COURSE GOALS AND METHODS

The course will use lecture, whole class discussion, and small group discussion.  Videos will be an important part of the course, to help you build a varied range of images appropriate to the diversity of African situations.

The UWEC Academic Goals which will be addressed by this course are primarily:

Ability to inquire, think, analyze
Ability to write, read, speak, listen
An historical consciousness
International and intercultural experiences
An understanding of values
An understanding of human behavior and human institutions

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Exams: 

A group of two or three students will prepare questions on a specific article which members of the class will discuss in small groups.  The group should come up with about  4 questions which relate to the main points of the article and which will be interesting for other students to discuss. Write questions that are brief and clear. The questions must be sent to me the day before the class discussion. A sign-up list will be passed around in class. You can find the name of your partner(s) for the discussion on the: Presentation Schedule

You will do an individual research paper which will be reported in a 5 page paper due the last day of class and a 5-minute presentation during one of the last 3 days of class. Brief research proposal describing your topic and 3 sources is due March 5.

Instructions for Research paper

Writing Standards

Determination of course grade

Attendance Policy

Attendance Slips

All students will be expected to hand in a slip of paper at the end of each class to demonstrate attendance and to provide feedback. Write your name, the date and at least one sentence referring to the day’s class. The feedback might report on something learned from today's class, something you found interesting in the material covered, anything that was not clear in the lecture and needs more explanation, thoughts you have about the ideas covered, suggestions about the course…

I consider any academic misconduct in this course as a serious offense, and I will pursue the strongest possible academic penalties for such behavior.  The disciplinary procedures and penalties for academic misconduct are described in the UW-Eau Claire Student Services and Standards Handbook(http://www.uwec.edu/sdd/publications.htm) in Chapter UWS 14—Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures. 

Any student who has a disability and is in need of classroom accommodations, please contact the instructor and the Services for Students with Disabilities Office in Old Library 2136 at the beginning of the semester.

Textbooks

All articles are available on electronic reserve.

Instructions for using Ereserve

Website The material that is underlined will produce a webpage when you click on it. The topic headings with a yellow background indicate PowerPoint slides, which you can view by clicking on the title. It would be a very good idea to print the slides before class so that during class you won't have to copy the slides but can listen and take additional notes.  Instructions for printing PowerPoint slides

Course Syllabus

Introduction 
Video: Ghanaian coffins  Coffin cartoons

Ghanaian coffins

Geography and Traditional Economy 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/africa_palm_wine_tapper/html/1.stm

Bohannan and Curtin, Ch. 2 & 4

Video: The Africans: A Legacy of Lifestyles

Ethnocentrism  Ethnocentrism

Geography Game         Map of Africa

Interactive Map  Instructions for game

http://mage.macalester.edu/africa/links/links.html#maps

Slides of Ghana

Feb. 11 

Twin Cities African restaurants

Slave Trade and Colonialism
Bohannan & Curtin, Ch. 15, 18

The African Present
Ramsey & edge "Africa: Looking for a Renaissance"
Abdul-Raheem "Impact of Angels"

Eames "Navigating Nigerian Bureaucracies"  
Video: Garden of Eden in Decay

Eshelby "Cotton: the Huge Moral Dilemma"

The Economist "The $25 Billion Question"

Hammer "Healing Powers"

Video: African Business

Midterm   

Study Guide  

Kilbride "African Polygyny"  Marriage and Family

Mwamwenda and Monyooe "Status of Bridwealth in an African Culture"

Hetherington "Generational Changes in Marriage Patterns in the Central Province of Kenya 1930-1990" (read from The Third Generation)   

Quiz

Uchendu "Concubinage among Ngwa Igbo of Southern Nigeria"
Suich Women and AIDS in South Africa    on Web

** Foster "The capacity of the extended family safety net for orphans in Africa"

**  Penfield & Duru: "Proverbs: Metaphors That Teach"   

Igbo

**  Van Allen "Sitting on a Man: Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo   Women"  

Quiz

**  Bastien "The Naked and the Nude: Historically Multiple Meanings of

Oto (Undress) in Southeastern Nigeria" 

Video: Becoming a Woman in Okrika  DT515.45 .I35 .B43 1990

Ritual; Religious Authorities  Sacrifice
Lambo "Psychotherapy in Africa"

** Johnson "African Healing  
Ray Ch. 3 pp. 78-81, 97-100; Ch. 4 pp. 103-110
Video: Healers of Ghana DT510.43 .A53 .H42 1996

Quiz

Ancestors, Ethics
Ray pp. 132-133, 135-137, 140-141, 146-147, 150-152

Female Genital Surgery   Disc
** Ahmadu "Rites and Wrongs: An Insider/Outsider Reflects on Power and Excision"

Samad "Afterword"  

Quiz