and cultural--with the wider world from ancient times to the 21st century, drawing on a diverse sample of historical sources. It also explores Africa's place in the imaginations of outsiders from ancient Greeks to modern-day development 'experts'. Whether you know a lot or almost nothing about the continent, the course will get you to rethink your stereotypes and to question your assumptions about the importance of Africa in world history HIST 106 301   Sem Cassanelli   MW 3:30-5   Fulfills: Freshmen Seminar
Introduction to AfricaDuring the semester we will focus on people and communties of sub-Saharan Africa and on the ways people represent, reflect on, and react to various aspects and issues in their lives and the institutions which dominate their communities. We will focus particularly on the history, contemporary expression, and inter-relationships among politics, religion, and aesthetic practice. Members of Penn's African Studies community will share their expertise with the class and introduce the University's Africa resources. Texts consist of weekly readings, films, and recordings; and class members will be expected to attend several lectures outside of class. AFST 190 401 AFRC 190 ANTH 190 Lec Hasty Society Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis
TR 12-1:30pm 1
Storytelling in AfricaThe course focuses on oral narrative performance, sung and spoken, in both rural and urban communities of sub-Saharan Africa. Topics include storytellers’ rhetorical skills, social positions, and life histories; audiences’ engagement and evaluation of good performance; and processes of signification and interpretation. Issues related to representation and translation are raised as written texts, even transcribed verbatim, are pale shadows of the vibrant, emergent performances in which storytellers employ gestural, facial, musical, spatial, and paralinguistic devices. Further, the course considers influences of oral storytelling on written literature, popular theater, and cinema in Africa. AFST 224 601 Sem Blakely Cross Cultural Analysis T 4:30-7:30pm 1 LPS Course
Religion & Colonial Rule Africa AFST 232 402 HIST 232 Sem Babou Cross Cultural Analysis R 1:30-4:30pm 1
Youth and Democracy in Africa AFST 266 401 AFRC 267, ANTH 266 Sem Reed   MW 3:30-5 1
Contemp Issues Afr SocietyThis course engages with the debate on whether Africa's problems are a result of past and present exploitation by the Western World or a result of poor leadership and decisions made by post-independence African leaders.It starts with a historical overview of the legacies slavery and colonialism and moves into discussing issues in contemporary Africa. We shall investigate several key issues currently occuring in African countries such as the challenges of grwoth and corresponding reduction in poverty and inequality, political governance, ehtnic conflicts and the rise of radical Islam, urbanization and its attendant problems, helath issues with a specific focus on aids and hunger, the rise of Pentacostal Christianity and it transnational nature, the links betwen migration, remittances, and development, and the experiences of the African diaspora in the United States, etc. We shall conclude by discussing how African countries can move forward in an increasingly globalized world of which Africa is a large part. Films and other media shall be incorporated into class lectures. AFST 268 401 AFRC 268 SOCI 268 Sem Imaogene T 1:30-4:30pm 1
Islam and Society in Africa HIST 275 402 Sem Babou R 0130PM-0430PM 1  
Sustainable Dev in GhanaThis course is mandatory for students participating in the International Development Summer Institute (IDSI). IDSI is a service learning and training program for undergraduates that provides students with the opportunity to have an applied learning and cultural experience in Ghana. The program consists of 5 weeks of pre-program preparation at Penn and a 4-week long training program on the campus of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. AFST 296 401 Sem Markovits TBA 1 Department permission needed.
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Old EgyptianThis course is an introduction to the language of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The grammar of the period will be introduced during the early part of the semester, using Ededl's ALTAGYPTISCHE GRAMMATIK as the basic reference. Other grammatical studies to be utilized will include works by Allen, Baer, Polotsky,Satzinger, Gilula, Doret, and Silverman. The majority of time in the course will be devoted to reading varied textual material: the unpublished inscriptions in the tomb of the Old Kingdom offical Kapure--on view in the collection of the University Museum; several autobiographical inscriptions as recorded by Sethe in URKUNDEN I; and a letter in hieratic (Baer, ZAS 93, 1966, 1-9). AFST 563 401 ANEL 563 Lec Silverman MW 3:30-5pm 1
History of African Political Economy

AFRC 589

 

