INTRODUCTION

Friday September 4

Introduction

 

Monday September 7

Discussion: Documentary Glimpses I

Assignment: All the material under the heading Documentary Glimpses I.

 

Wednesday September 9

Discussion: Documentary Glimpses II

Assignment: All the material under the heading Documentary Glimpses II.

 

TRANSITIONS to COLONIAL RULE

Friday September 11

Lecture: The Era of 'Legitimate Commerce' and the End of the Slave Trade

 

Monday September 14

Discussion: Exploration and Conquest

Assignment: Henry Morton Stanley, Through the Dark Continent, Volume II, all

 

Wednesday September 16

Lecture: The 'Scramble' for Africa

 

RESISTANCE and CONVERSION

Friday September 18

Lecture: African Resistance to Conquest

 

Monday September 21

Lecture: Missionaries

Assignment: 3-4 page paper due.

"Does Stanley's account provide any useful insight into the internal workings of the African societies which he encounters? Can his narrative be used to discuss the motivations, worldview or objectives of African actors? If so, in what ways might you use it to do so? If not, why not? Use specific examples from the text to support your arguments."

 

Wednesday September 23

Discussion: Missionaries

Assignment: All the material under the heading Missionary Documents.

THE COLONIAL STATE

Friday September 25

Lecture: The Establishment of the the Colonial State

 

Monday September 28

Lecture: Indirect Rule

 

Wednesday September 30

Discussion: Indirect Rule and Colonial Power

Assignment: All the material under the heading The Dual Mandate in Tropical Africa.

 

LABOR and COLONIALISM

Friday October 2

NO CLASS

African Studies Workshop, University of Pennsylvania

(Students encouraged to attend.)

 

Monday October 5

Lecture: Cocoa, Cotton and Rubber

 

Wednesday October 7

Lecture: Mines and Miners

 

Friday October 9

NO CLASS

 

OCTOBER BREAK

SCENES from AFRICAN MODERNITIES

Monday October 19

Discussion: White People

Assignment: All materials under the heading White People.

 

Wednesday October 21

Discussion: Rooiyard

Assignment: All materials under the heading Rooiyard.

 

Friday October 23

Lecture: Negritude and the Atlantic World

Monday October 26

Discussion: Ambiguous Adventure

Assignment: Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Ambiguous Adventure, all.

 

Wednesday October 28

Discussion: David Gurupira's Plea

Assignment: All the materials under the heading Gurupira.

 

Friday October 29

Discussion: Witchfinding and Witchcraft

Assignment: All the materials under the heading Witchcraft.

 

Monday November 2

Discussion: Not Either an Experimental Doll

Assignment: Not Either an Experimental Doll , all

 

Wednesday November 4

Discussion: Court Cases

Assignment: All materials under the heading Court Cases.

 

Assignment: 3-4 page paper due.

Choose one of the following two topics.

1. Are the varying motives, perspectives and roles of the various Europeans encountered so far (Stanley, Lugard, the missionaries, Leopold, the various individuals in White People, Ellen Hellman) of any real significance? Are any of the differences between them meaningful, or were they all more or less supporters of colonialism?

 

2. Compare African experiences with education in Ambiguous Adventure and Not Either an Experimental Doll . What do the individuals portrayed in these two sources, one a novel and the other a set of real letters between real individuals, expect from education? What do they find? What do the fates of the students suggest about the nature of education in colonial society? How inevitable are these fates?

 

Friday November 6

Discussion: "Afrique Je Te Plumerai"

Assignment: Attend screening of "Afrique Je Te Plumerai".

 

Monday November 9

Discussion: The Gunny Sack

Assignment: The Gunny Sack, all

 

Wednesday November 11

Discussion: "Mister Johnson"

Assignment: Attend the screening of the film "Mister Johnson". (Time TBA)

 

Friday November 13 

CLASS CANCELLED

 

DECOLONIZATION

Monday November 16

Lecture: Imperial Authority Before and After 1945

 

NATIONALISM and its OTHERS

Wednesday November 18

Lecture: The Origins and Spread of Nationalist Activism

Assignment: Identification. Find a single term or concept which you have learned to define or describe in the course of the semester. Write a one to two paragraph identification of this term.

Friday November 20

Lecture: Worker Protests and Millennial Movements: Other Challenges to Colonial Rule

 

Monday November 23

Discussion: "Lumumba: La Mort du Prophete"

Assignment: Attend a screening of the film "Lumumba: La Mort du Prophete". (SHOWN SUNDAY NIGHT, NOVEMBER 22, 7-9 PM in TROTTER 203)

 

Wednesday November 25

Discussion: Nationalism and its Discontents

Assignment: Read all materials under the heading Nationalism.

Assignment: Essay Question. Write an essay question based on the work we have done so far in the course. Then write two outlines mapping out two different arguments in response to your question. 

 

THANKSGIVING

POSTCOLONIAL PORTRAITS

Monday November 30

Lecture: Raising the Flag: Postcolonial Politics, Postcolonial Societies

 

Tuesday December 1

Showing of "Basi and Company", 7-8 pm, Trotter 203.

 

Wednesday December 2

Discussion: Robert Kaplan, "The Coming Anarchy"

Assignment: Read this article and also these supporting materials.

Assignment: Write a one-page response to Kaplan's article.

Thursday December 3

Talk: David Bunn, University of the Western Cape, "Waterhole Work: Drought and Photography in the Kruger National Park". 4:15 pm, Trotter 203.

 

Friday December 4

Discussion: Invisible Governance

Assignment: Read Invisible Governance, all

 

Monday December 7

Lecture: From Juju Music to the WaBenzi: Culture and Society in Postcolonial Africa

Assignment: See videotape of "Basi & Company". (Shown Tuesday December 1, 7-8 pm.)

  

Wednesday December 9

Discussion: No Mercy

Assignment: Read No Mercy, as much as possible.

 

 

FINAL EXAM