AFRI 101: Introduction to Africa

Course Overview

In the post-1945 period there has been a growing debate in both policy and academic circles on the nature of cultural, political, and economic processes in the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial period of Africa. The rise of this debate has led to interesting and complex studies demonstrating the historical development of African societies. In this course, building on works of contemporary leading scholars such as Peter J. Schraeder, the author of your main textbook, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, and others, we will engage in critical and analytical reflections on the historical and contemporary forces (both internal and external) that have influenced socio-cultural, political, and economic developments in Africa.

The course does not assume a prior knowledge of African history or contemporary developments. Thus you should not feel intimidated. From the beginning of the term, I look forward to hearing from each of you about your views and knowledge about various aspects of the diverse societies that comprise the African continent. Of course, we all have different views about African societies and I look forward to learning from the dialogue that I hope will emerge in each lesson. Having said all that, you may ask the question: why should anyone bother studying a continent that some scholars refer to as being at the margins of the global south and the international system? I hope that most of you are as curious and keen as I am about exploring what I call the "poetics" of other societies. In the case of African societies, there are many reasons that should lead us to engage in a critical dialogue of historical and contemporary developments. For instance, despite the expansive post-1945 literature on African societies, these societies, in the main, continue to be viewed in very simplistic and monolithic terms. But more importantly, in the context of the latest phase of globalization, a process that is leading to a deeper form of interconnectedness of our world, understanding the nature of issues beyond the borders of our towns, states, and nations is increasingly becoming a central feature of our everyday consciousness. Further, we cannot escape this, given the nature of global media networks such as CNN and the constant flow of information through the World Wide Web.

With this as a bit of background, I'd like to welcome you to AFRI 101 online!

Each week we will have a core set of readings and questions to think about. For each lesson you will have summary lecture notes outlining the core elements of the readings and providing guidelines as to what issues to consider from the readings and research. The course is comprised of five parts and will evolve on four levels:

1. an examination of the theoretical perspectives that scholars that scholars and policy makers use to describe Africa’s social-cultural, political and economic developments.
2. an examination of concrete historical development processes in various African countries
3. a discussion of contemporary debates in African Studies: Africa and neo-liberal globalization and transitions to democracy
4. the reading of three African novels to demonstrate the centrality of the continent's sites of cultural production in documenting social, cultural, political, and economic change.

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Course Goals

Part 1

• Introduces students to the dominant theoretical tools used in the study of Africa's cultural, political, and economic change.
• Provides students with basic geographical data.
• Discusses the cultural, political, and economic features of precolonial Africa.

Part 2

• Examines the nature and legacies of European imperialism in Africa.
• Discusses the rise and characteristics of African nationalist movements.

Part 3

• Explores the core elements of Africa's political and economic path in the post-1945 period.
• Provides a critical examination of ethnicity and class in the evolution of Africa's historical development.

Part 4

• Discusses the impact of political and economic globalization with specific reference to Structural Adjustment Policies and transitions to democracy.

Part 5

• Introduces the study of African literature.
• Discusses the role of arts in African societies.
• Considers three novels.

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Required Texts

• African Politics and Society: A Mosaic in Transformation, 2nd edition by Peter J. Schraeder
  This book provides an excellent introduction to Africa's historical development from the precolonial period to the contemporary period and the dominant theories of Africa's development.
• A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
  This novel explores the nationalist struggle in colonial Kenya.
• Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
  Dangarembga offers an interesting portrayal of gender, race, class relations, and tensions during the era of colonialism in contemporary Zimbabwe.
• Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
  In Matigari, wa Thiong'o captures the political economy of authoritarianism, contradictions of postcolonial economic development, class tensions in postcolonial Africa.

The texts are available from the Higher Grounds bookstore at the Friday Center. You can order the books online, or you can print out the book order form to fax or mail with payment for texts as indicated on the form.

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Course Requirements

Discussion Forum: 20%

Students are expected to participate in the weekly discussion forums. Our discussion forum can be accessed through a software program called Blackboard. Use your UNC Onyen and password to log in to Blackboard. Please visit the Onyen Web site if you do not already have a UNC Onyen.

Students are expected to respond to questions or issues presented for each week's discussion forum. The forum is a site for a stimulating and engaging dialogue on weekly themes. You are expected to both post an original comment and respond to at least one classmate's posting every week. Consequently, you will need to post a response to the discussion forum questions or issues by Tuesday and respond to your colleague's postings and Dr. Sahle's commentary between Wednesday and Friday. Late responses will not be accepted.

