AFRICAN AND AFRICAN DIASPORA STUDIES

CRN

 13670

Distribution

 C

Course No.

 AADS 206

Title

Visual Griots: Exploring Africa from 1960 - 2000

Professor

 Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo

Schedule

 Mon 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm WEIS CINEMA
Mbaye Cham, African film historian, states: "Compared to most of their Western counterparts who tend to wield little influence and pressure on the power process, many contemporary African filmmakers participate actively in the affairs of society at all levels and are more overtly committed to the challenges of social and political reconstruction and renewal." This class continues the debate on the use of popular culture by examining social and historical contexts of African society. African filmmakers such as Sembene Ousmane, Djibril Diop Mambety, Flores Gomes, Jean-Marie Teno, and Cheick Oumar Sissoko intrinsically write social history - or the everyday experiences of ordinary people- as they affirm the complexity and humanity of African life. The films in the class will ground class discussion around contemporary African politics. We will explore themes such as nationalism, gender, the role of the intellectual in post-colonial society, censorship, IMF/World Bank policies, and government corruption.

CRN

 13672

Distribution

 C

Course No.

 AADS 3110 / HIST

Title

France's West African Empire (1895 - 1960)

Professor

 Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo

Schedule

 Wed 4:00 pm - 6:20 pm OLIN 303

Cross-listed: French Studies, Historical Studies

The class chronicles the history of l'Afrique Occidentale Francaise (AOF), or French West Africa from 1895-1960. We begin by examining the French imperial mission civilisatrice or "civilizing mission" in theory. Particular attention will be paid to the relationship between France and Africa, particularly the French colonial objective of "civilization" and assimilation and association policies, which distinguished colonial rule in French African territories. African societies in these territories established a unique society due to the role of the signares in the creation of the Four Communes, specific forms of resistance, the "Africanization" of certain institutions, and the merging of two cultural ideas. Equally, the course will investigate African interpretations of this relationship through themes of resistance, literary expression, religion, and the ambiguities of education. Readings include colonial reports and correspondences as well as historical monographs (including Alice Conklin, A Mission to Civilize, Myron Echenberg, Colonial Conscripts, and Cheikh Amadou Kane, Ambiguous Adventure).

Additional courses cross-listed in AADS:

ANTH 248 Colonials in Africa

HIST 371 The Civil Rights Movement

LIT 353 The Image of Africa in the West

MUS 212 Jazz in Literature II

MUS 331 Jazz: The Freedom Principle

MUS 347 Music & Culture of African Diaspora II

NSCI 333 Ecology of African Savannas II

PSY 235 School Guidance & Counseling

SOC 210 Sociology of Race

SST 214 Black Thought: Beyond Boundary

THTR 310 African American Theater

Related interest:

ARTH 102 Perspectives in World Art II

PSY 333 Exploring Boundaries of the Self