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Exploration of themes linking peoples of Africa and African heritage in Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Topics to be explored include Black Diaspora identity, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, comparative slavery, African cultures and African survivals in the New World, and the Pan-African…
Preparation for service learning in Africa, including an introduction to African cultures and history. A culturally relative approach will prepare students to encounter new cultures, and to see problems and opportunities in the community in which they will work. Introduction to the opportunities…
Major genre, the epic in the literatures of Europe and America, with particular attention to recent developments in genre theory.
An ensemble performing choral, dance, and instrumental music from Africa including sacred, secular, and popular music.
Students will work with various organizations, learning about how they address social, economic, and environmental issues locally. Students will be required to do background readings before and during the program, and will be required to maintain a journal and/or write a final paper reflecting…
The history, physical environment (landforms, vegetation, and climate), and sociocultural environment (artistic, political, and social development) of Africa.
Fifteenth- to nineteenth-century political, social, economic connections between North, Central, South America and Caribbean and west, west-central Africa.
Economic and cultural history of East Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Food, trade, commodification, slavery, rage, missionary and colonial interests, nationalisms, independence, art and literature.
United States history since 1865 from a multicultural and multiethnic perspective. The course will emphasize social, cultural, and political dimensions of the American experience, paying particular attention to issues of race and ethnicity. Highlights the contributions of the many different…
History, styles, and forms of African music. Investigation of historical, cultural and social aspects, contexts and functions, music structures, instruments, genres, structures and indigenous societies, nation-states, and global industry.
Individual study, reading, or projects under the direction of a project director.
Social, political, and economic changes in southern African societies (South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique) as they assimilated non-African peoples, their ideas, and material culture. Independent, viable and adaptable, Africans engaged Portuguese,…
Survey course presenting orality as major modus of literary and knowledge production in Africa. Presentation of the institutional carriers of orality (storytellers, etc.). Readings in English translation.
Students will participate with local agencies to provide a service to the community, designed with those agencies and UGA faculty, to meet the needs of that community and to enhance the academic curriculum of the student. There will be structured time to study and reflect on the basic issues…
For students who elect to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro after the Maymester in Tanzania or the Service Learning in Tanzania they may also choose to earn PE credit for the climb. Students will be required to attend several meetings during the Spring semester prior to the trip to prepare for the climb…
Introduction to the language, life, and culture of Yoruba- speaking people in West Africa and other parts of the World.
African literature from its ancient oral traditions to the European colonial period based on works of African authors written in English and English translations of the African works.
South Africa's economic, political and military might has shaped other southern African societies (Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique) in the twentieth century. Reform and revolution which Africans and Europeans employed to regain and maintain African independence in…
Examination and analysis of African myths, legends, fables, etc. The significance and functionalism of these and comparison to those in other world religions.
Indigenous and introduced educational and sporting systems, comparative perspectives based on European-derived models in education, physical education and sport in Africa. Examination of education, physical education, and sport in varying cultural, social, and geographical environments including…
Seminar focusing on specific topics in Yoruba language, culture, literature, or society.
Comparative political issues and themes in Africa; colonialism and colonial legacy, political institutions, political systems, and political culture; transition to and consolidation of democracy.
Advanced readings, novels, thematic texts, and rhetoric. Focus on developing comprehension of textual materials. Introduction to scientific and other specialized materials.
Exploration of world hunger using an interdisciplinary approach. Analysis of natural resource-related, political, and cultural causes of hunger; its health and socioeconomic effects; and current proposed solutions, with an emphasis on education. Group discussions will be emphasized in this…
History of Africa to 1800. Origins of agriculture, rise and growth of complex societies and states, spread and importance of Islam, trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean trade, rise of the Atlantic slave trade, and diaspora issues.
The peoples of Africa and the process of researching and writing ethnography. Part one reviews classic/canonical ethnographic readings and concepts from the colonial period. Part two involves ethnography of colonialism. Part three details the post-colonial experience.
Specific literary period from an international perspective, with emphasis on theoretical problems in periodization and the relationship of literature to other cultural institutions.
Women's social, economic, spiritual, and political contributions to African history from precolonial to contemporary times. Emphasizing African women, it also addresses European and Asian women immigration. Women's interpretations of their identities, social worlds, and experiences, recognizing…
Examines the premise that peace is more than the absence of conflict. The threats to peace, conflict resolution, and peacemaking.
A survey of musical styles created and/or developed by African Americans in North America from c. 17th century to the 21st century. Includes socio-cultural approach drawing from the African heritage to other continental appropriations. Key personalities in the development of the African American…
Individual research in the major field or in a closely related field.
