Global Arc

This second-year Swahili course focuses on enhancing the communicative skills acquired in the first year. Instruction emphasizes reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The course infuses cultural and sociopolitical aspects of life in East Africa with more complex grammatical concepts such as the subjunctive, grammar infixes, and relative clauses. Prerequisites: SWA 101 and 102, or instructor's permission. Four classes.

The course is a continuation of content covered in Beginning Swahili 1&2 as taught in Princeton. Being on-site in a Swahili speaking environment, special emphasis is placed on immersion into the culture so that students can practice speaking and performing cultural functions that they learned in beginning level Swahili. Students who complete SWA 105K in Kenya will be eligible to enroll in SWA 107 when they return to campus in the fall.

Emphasizes conversational fluency and increased facility in reading and writing skills while introducing students to Swahili literature. This literature forms the basis for a survey of cultural issues and more advanced grammar. Students will be able to understand and analyze the main ideas and significant details of materials in Swahili such as media articles, short stories, poetry, short novels, films, and plays. Covers advanced-level Swahili grammar, as well as the development of expository writing skills. Prerequisite: SWA 105, or instructor's permission. Four classes.

This course is an introduction to the basics of literature and their application to literature in Kiswahili. Content will focus on understanding the basic vocabulary and concepts used in describing literary theory and criticism in Kiswahili language. Students will read selected materials on literary theory and criticism written in Kiswahili as well as sample Swahili texts from the various genres (novel, drama, and poetry) to gain understanding of the nature of literature written in Kiswahili.

This course examines the genre of drama & performance in the literary tradition of the Swahili speaking communities of east Africa. It will focus on the origins of African drama in the epic & ritual traditions, to contemporary playwrights, as well as the sociopolitical & theoretical realities that have informed the current face of dramatic texts in Kiswahili. Readings will include writings on the pre-colonial performance traditions of the East African peoples, the role of the colonial experience & the politics of the post-colony in contemporary plays, & the effect of general theoretical trends on writing and performing drama in Kiswahili.

Although the novel is the youngest genre in the Swahili critical tradition, it has experienced some of the most revolutionary and innovative experimentations since it gained mainstream prominence in Swahili literature, mainly during the post-colonial/independence literary revolution. This course is a reading of the Kiswahili novel with a critical analysis of the socio-political and critical trends in the literary world that have influenced the writings of contemporary Swahili novelists. The colonial/independence and post independence experience in east Africa are some of the motifs that inform the course readings and class discourse.

Examines the rich tradition of poetry in Swahili ranging from pre-20th century classical poetry to contemporary trends. A critical exploration of the classical verse forms such as tenzi will inform subsequent analysis of contemporary materials, representing among them innovative re-appropriations of time-honored techniques as well as pioneering experiments in free verse and the critical debates associated with this poetic experience. Readings will include works by classical, colonial, and post-colonial poets.

This is an introductory course to Swahili culture. You will learn who the Swahili people were and who they have become, who they are not, and what the term 'Swahili' may refer to. This is a multidisciplinary course that will be sourced from different texts, newspapers, booklets, films, music videos, pictures, guest presentations, handouts, web sites, and a taste of Swahili cuisine. Through these you will get a bird's eye view of the East African people as well as some other Swahili speaking groups and their cultures.

This course approaches drawing as a way of thinking and seeing. Students will be introduced to a range of drawing issues, as well as a variety of media, including charcoal, graphite, ink, and oil stick. Subject matter includes still life, the figure, landscape, and architecture. Representation, abstraction, and working from imagination will be explored. A structured independent project will be completed at the end of the term. Two studio classes, five hours total per week.

This course approaches drawing as a way of thinking and seeing. Students will be introduced to a range of drawing issues, as well as a variety of media, including charcoal, graphite, ink, and oil stick. Subject matter includes still life, the figure, landscape, and architecture. Representation, abstraction, and working from imagination will be explored. A structured independent project will be completed at the end of the term. Two studio classes, five hours total per week.