Map Quiz: 10%

The map quiz will be closed book. You are expected to complete the quiz in 60 minutes. The quiz will be available on Blackboard.

Term Essays: 40%

The first essay is based on Lessons 3-4 with a specific focus on Kenya's nationalist struggle. The essay topic will be posted on the Blackboard site. (20%)

The second essay is based on Lessons 6-9. Essay topics will be posted on the Blackboard site. (20%)

Late essays will not be accepted without discussion with the instructor at least two days before the due date. Further, only under exceptional circumstances will the instructor accept late papers.

Final Exam (open book): 30%

The final will consist of three questions drawn from Lessons 11-15. Your instructor will post the exam on Blackboard and the exam is due by midnight. E-mail your response to your instructor as a word attachment. The exam should take you approximately three hours to complete.

Readings

Students are expected to do their weekly readings. The readings are organized thematically and form the foundation for our weekly discussion forum.

Please note that your entries in the weekly discussion forum are expected to demonstrate analytical and critical skills. Consequently, avoid posting merely descriptive and summarized entries of the required readings. You will be receiving an interim grade of your discussion forum entries at the end of week 5. For the essay assignments, you will receive your grade a week after submission unless I have an emergency to address.

Email policy: I will respond to email questions within 48 hours.

Grading Scheme

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Supplementary Resources

Films (available for viewing at UNC's Media Resource Center)

• The Bible and the Gun
• This Magnificent Africa Cake
• Black Gold
• Life and Debt

Useful Web sites

Please note that these Web sites provide excellent material on all the topics that we will be focusing on this term. Consequently, use these Web sites as supplementary material and additional sources when researching your term papers.

News (old and new)

• AllAfrica New Wire
• The New York Times

Scholarly resources:

• Berkeley-Stanford Joint Center for African Studies
• Boston University
• Central Connecticut State University
• Columbia University
• Harvard Africa Studies
• Howard University
• Indiana University—Bloomington
• Lincoln University
• Northwestern University
• Michigan State University
• Ohio State University
• University of California—Los Angeles
• University of Florida—Gainsville
• University of Illinois—Champaign/Urbana
• Yale University
• International African Institute (IAI) (London, United Kingdom)
• Nordic Africa Institute (Uppsala, Sweden)
• School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (United Kingdom)

Please note that the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History at UNC-Chapel Hill has the latest e-journals on the themes we will be covering in this class. The librarian is also very well versed on the themes that we cover in AFRI 101 and is very helpful with students. Consequently, this library should be your entry point on Web-based scholarly resources. If you have any questions or have trouble finding e-based resources for your essays and interests in Africa, please send me an email and I will direct you to relevant web-based sources.

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Honor Code

You are expected to adhere to the University of North Carolina's Honor Code in all of your work. 

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Course Mechanics

Blackboard

Some of your class components (discussion forums, the map quiz, and announcements) are accessed through a software package called Blackboard, and you will need to login to Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only Name You'll Ever Need) and Onyen password.

There is a link to the Blackboard site in the gray navigation bar at the top of every page in this course. Click on that link, and then use your Onyen to log in to Blackboard. Click on the "AFRI 101" link, and you will see navigation buttons on the left side of the screen labeled Announcements, Discussion Forum, and so on.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:

• If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.
• If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), you will find help on go to the Onyen Web site.
• If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.
• If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.
• If you can't locate an exam or discussion forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer.
• If you have other technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help (use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).

Library Services and E-reserves

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online can access online library resources from the UNC Library System by linking to Library Services for Distance Education Students. This site includes information on using general online reference works as well as accessing e-reserves. If you are using an off-campus computer, you will need to consult this page for instructions on how to access the resources. The UNC library staff is available to assist any students who have difficulties accessing online library resources.

E-mail

All communication from your instructor will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC e-mail using Webmail. You can have your e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward e-mail” at the Onyen Web site.

If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from me, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses “blind carbon copy” to protect privacy. We recommend that you use your UNC Onyen e-mail account rather than forwarding to Hotmail for this course.

Submitting Assignments

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send to me via e-mail. If I don't receive your work, you must have a duplicate copy, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to me, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to me and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.

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Course Schedule

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Lesson 1

Course author/instructor:  Eunice Sahle, PhD