Fall 2009
MW 6:00-7:50 pm


Professor:
                Dr. Barbara G. Hoffman
                CB 145, Office Hours 4:00-5:00 MW, others by appointment
                Voicemail: (216) 687-3549
                Email: b.hoffman@csuohio.edu

• Black Studies course.
• CLASS Foreign Culture course.
• GenEd Social Science/Africa course.

• Bohannan & Curtin. Africa and Africans
• Readings on reserve in the CSU library

Course Content:

Survey of the characteristics of contemporary African cultures contextualized in the history of Africa’s interactions with the rest of the world. Maasai culture of East Africa and Mande cultures of West Africa are covered in depth. Commonalities and differences in lifestyles, social structures, religions, politics, environment, and responses to external cultural influences are explored for the entire continent.

The history, lifestyles, religions, politics, environment, and multicultural diversity of the continent are presented through the perspectives of Africans and Africanists in readings, lectures, and ethnographic films and videos.

Previous study of cultural anthropology is strongly recommended (ANT 100, ANT 102, or equivalent).

Course Presentation:
The emphasis in this class is on student participation in discussions and exercises intended to engage the mind in critical thinking about the cultural complexity of the African continent. When you watch a film or video in this class, you may be asked to explain aspects of it or to relate it to material you’ve heard in lectures or read in the textbook. Information from the professor's own fieldwork in both West and East Africa will be part of the lecture material you’ll need to learn. The continent of Africa is vast and extremely diverse geographically, climatically, linguistically, socially, and culturally. When you complete this course, you’ll have a deeper understanding of that diversity, which will serve as the basis for further learning on your own or in other Africa-related courses.

Methods of Evaluation:
Students are primarily evaluated on their active participation in the study and discussion of class topics (totals 50% of final grade). This participation is demonstrated through attendance (monitored randomly) and participation in the group's study of the specified topics. Students are required to keep up with the readings and the class discussions. Further evidence of your participation will be provided by periodic written assignments, including map quizzes. Assignments must be submitted by their due date. No late assignments will be accepted.

Students will take 3 multiple choice exams over the readings, lectures, and films. The average of those exams will count for 50% of the final grade.

Distribution

TBA

Grading Scale:

95-100 4.0 A
90-94 3.7 A-
87-89 3.3 B+
84-86 3.0 B
80-83 2.7 B-
75-79 2.3 C+
70-74 2.0 C
60-69 1.0 D
0-59 0.0 F

Statement on Plagiarism

The CSU Student Handbook (p. 17) describes plagiarism as “stealing and/or using the ideas or writings of another in a paper or report and claiming them as your own. This includes but is not limited to the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment.”  In the case of plagiarism “another person” can mean a published author of a book, magazine, journal etc.; an electronic resource found on the World Wide Web; another student’s work; or a paper writing service which sells papers for a fee.  In order to avoid unknowingly plagiarizing, students are encouraged to utilize resources available from Cleveland State’s writing center including the following:

Common Myths about Plagiarism:
http://www.csuohio.edu/writingcenter/WAC/Common%20Myths%20about%20Plagiarism.doc

Plagiarism Quiz:
http://www.csuohio.edu/writingcenter/WAC/Plagiarism%20Quiz.docand

In addition, students may wish to set up an appointment with a tutor in the writing center to check their work for plagiarism (216-687-6981).

Plagiarism is a serious offense and will be treated as such.  Cases of plagiarism will be reported to the Department Chairperson.  Students who plagiarize will minimally earn a failing grade for the assignment and may earn a failing grade for the course.  Substantial cases of plagiarism will also be subject to CSU disciplinary action.  For more information about CSU’s academic dishonesty policies, see http://www.csuohio.edu/studentlife/conduct/acadregs.html .

                                                ++++++++++++++++

Statement Regarding Rights and Responsibilities of Students with Disabilities

            Please notify your instructor at the beginning of the term of any disability that may affect your participation or performance in this course so that we might work together to provide the best possible outcome.  Likewise, should anything occur during the term that changes the status of your abilities, please inform your instructor as soon as possible.  Further information on CSU’s policies regarding disabilities are available under “Information for Persons with Disabilities” on the CSU Affirmative Action webpage at:  www.csuohio.edu/affirmative_action/information_disabilities.html.abilities are available under “Information for Persons with Disabilities” on the CSU Affirmative Action webpage at:  www.csuohio.edu/affirmative_action/information_disabilities.html.

