Ang 5354 anthropology of modern africa

127 Little Hall 451 Grinter Hall

Section #5565 Office Hrs: Mon. 3-4 PM; Tues. 3-5 PM

credits: 3 and by appointment, 392-7201 (x 308)

This course is an advanced level study of African societies and cultures and focuses on traditional societies in the modern period; contemporary societies; and contemporary problems and trends. The course covers the following topics:

Conceptions and misconceptions about Africa;

Classification schemes (geographic, Africanity, civilizations; triple heritage);

Kinship and family;

Rural and urban economies;

Contemporary entrepreneurship

Environment and natural resource management;

Women farmers, women in development;

Religious and philosophical systems; religion and economic/business behavior;

Governance, political structures and authority; ethnic conflict and the new states;

Bureaucracies and corruption;

War and peace, refugees, human rights

South Africa: end of apartheid and contemporary problems

Health, sexuality, HIV/AIDS;

Population growth and urbanization.
In order to benefit from this course, it is necessary that students and the instructor alike become fully involved in it. The course will be taught ion a seminar manner, but will also use multimedia techniques, lectures, audiovisual materials, and student participation. The reading assignments are an integral part of the course and should be completed before coming to class.
Requirements:

(1) Participation, map quiz, and good spirits (10%)

(2) Paper assignment #1 on kinship and family using Davison, Gender, Lineage, and Ethnicity in Southern Africa (30%)

(3) Paper assignment #2 on economics and politics using McCaffey and Bazenguissa-Gango, Congo-Paris and Spring and McDade, African Entrepreneurship: Theory and Reality (30%)

(4) Paper #3 a topic of your choice relating to topics covered (30%)
Books (available at Goerings Bookstore; Reader available from Custom Copies)

1. Davison, Gender, Lineage, and Ethnicity in Southern Africa

2. McCaffey and Bazenguissa-Gango, Congo-Paris

3. Spring and McDade, African Entrepreneurship: Theory and Reality (see author about purchase)

4. Reader has 3 parts: Part 1-articles (including selections from 3 additional books),

Part 2 Workbook, Part 3 Peil and Oyeneye: Consensus, Conflict, and Change

5. Ramsey, Africa, 9th edition

COURSE OUTLINE BY TOPICS

R1 = Reader Part 1; R2 = Workbook Part 2; R3 = Peil and Oyeneye book
1. INTRODUCTION, GEOGRAPHY, CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES (AFRICANITY, CIVILIZATIONS OF AFRICA, THE TRIPLE HERITAGE), CLASS, DIFFERENTIATION

Multimedia presentations

Ramsey: familiarize yourself with the countries, Web sites, sections on the

various regions, pp. vii, 2-9, 11-15, 39-43, 83-89, 91-95, 127-129

Maps (1-11) and Multimedia lectures 1-4, R2

Peil and Oyeneye, chapters 1-4, 9, R3

2. 
   ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, RURAL ECONOMIES
   

Readings: Nyangoro, Africa’s Environmental Problems, R1

Thrupp and Green: Gender and Natural Resource Management, R1

Dorm-Adzobu &Ampadu-Agyeu: Reflection on Gender in Natural… R1

Huss-Ashmore, Perspectives on the African Food Crisis, R1

Picard: Listening to and Learning from African Women Farmers, R1

Prusher: Inside an African Famine, R1

du Guerny, AIDS and Agriculture in Africa, R1

Whyte, The Social and Cultural Contexts of Food Production, R1

News Article on Politics and the Economy (12), R2

Ramsey, Article #10
3. KINSHIP, FAMILY, AND AGING

Readings: Ssennyonga, Polygyny and Resource Allocation, R1

Edwards, Morality and Change: Family Unity and Parental Authority, R1

Cattell, The Discourse of Neglect: Family Support for the Elderly, R1

Hakansson and LeVine, Gender and Life Course Strategies, R1

Peil and Oyeneye, chapter 5, R3

Multimedia lecture 5, R2
4. EDUCATION, YOUTH, SEXUALITY, GENDER

Readings: O’Brien, A Lost Generation? Youth, Identity & State Decay, R1

Komba-Malekela and Liljestrom: Looking for Men, R1

Gordon, Women’s Responses to Capitalist Development & Patriarchy, R1

Ogden, Producing Respect, Proper Woman in Postcolonial Kampala, R1

Peil and Oyeneye, chapter 6, R3

News Articles on Family, Sexuality, Gender…(1-5), R2

Ramsey, …Internet, Article #5

Readings: Moyo, Religion in Africa, R1

Ntukula, The Initiation Rite, R1

Masquelier, Identity, Alterity and Ambiguity, R1

Fisiy and Geschiere, Witchcraft, Violence and Identity, R1

Multimedia lectures 6-8, R2

Peil and Oyeneye, chapter 7, R3
6. GOVERNANCE, CORRUPTION, ETHNICITY, IDENTITY, HUMAN RIGHTS

