Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

AFRICAN STUDIES

AFRICAN STUDIES

Anno accademico 2019/2020

Sommario insegnamento

• Obiettivi formativi
• Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi
• Modalità di insegnamento
• Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento
• Programma
• Testi consigliati e bibliografia
• Note
• Strumenti didattici

Obiettivi formativi

The course explores the central debates and issues in the anthropology of Sub-Saharan Africa. Through a thematic and geographically broad approach, it will provide students with a broad perspective on cultural diversity within the continent, and on the main challenges contemporary Africa faces.

In media and popular representations, Africa is often described as a place of poverty, conflicts and dependence. The aim of the course is to contextualize the socio-cultural and economic processes taking place in the continent and to provide students with a counter-narrative to this mainstream representations.

To this aim, the course aims to develop the skills: to connect ethnographic cases to relevant anthropological theories; to critically analyze and contextualize news articles, movies, novels; to understand socio-cultural change in Africa within a global context.

Risultati dell'apprendimento attesi

By the end of the course, students are expected to be able to:

1) identify the main thematic areas in Africanist anthropology and their relevance for the analysis of contemporary African politics and societies

2) use the basic concepts of anthropology to analyze issues related to African “development” in its different aspects and implications

3) recognize and critically deconstruct the scholarly, journalistic and artistic mainstream representations of Africa

Modalità di insegnamento

The course consists of lectures, students’ in-class presentations and discussion of selected articles and essays.

Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:

IMPORTANT: Due to COVID19 restrictions the final evaluation of the course will consist of an online ORAL examination (via webex) based on the textbook Ferguson J. 2006, Global Shadows. Africa in the Neoliberal World Order and on three articles among those uploaded in the course materials (all from the same sub-topic).

During the webex oral examination students will be asked to answer to three questions (10 points for each answer). In answering to the three questions, the student must demonstrate a thorough and critical knowledge on the topic. The questions will be aimed at verifying the comprehension of the themes and concepts explored in the textbook and in the articles and to assess and promote students' capacity to analyze, interpret and creatively discuss concepts.

ATTENDING STUDENTS:

Due to COVID19 restrictions the final evaluation of the course will consist of:

- an online ORAL examination (via webex) OR the evaluation of two ongoing partial texts based on the textbook

- the evaluation of the final essay (list of the topics available on Moodle).

Programma

- A brief introduction to Africanist anthropology: some classic authors and approaches

- The politics of representation: critiques, decolonization and pluralism in African studies

- African economies and “development” as an object of anthropological enquiry

- Natural resources, climate change and the environment in Africa

- Migration and mobilities within and from the African continent

- Contemporary politics in Africa: human rights, democracy and social movements

Main reading text:

- Ferguson J. (2006), Global Shadows. Africa in the Neoliberal World Order, Durham-London, Duke University Press

Other shorter readings will be proposed for presentation and discussion (for students attending the course). Non-attending students will be assigned some of the same additional readings, upon agreement with the teacher.

Orario lezioni

Note

The course will be held in an online modality, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

PLEASE NOTE: the “attending student” modality for the exam will be possible for the exam sessions of June, July, September 2020, January and February 2021. After that, students of the current cohort will have to pass the oral exam with the “non-attending students” program.

• Materiale didattico
• Bacheca appelli
• Vai a Moodle
• Visita i forum