• Why Study Africa? Introduction: Eritrea – Africa in Microcosm

LINK TO ERITREA SLIDES HERE
(Slides will be linked AFTER they have been covered in class)

• Documentary: The Real Eve
• Lecture: Recent scientific evidence on human origins
• Reading Assignment (all assignments are for the next class period) — (B&C) Chapter 1: Myths and Facts, Chapter 10: The Peopling of Africa, Chapter 12: Africa in World History

LINK to GENOGRAPHIC PROJECT HERE:
https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/

LINK TO AFRICA MOTHERLAND OF HUMANITY SLIDES HERE

LINK TO HUMANITY ONE RACE MANY COLORS SLIDES HERE

•Overview of the Physical and Social Geography of the African Continent

•Lecture: Peoples and Languages of Africa

• Reading Assignment — (B&C) Chapter 2: The African Continent,Chapter 3: Mapping Africa

LINK TO AFRICAN CONTINENT SLIDES HERE

LINK TO PEOPLES & LANGUAGES OF AFRICA SLIDES HERE

• Map Quiz 1: Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti

•Lecture: Introduction to Mazrui's theory of The Triple Heritage

• Video: Mazrui’s The Nature of a Continent
• Reading Assignment — (B&C) Chapter 5: African Families

• Lecture: African Kinship & Marriage
• Group Exercise: Mapping Kin
• Reading Assignment — (B&C) Chapter 6: Land and Labor, Chapter 7: African Politics & Courts

LINK TO KINSHIP SLIDES HERE

• Map Quiz 2: Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast/Côte d’Ivoire (in addition to previous countries)
• Lecture: Concepts of Personhood & Rights in Persons: African Social Stratification & Governance
Reading Assignment — (B&C) Chapter 9: African Religion

HANDOUT: Study Guide for Exam 1

Oct 1

EXAM 1

Lecture: Indigenous African social organization and slavery
• Reading Assignment — (B&C) Chapters 13 & 14: End of Isolation and the Era of the Slave Trade

LINK TO SLAVERY & SLAVE TRADE Part I SLIDES HERE

Continuation of Indigenous African social organization and slavery

LINK TO SLAVERY & SLAVE TRADE Part II SLIDES HERE

•Lecture: Basics of Indigenous African religion
• Overview of Mande & Maasai Indigenous Religions
• “Foreign” religions in Africa

Film: Mazrui's New Gods

• Reading Assignment — Hodgson: “Gender, generation, and ethnicity : being Maasai men and women -- Maasai portrait 1 : Koko” (ELECTRONIC COURSE RESERVE -- ECR)

LINK TO AFRICAN RELIGION SLIDES HERE

LINK TO INTRODUCTION TO THE MAASAI SLIDES HERE

• Map Quiz 3: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon (in addition to previous countries)
• Lecture: Gender & the Body
• Video: Making Maasai Men: Growing Courage Towards Circumcision
• Lecture: Female Genital Cutting
• Video: Womanhood & Circumcision: Three Maasai Women Have Their Say

LINK TO GENDERING THE MAASAI BODY PART 1 SLIDES HERE

LINK TO GENDERING THE MAASAI BODY PART 2 SLIDES HERE

• Map Quiz 4: Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (in addition to previous countries)

• Lecture: Crime & Punishment in Indigenous African Societies
• Video: Diary of a Maasai Village: Two Ways of Justice

HANDOUT: Study guide for Exam 2

• Reading Assignment — De Lancey: “Economies of Africa” (ELECTRONIC COURSE RESERVE)

• EXAM 2

• Reading Assignment — Shanklin: “Family and Kinship” (ECR)

Map Quiz 5: Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR), Gabon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Angola (in addition to previous countries)

• Lecture: Legacies of Colonialism

LINK TO LEGACIES OF COLONIALISM SLIDES HERE

•

November 12 – Veteran’s Day – No Class!

Lecture: What is "African" in multicultural Africa today?
• Video: Horya & Djibi: Multicultural Marriage in Bamako

• Reading Assignment — Gordon, April: "Population Growth and Urbanization" (ECR)
• Reading Assignment — Gordon: “Women and Development” (ECR)

• ANT 353 FIRST DRAFT PAPERS DUE

LINK TO MULTICULTURAL AFRICA SLIDES HERE

• Map Quiz 6: Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Madagascar (in addition to previous countries)

Lecture: Population, Urbanization, Family, and the AIDS crisis: Instability in family, community, and nation

LINK TO POPULATION, URBANIZATION, FAMILY & AIDS SLIDES HERE

• Lecture: Women in Africa today
• Video: Women With Open Eyes
• Reading Assignment – Furlong: “South Africa” (RESERVE)

LINK TO WOMEN IN AFRICA SLIDES HERE

OUT OF CLASS FILM ASSIGNMENT:

Watch one of the following films on your own and come to class on the 26th with a summary of its main points:

-Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony
-Bopha
-Cry Freedom
-Cry, The Beloved Country
-In My Country (a.k.a. Country of My Skull)
-Ladysmith Black Mambazo
-Lost Cities of the South (#6 in Wonders of the African Continent series by Henry Louis Gates)
-Mandela
-Power of One, The
-Sarafina
-Shaka Zulu
-South Africa (2002) by Film Ideas, Inc.
-Tsotsi
-Wooden Camera, The

• Map Quiz 7: Entire Map - LAST CHANCE!
• Lecture: South Africa

LINK TO SOUTH AFRICA SLIDES HERE

• Lecture: African art forms
• DVD: Through the Eyes of a Master: The Bogolanfini of Nakunte Diarra

EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENTS DUE TODAY!

• Lecture: Music in Africa
• ANT 353 Final Papers Due

• EXAM 3