401 HIST650
AFST592
Sem Young R 0300PM-0600PM    
Africa at a CrossroadsHow did Pan-African, Pan-Arab, and non-aligned movements affect the political choices and strategies of African leaders? In what ways did movements against white minority rule in Zimbabwe and South Africa differ? What caused the politicization of ethnicity in many African countries? What were the implications of structural adjustment and multi-party democracy on African countries in the 1980s and 1990s? These are some of the many questions that we will ask in "Africa at a Crossroads: 50 Years of Independence." In this course, students will study the history of decolonization, independence, and Pan-African movements in Sub-Saharan Africa and their implications in light of recent current events. Among many topics, we will examine: the rise of anti-colonial movements after World War II; decolonization in the 1960s; the rise of one-party states; the "late" decolonization of Portuguese and southern Africa; the transition towards multi-party democracy; the implications of neo-liberalism; the causes and consequences of political ethnicity; and the rise of trans-national religious movements. We will study a diverse array of case studies from different countries on the continent, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, Somalia, and Rwanda. Students will be expected to do an independent research project on a case-study of their choice that intersects with the major themes of the course. AFST 650 402 HIST 650 Sem Weitzberg      W 5-8pm  1 Undergrads need permission
International Social Work: Practicing in the Global South This course will introduce students to societal problems in the developing world; familiarize them wth global professions in social work, education, public health, etc.; and prepare them for overseas/cross-cultural practice. Through the course students will identify numerous strategies and skills social workers and other professionals have used to to collaboratively build interventions within the social welfare, education, health care and sustainable community development arenas. This interdisciplinary course will expose students to alternative views of development as they relate to individual, interpersonal, family, community, societal and international change.Students will learn about the history of specific global problems and iniatives aimed at resolution. Students will explore a specific development issue within a country and community, i.e. human trafficking, disaster relief, water & sanitation, women's empowerment, microfinance, etc... AFST 798 402 SWRK 798 Lec Shown W 4-6:30pm 1
Ind. Study: Language AFST 990 0 Ind Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Independent Study AFST 999 0 Ind Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Languages
Course Name Course # Section Cross– Listings Type Instructor Fulfills Meeting Time CU's Notes
Afrikaans
Elementary Afrikaans I AFST 490 686 Lec Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Intermediate Afrikaans I AFST 492 686 Lec Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Advanced Afrikaans I AFST 494 686 Lec Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Amharic
Elementary Amharic I AFST 240 680 AFRC 240 AFRC 540 AFST 540 NELC 481 Lec Hailu MW 5:30-7:30pm 1
Intermediate Amharic I AFST 242 680 AFRC 242 AFRC 543 AFST 543 NELC 483 Lec Hailu TR 7:30-9pm 1 Prior language experience required
Advanced Amharic I AFST 247 680 AFRC 247 AFRC 548 AFST 547 Lec Zemichael Cross Cultural Analysis TR 4-6pm 1 Prior language experience required
Amharic Language & Culture I AFST 249 680 Lec Hailu Cross Cultural Analysis MW 7:30-9:30pm 1 Canceled
Chichewa
Elementary Chichewa I AFST 490 688 Lec Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Intermediate Chichewa I AFST 492 688 Lec Staff TBA 1 Department permission needed
Advanced Chichewa I AFST 494 688 Lec Staff Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 Department permission needed
Igbo
Elementary Igbo I AFST 490 681 Lec Nwadiora TR 5-7pm 1 Department permission needed
Intermediate Igbo I AFST 492 681 Lec Nwadiora MW 5-7 PM 1 Department permission needed
Advanced Igbo I AFST 494 681 Lec Nwadiora Cross Cultural Analysis TR 7-9pm 1 Department permission needed
Igbo Language & Culture AFST 496 681 Lec Nwadiora Cross Cultural Analysis MW 7-9pm 1 Department permission needed
Malagasy
Elementary Malagasy I AFST 490 680 Lec Winterton TR 7-9pm 1 Department permission needed
Intermediate Malagasy I AFST 492 680 Lec Winterton TBA 1 Department permission needed
MANINKA
Elementary Maninka I AFST 490 687 LEC Traore TBA 1 Department permission needed
Intermediate Maninka I AFST 492 687 LEC Traore TBA 1 Department permission needed
Advanced Maninka I AFST 494 687 LEC Traore Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 Department permission needed
Sudanese Arabic
Sudanese Arabic I AFST 548 680 ARAB 548 Lec Ali-Dinar TR 12-2pm 1
Swahili
Elementary Swahili I AFST 180 680 AFST 180 AFRC 180 Lec Mshomba TR 12-2pm 1
Intermediate Swahili I AFST 280 680 AFST 580 AFRC 280 Lec Mshomba TR 10:30am-12pm, F 3-4pm 1 Prior language experience required
Advanced Swahili I AFST 284 680 AFST 584 AFRC 284 Lec Mshomba Cross Cultural Analysis TR 9-10:30am, F 4-5pm 1 Prior language experience required
Swahili Language & Culture I AFST 484 680 Lec Mshomba Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 4th Year Language Instruction
TIGRINYA
Elementary Tigrinya I AFST 490 683 Lec Zemichael TR 6:30-8:30pm 1 Department permission needed
Intermediate Tigrinya I AFST 492 683 Lec Zemichael TR 4:30-6:30pm 1 Department permission needed
Advanced Tigrinya I AFST 494 683 Lec Zemichael Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 Department permission needed
TWI
Elementary Twi I AFST 160 680 AFST 562 AFRC 162 Lec Donkoh TR 4:30-6:30pm 1
Intermediate Twi I AFST 262 680 AFST 566 Lec Donkoh TR 6:30-8:30pm 1 Prior language experience required
Advanced Twi I AFST 362 680 AFST 568 Lec Donkoh Cross Cultural Analysis TR 2:30-4:30 1 Prior language experience required
Wolof
Elementary Wolof I AFST 490 682 Lec Mbacke MW 5-7pm 1 Permission needed from department
Intermediate Wolof I AFST 492 682 Lec Mbacke TBA 1 Permission needed from department
Advanced Wolof I AFST 494 682 Lec Mbacke Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 Permission needed from department
Yoruba
Elementary Yoruba I AFST 170 680 AFRC 170 AFST 517 Lec Awoyale MW 5-7pm 1
Intermediate Yoruba I AFST 270 680 AFRC 270 Lec Awoyale TR 3-5, 7-9pm 1 Prior language experience required
Advanced Yoruba I AFST 370 680 AFST 587 Lec Awoyale Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 Prior language experience required
Yoruba Language & Culture AFST 486 680 Lec Awoyale Cross Cultural Analysis TBA 1 Canceled
Zulu
Elementary Zulu I AFST 150 680 AFRC 151 AFST 552 Lec Mbeje MW 3-5pm 1
Intermediate Zulu I AFST 250 680 AFST 552 Lec Mbeje TR 3-5pm 1 Prior language experience required
Advanced Zulu I AFST 350 680 AFST 554 Lec Mbeje Cross Cultural Analysis TR 1-3:30pm 1 Prior language experience required
Zulu Language & Culture I AFST 450 680 Lec Mbeje TBA 1 4th Year Language Instruction

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