Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Culture, Politica e Società

AFRICAN STUDIES

AFRICAN STUDIES

Anno accademico 2022/2023

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

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

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

Articles, videos and other materials will be posted on Moodle for discussion. Students are expected to actively participate in in-class discussions and on activities that will be proposed through the Moodle platform.

Modalità di verifica dell'apprendimento

For attending students, knowledge of concepts and ethnographic cases discussed during the course, and of some chapters of Global Shadows, are assessed through an ongoing written assignment (worth 50% of the final grade), that will be held towards the end of the course.

As an alternative to this, attending students can choose to pass an oral exam on the textbook Global Shadows in the scheduled Winter exam sessions (January and February).

A final essay (maximum 4,000 words; 50% of the final grade), to be written by students in pairs, and focused on a topic selected among those discussed in class, will complete the evaluation of the course.

NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS

For non-attending students the final evaluation will consist of an oral exam based on the textbook "Global Shadows. Africa in the Neoliberal World Order", on two articles among those posted in the course materials, and on a second book to be agreed with the teacher according to the student's interests.

Programma

- A brief introduction to Africanist anthropology: authors and approaches

- “Development” as an object of anthropological enquiry in African contexts

- African cities: urbanization, new forms of belonging, informality

- Migration and mobilities within and from the African continent; forced displacement

- Contextualizing illness and health; access to healthcare in the African continent 

Other 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, and a second book, upon agreement with the teacher.

Note

The course will be held from November 2 to December 14, from 12 to 2pm, in room D5 at Campus Einaudi.

The Moodle page of the course will be online one week before the start of the course.

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