Cultural, historical, and geographical issues of African Studies (AFST 250_V 101)
Instructor: Dr. Justice Gbolonyo
TERM 1: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 2:00pm-3:30pm
This course provides an ethnographic and ethnological survey of Sub-Saharan African peoples and culture. It highlights the change and the resistance to change in the period since the age of exploration through the Berlin Conference of 1885, which redrew the map of Africa to serve the needs of European nations, but it also gives an in-depth look at Africa’s geography including its ecology as well as its ‘traditional’ cultures. The effect of the colonial period upon contemporary economic, political, and socio-cultural development within the context of globalization is examined through a variety of literature, film, music, and field notes. The general focus is on relations between humans and the environment, between cultures, and within societies.
Beginners Swahili I (SWAH 101_V 101)
TERM 1: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Skills in listening to and speaking Swahili, a major language of Africa and one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Emphasizes everyday vocabulary, core grammar, use in context, and connections between the language and African cultures.
Topics in African Studies (AFST 350_V 201)
Instructor: Dr. Justice Gbolonyo
TERM 2: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 3:30pm – 5:00pm
Perspectives in Contemporary African Studies: The Politics of Representation, Identity, Development, and Popular Culture
This course is a multi-media class that delve into a variety of topics in popular culture, modern African political, ethnomusicology and postcolonial history all delivered through modern African popular music, documentary/film studies and critical theory from and about 20th century Africa to the present. Through a combination of lectures, presentations, and interactive popular music, film/documentary discussions, AFST350 will introduce students to the creative and critical interventions made by African politicians, filmmakers/directors, pop musicians, artists, and thinkers. The course will be in two parts. The first part will examine the histories of “Modern Africa,” itself a problematic idea, from early post-colonial stages to the present. We will explore themes of African societies after independence and colonial legacies, postcolonial conflict and the crisis of the modern African state. While taking a comprehensive approach, particular attention will be paid to case studies drawn from specific countries. In the second part, we will engage with ideas around race, gender, queer identity, spirituality, politics, and capitalism. We will explore how cultural expression intersects with the ideas of Africa in the 21st century. Together we will ask questions like: How has Africa been represented in the popular imagination? How has music and film shaped “African” identity? What can music, film, and documentaries teach us about modern African life including politics and economic development?
Literatures and Cultures of Africa and/or the Middle East (AFST 370A_V 201)
Instructor: Dr. Suzanne James
TERM 2: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, 2:00pm-3:00pm
Post-Apartheid South African Literature
“It was easier to write about the past . . . because the past created ready-made stories. There was a very clear demarcation between good and evil . . . Black was good; white was bad. Your conflict was there. There were no gray areas. We no longer have that. In this new situation, black is not necessarily good. There are many black culprits; there are many good white people. We have become normal. It’s very painful to become normal.” (Zakes Mda)
Fifty years of oppression under the South African apartheid system inspired an impressive corpus of protest literature, but how have writers responded to the collapse of the racist regime and its replacement with a democratic constitution? Our study of recent South African writing will include Zoë Wicomb’s Playing in the Light, Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness, Phaswane Mpe’s Welcome to Our Hillbrow, Kopano Matlwa’s Coconut and Sello Diuker’s Thirteen Cents.
Cross-listed with ENGL 370.
African Diasporic Culture in African Canadian Communities (AFST 450R_V 201)
TERM 2: Tuesdays/Thursdays, 9:30-11:00am
African diasporic culture in Canadian society, fostering dialogue with members of African Canadian communities on cultural values, traditions, memory, adaptation and change.