Economic, political, and cultural history of East Africa to the nineteenth century. Growth of agricultural systems, forms and functions of states and kingdoms, the world of the Indian Ocean, slavery and rebellion.
The emergence of nationalist politics, its consequences for sovereignty, and its effect on maintaining peace.
Review and discussion of current topics in African research.
Peoples and institutions of Africa, south of the Sahara, starting with earliest evidence of indigenous peoples, with special emphasis on current changes.
Introduction to more sophisticated structures of the language, including grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures. Emphasis on developing upper-level oral skills that would enable the student to sustain conversation with a native speaker with minimum difficulty and to develop comprehension…
The course builds on the foundation from "Introduction to Africa" and provides in-depth and critical analysis of selected contemporary issues affecting Africa. Solidarity, conflict, and their relationships to social hierarchy, the conceptions of history, and African identity then, now plus…
African literature since the independence of the African people from European colonial rule.
Christianity was both ally and adversary to colonialism, threatening African "tradition" and aiding a vocal westernized elite which shaped independent African nations. African initiatives in Christian conversion, colonial Christianity, Africans in mission communities, mission education and…
The study of natural history on location in Africa. During visits to game parks, rain forests, coral reefs, beaches, and mangrove forests, the animal, plant, and insect species will be identified, and the geological setting will be explained. Human evolution and exploitation of the environment…
Performance of African music, including styles, techniques, and movement in instrumental and vocal music. Repertoire for study and performance drawn from various regions and cultures on a rotating basis.
African agricultural achievement, theories of production and famine systems, and attempts by colonial and international capital to control African food systems. Literature is a major source.
Many contemporary economic development problems share a strong economic component. The objectives of this course are to provide economic background and insights into the global food and fiber industry within unique physical and business environments.
The study of selected representative African plays of the colonial and post-independence periods.
Topics in modern and ancient African history. Non-traditional methodologies and sources are combined to introduce students to emerging issues in African history.
Introduction to meaning, origin, and characteristics of African religion, focusing on the approaches and challenges in studying African religion.
Study of terminologies and basic beliefs of African religions, dwelling on African concepts of the Supreme Being, divinities, spirits, ancestors, and magic and medicine.
Continuation of the language, including grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures. Emphasis on the ability to engage in reasonable fluent discourse in Amharic and a comprehensive knowledge of formal grammar, and the ability to read Amharic with a high level of complex grammatical structures…
A broad introduction to the continent's geography, history, and current events.
The literature of twentieth-century Africa in translation with emphasis on the African novel.
African concepts of God in names, attributes, status, monotheism, human origin, function of soul, human destiny, rites of passage, and predestination.
Offered every year.
This class will learn an African language and the culture of Wolof. Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania. It is the Lingua Franca in Senegal and an important trade language in West Africa. It is one of the Niger-Congo language that is not tonal; Senegal is…
Readings and discussions of current developments in African studies carried out as a contract between an individual student and an appropriate instructor.
The impacts of various globalization issues on indigenous cultures in Africa. Students will research the issues and do in- class presentations followed by brief summaries of their research. Students will write a final paper relating one globalization issue to its impact on one or more indigenous…
The course will survey some of the major areas of theatre activity, as well as provide a general history of African theatre and performance. Playwrights well known in the West, such as Wole Soyinka, Ngugi wa thiong'o, Femi Osofisan, and others will be discussed, primarily within the context of…
Diasporic movement, sustainability, modifications, syncretic tendencies of African Derived Religions in the Americas, especially Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, and North America.
Examination of African doctrines, death, muses of death, categories of death, rites, final judgment, reincarnation, and the ancestral cult.
Analysis of international development programs, stressing the developing world's perspective. Study of issues affecting international cooperation, agricultural development and sustainability, technology transfer, and extension education.
Introduction to the field of African Studies for graduate students with limited or no background in the field. The course will focus on diverse topics of study, including early African history, Africa's contact with East and West, Arab expansion, colonialism, Africa's physical environment,…
Examination of fundamental beliefs and practices of African traditional religion in traditional and contemporary settings depicting transitional dynamics, religious significance, and relevance in global religious traditions.
Not offered on a regular basis.
An in-depth survey and examination of the identification, origins, formations, and developments of African Derived Religions outside the African Continent. It focuses on the religious and social emancipation and identity issues fostered by the religions in their different locations, particularly…
See if and when courses are offered in a given semester via our downloadable course schedule.
African Studies Courses: Spring 2024
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