African Studies

This is a special studies course with projects arranged between the student and faculty member. The specific topics of study vary each term and are described on a special study project form for each student. The number of units varies with the student's project, contact hours, and method of assessment, as defined on the student's special study project form.

This course develops an understanding of key concepts and theories related to climate issues, sustainability, and environmental governance in Africa. It debates climate adaptation and mitigation, sustainable development, and governing the environment, and discusses specific African cases related to climate-smart interventions, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and governance initiatives related to biodiversity conservation and rural development. The course examines key actors in Africa's development and the roles they play in responding to the climate crisis, in sustainability, and in governing natural resources. It discusses relevant questions concerning the relationship between climate, scarcity, and abundance; internationally-driven, climate-smart initiatives in Africa related to the role of state, market, and civil society; and the impacts and coping strategies related to implementing the SDGs in Africa. The course consists of a combination of lectures and workshop-like activities with active student participation and presentations by a number of external lecturers, including guests from the private sector, NGOs, and researchers. This version of the course is worth 6 quarter UC units and assessment consists of a written paper on a topic of the student's own choosing comprising 24,000-28,800 characters.

How do our unconscious biases impact the way we view people within the African Diaspora? This course explores intersectional inequalities of citizenship and the politics of Belonging and how our unconscious biases impact the way we view (Black) Africans and people within the African Diaspora. The relationship between migration, social cohesion, and national German identity has become an increasingly contentious political issue. Historically, the settlement of migrant groups and the formation of minority ethnic groups have changed the socio-cultural, political and economic fabric of receiving societies. The course explores the relationship between racial and ethnocultural diversity. Students are encouraged to the intentional notion of undoing – unlearning and dismantling unjust practices, assumptions, and institutions – as well as persistent action to create and build alternative spaces and ways of knowing, particularly concerning the Black (African) Diaspora. Berlin is used as a case study for themes covered, however, students are encouraged to reflect on their own identities and the expressions of various identities around the city.

This course analyzes the success of development strategies in relation to when and where they were used throughout Africa. It studies the factors contributing to why certain development strategies were chosen and under what circumstances, as well as the factors that impacted the success of each of these strategies. It focuses on the main approaches to development including neo-liberal, import substitution industrialization, export- and state-led industrialization, basic needs, ERP/SAPs, HIPC, and African-based strategies from the Lagos Plan to NEPAD.

This is a language course designed to build the communicative competence in oral and written Twi for students who have completed the beginners' course (AFST 001), lived, and immersed themselves in Ghana for a semester. It focuses on the structure of the language as well as the culture of the people. It will improve oral skills, written expression, and listening comprehension. There will be an eight-week classroom lecture (16hrs) and about 28hrs field engagements. Students will witness and participate in; a traditional marriage ceremony, funeral, naming ceremony, going to the market to buy foodstuff and cook, a visit to a chief’s palace. There will be a pre and post-processing of each field engagement.