African Studies

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 15 ECTS (12 quarter UC units) and assessment consists of a written paper on a topic of the student's own choosing comprising 36,000-43,200 characters.

This course shows that Africa is a productive laboratory for students and researchers in international relations and security studies as the region gathers some of the most enduring interlinked political rivalries within the international system. It challenges and sometimes clarifies powerful concepts developed by the field (hegemonic stability, regional security complex, failed states, small state, sovereignty). It contrasts arguments that international relations focuses on the politics of powerful states and that, as a consequence, there is an African exceptionalism which explains the field’s inability to accurately address African experiences. The course examines how Africa has often been neglected by the different theoretical approaches to international relations and more generally by the discipline, demonstrating that the Horn of Africa is pertinent not only for area specialists but also constitutes a remarkable ground for fieldwork and theory-testing of both old and new approaches. 

This course examines the concept of security and governance of security, and its application in different contexts and at different levels of analyses with a focus on developing societies, particularly Africa. It considers key theories and relates them to particular contexts. The course provides an intellectual and practical context to the notion of the security sector and the governance of security and develops and demonstrates knowledge, understanding, and skills to investigate the various ways through which "security" can be brought under "democratic governance."

This course provides a combination of critical analytical and practical skills for engaging with the challenges of development planning and policy analysis in relation to African contexts. It includes at least three dimensions: firstly, it introduces critical theoretical approaches to the very notion of doing "development," to the study of policy, and to the politics of planning; secondly, it will prepare students for analyzing different kinds of development planning and policies in their historical-political-social-economic contexts; and thirdly, it provides critically reflective yet practical skills for planning concrete development projects and undertaking critical readings of policy. Students are encouraged to draw on and share their own previous experience of working in "development" settings where relevant but such experience is not a pre-requisite for the course.

This course covers the main issues at the root of most of the conflicts in Africa. It examines the conflicts and geopolitical dynamics that affect the Horn of Africa and identifies the historical, political, and military regional dynamics of these conflicts, as well as their broader international dimension. The course provides a critical analysis of Horn Africa's relations with the world as the new battle held between emerging powers such as the Gulf, BRICS, and traditional superpowers. It also provides a general overview of violent extremist groups and regional and international responses to the Global War on Terror. Finally, it discusses current wars as well as their strategic implications and connections to the most prominent global security challenges of the post-Cold War and post 9/11 world.

This course reads and analyzes Francophone literature written by those of Black descent in order to understand terms like Afrofuturism and Afroprophetism to connect history with the present. The course examines the literary and narrative histories and structure of African and African-related works and considers how the narratives renew the view of Africa in a philosophical sense through literary works. Works studied include Leonara Miano's ROUGE IMPERATRICE, Abdourrahman Waberi's AUX ETATS UNIS D'AFRIQUE, and an anthology collected through a collective project.

In the context of the current level of globalization, this course explores Africa’s position in and relations with other parts of the globalizing world. The course highlights Africa’s experience of globalization, focusing on the challenges and opportunities that globalization presents, particularly on cultures and identities in the continent.

This course focuses on the relationship between violent conflict and economic development. The first half of the course examines the concepts of conflict and development, as well as some associated theories. The second part focuses on the nexus between conflict and development, the cultural dimensions of conflict and development, and concludes with some policy interventions that could be applied to reduce the risk of conflict and accelerate development. Reference is made to some case studies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This course takes students with zero knowledge of Xhosa to a good, basic competency in the language. The course actively engages students in acquiring the language through a series of well-developed modules with an integrated approach to acquiring speaking, writing, and comprehension skills in Xhosa. Grammar is taught in context and students are expected to apply their grammatical knowledge in task-based communication situations. Students are taught about different varieties of Xhosa and how to use these appropriately in social contexts. Tests, assignments, and portfolio activities counts 35%; orals count 15%; one two-hour examination counts 50% of the final mark.