Global Arc

The seminar addresses the structural consequences and responses that African nations and communities developed upon their insertion into global political and economic practice and discourse. Africa's character prior to modern nationhood forms the backdrop to discussions of the development and utilization of social, political, and economic strategies for continued participation in global political and economic intercourse. Themes include: traditional religious practice and the church; global economic interactions; African interstate relations; governance, regime change, and elections; wars and displacement; and women in society.

This seminar will provide an understanding of contemporary Kenya in the context of its historical positioning and modern value to Western political interests, and how this position translates to livelihoods and aspirations of Kenyans. The first part will focus on 3 themes: 1) Kenya as home to earliest human origins; 2) Kenya's evolution as the "anti-socialism" capital of western capitalism in the region; 3) The country's central position in the anti-terrorism war between the west and middle east. We will problematize the image of corruption as the explanation to (under) development that the West paints Kenya and "Africa" as suffering from.

The United Republic of Tanzania is one of the best examples of how African states have struggled to reinvent themselves from a colonial experience and pursue a nationalistic development agenda. Tanzania's initial postcolonial trajectory attempted to ignore the power of neo-colonial capitalism, but failed due to both local and global forces. This course will explore the political, cultural, linguistic and economic experience of Tanzania since its colonization (first by Germany, and then by Britain after World War II), its postcolonial experiment with African Socialism through the cotemporary state of reinventing a new state and society.

Sub-Saharan Africa's record on the use of development aid has been at best mixed. It has received about $1 trillion in foreign assistance since 1960. In the early 1980s, three world regions, Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and Pacific, and South Asia had over 50% of their populations living in extreme poverty. Thirty odd years later, Sub-Saharan Africa's figures have barely shifted; they went down from 53% to only 47% in 2011. East Asia and Pacific, and South Asia regions also received substantial assistance and have significantly reduced extreme poverty among their populations. Critics of foreign assistance decry such assistance.

Little writing from Africa conforms to Western understandings of nature writing or mainstream environmentalism. But does that mean that African authors are disinterested in environmental questions? How do African authors represent their relationship to the land and non-human organisms? This seminar will explore acts of environmental imagination by African novelists from around the continent; organized roughly by biome. We will also discuss writerly approaches to environmental activism on the continent. The course will aid students ability to think, speak and write critically about African literature, the environment and relations of power.

In what ways can we understand the current circulation and influence of artistic scientific and technological forms between the West and Africa? Various literary and political movements such as Negritude and the Black Consciousness Movement shaped policies in Africa. Given the multidirectional flow of culture and technology, this seminar will examine: 1) The effect of the legacy of this literary and political movement on the African institutions. 2) Continent's struggle today through cultural expression such as musical styles, poetry, novel and visual art. 3) How immigrants contribute to these cultural expressions.

South Africa has one of the most extreme levels of inequality in the distribution of market income in the world, although this inequality is substantially reduced through a highly redistributive welfare state. In the first decades of apartheid, in the 1950s and 1960s, society was organized along strictly racial lines such that there was a close relationship between race and class. In the 1970s and 1980s, the relationship between race and class began to erode, and since the transition from apartheid to democracy, it has eroded further. The legacy of apartheid persists in many ways.

Africa today represents less than 2 percent of the world's GDP. The legacy of colonial rule has undoubtedly contributed to a slowdown in the international competitiveness of Africa. However, there are internal factors as well. Today, many countries are progressively shifting from a US-EU-Africa paradigm, to one that includes a larger proportion of alternative investors from the Middle-East, India, and China. This seminar will focus on the effect of the legacy of complex political intricacies and the ways in which Africa engages the world; and how African countries face and anticipate the challenges of globalization. One three-hour seminar.

This course will present an integrated perspective of science and technology in the developing work with a strong focus on Africa. It will examine the implications of science and technology for rural development, along with the potential technological solutions to problems of energy, water, transportation and affordable housing. In each of these areas, a holistic framework will be presented for the development of sustainable solutions. The cultural issues associated with technology diffusion will also be considered along with case studies that highlight the successful applications of technologies.

Designed to allow juniors and seniors enrolled in the program to examine significant problems in Africa in an interdisciplinary manner. Topics vary from year to year, reflecting faculty research interests. Prerequisite: one core course and one cognate course, or instructor's permission. Required of all program concentrators; open to others by permission of program director and course instructor.