Anthropology 338 - The African Crisis

Institution:

Reed College

Subject:

Description:

Full course for one semester. Recent media and celebrity attention has focused on the African continent as a locus of endemic humanitarian and political emergency. This is reflected in Hollywood blockbusters such as Blood Diamond or The Constant Gardener as well as in Vanity Fair's recent "Special Africa Issue." Stereotypical representations of Africa have thus (re)entered Western popular culture. In the first part of the course, we will ask questions about these representational issues and reflect on the ways excess attention to crisis limits our analytical perspective. In the second part, students will be introduced to the history of Africa through classical anthropological texts as well as explore the role of ethnography in the making of colonial Africa. We will then turn to postcolonial Africa to critically and comparatively engage with contemporary issues facing African societies including oil and mineral extraction, extralegal economies, human rights, and transnational migration. Prerequisite: Anthropology 211. Conference. Not offered 2009-10.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.reed.edu

Phone Number:

(503) 771-1112

Regional Accreditation:

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities

Calendar System:

Semester

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