Readings: Mbaku, Institutions and Reform in Africa, R1

Eames, Navigating Nigerian Bureaucracies, R1

O’Brien, A Lost Generation? Youth, Identity and State Decay, R1

Amadiume, Daughters…, Corrupt First Ladies, R1

Selections from Global Studies, R1

Spring and McDade, chapter 2, 10, 13

News Articles Human Rights (12-18); Politics & the Economy (1-11), R2

multimedia presentation

Spring and McDade, chapters 1, 3, 5, 11, 12, 15

Spring, Traders versus the New Generation of African Entrepreneurs

(article to be handed out)

Peil and Oyeneye, chapters 8, 10, 11, R3

8. WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT

Slides: Gender Issues in Agriculture--Malawi and Ethiopia

Readings: Spring, chapters, 1, 2, 8-11

Dixon and Picard, as above, R1

Gordon: Women’s Responses to Capitalist Development, R1

Spring and McDade, chapters 6, 7, 15

Readings: du Guerny, AIDS and Agriculture in Africa, R1

Gordon: Population Urbanization and AIDS, R1

McFadden: Sex, Sexuality and the Problem of AIDS in Africa, R1

Spring and McDade, chapter 8

News Articles on Family…Health (6-7), R2

Ramsey articles #1, 8
10. WAR AND PEACE, REFUGEES

multimedia presentation (Weak States)

Thompson, Coping with Chronic Complex Emergencies, R1

Multimedia lectures 9, R2

Ramsey articles #6, 7, 9, 13, 14

Readings: Furlong, South Africa, R1

The Economist, Africa's Great Black Hope, R1

Eades, Challenges of a New Democracy, R1

Bratton: After Mandela's Miracle in South Africa, R1

Spring and McDade, chapters 4, 16

News Articles on South Africa (1-11), R2
12. TECHNOLOGY: CELL PHONES, INTERNET (WEB SITES)

GEOGRAPHICAL POINTS


RIVERS LAKES

Congo (Zaire) Victoria

Volta Chad

Zambezi Tanganyika

Niger Malawi

Blue Nile Turkana

White Nile

Orange

Gambia

Sahara Kenya

Namib Kilimanjaro

Kalahari Cameroon

Atlas
MISC. LARGE CITIES (not capitals)

Zimbabwe Casablanca Morocco

Rift Valley Ibadan Nigeria

Cape of Good Hope Lagos Nigeria

Sahel (Mauritania, Senegal Kumasi Ghana

Mali, Upper Volta Mombasa Kenya

Niger, Chad) Johannesburg South Africa

Cape Town South Africa

Lubumbashi Congo

COUNTRIES AND CAPITALS
East West

1. Kenya--Nairobi 28. Mauritania--Nouakchott

2. Uganda--Kampala 29. Senegal--Dakar

3. Tanzania--Dar-es-Salaam 30. Gambia--Banjul

4. Rwanda--Kigali 31. Guinea--Conakry

5. Burundi--Bujumbura 32. Sierra Leone--Freetown

33. Liberia--Monrovia

34. Cote d'Ivoire --Abidjan

36. Togo--Lome

6. Ethiopia--Addis Ababa 37. Benin--Porto-Novo

7. Somalia--Mogadishu 38. Nigeria--Abuja

8. Djibouti--Djibouti 39. Cameroon--Yaounde

9. Eritrea--Asmara 40. Mali--Bamako

41. Niger--Naimey

CENTRAL 42. Burkina Faso--Ouagadougou

43. Guinea-Bissau--Bissau

10. Chad-Ndjamena

11. C.A.R.--Bangui

12. Gabon--Libreville NORTH

13. Congo, Republic of--Brazzaville

14. Equatorial Guinea--Malabo 44. Morocco--Rabat

15. Congo (Zaire)--Kinshasa 45. Algeria--Algiers

16. Sudan--Khartoom 46. Tunisia--Tunis

47. Libya--Tripoli and Benghazi

48. U.A.R. (Egypt)--Cairo

49. Western Sahara--El Aiun

17. Angola--Luanda

18. Zambia--Lusaka ISLANDS

19. Malawi--Lilongwe

20. Zimbabwe--Harare 50. Cape Verde--Praia

21. Botswana--Gabarone 51. Comoro Islands--Moroni

22. Namibia--Windhoek 52. Mauritius--Port Louis

23. South Africa--Pretoria 53. Reunion--Saint-Denis

24. Lesotho--Maseru 54. Sao Tome and Principe-Sao Tome

25. Swaziland--Mbabane 55. Seychelles--Victoria

26. Mozambique--Maputo

27. Madagascar--Antananarive