FT 06-S The African Experience 2007
David Akombo, Department of Music
The African Experience 2007 will cover geopgraphical, political, historical, economic and cultural perspectives. The course has dual purposes: to give students an appreciation of Africa's diversity from both a qeographical and historical standpoint; to see the various and important ways that African countries are inter-connected to the rest of the world through trade networks and the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and beliefs. Through a series of readings, map images, videos, etc., students will be exposed to African history from ancient times to the present. The course will pay considerable attention to ethnic and racial classifications, identity, gender issues, education, health, science, as well as the transfer of technology. We will also examine the ways in which Africans have negotiated their quest for independence, equality, justice, and freedom in Africa. The African Experience 2007 is both reading and writing intensive. Students will be expected to respond to assigned readings, present their own interpretations of the assigned texts, respond to films and videos as well as classmates' ideas, and develop their knowledge base about the continent of Africa. Grades are based on class participation, discussion, reading/viewing, quizzes, oral reports, 3-4 page papers, and a final project. Texts: April A. Gordon and Donald L Gordon, Understanding Contemporary Africa. Alex Thomson, An Introduction to African Politics. Kevin Shillington, History of Africa. Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. Films/Documentaries: Keely Purdue's Africa:In Defiance of Democracry. Ryder Haggard's King Solomon's Mines.
Credits: 1
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