Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Course Description
Africa is not a country, but rather a territory covering one fifth of Earth’s land surface, home to over one sixth of the world’s population and more than one thousand languages, and yet “Africa” continues to mean something in the world as a place. The aim of this course is to examine how ideas about the kind of place that “Africa” is have been articulated and negotiated from colonial times to the present. In so doing, we get a glimpse of the politics of knowledge production across the disciplines of geography, history, biology, political science, and the creative industries.
The course is divided into two parts: Being and Becoming. In Part 1, Being, we consider foundational constructions of Africa as a place in the world (what Africa is), through its geographical mapping, debates about its history, and the articulation of race—of Blackness in particular. In Part 2, Becoming, we turn to social science theories and political and cultural movements from the postcolonial period to the present that have sought to conceptualize Africa’s place in the world after independence (what Africa shall become).
Readings and Films
All required readings and films can be found in the Readings and Films section.
Grading
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Attendance and class participation | 20% |
| Reading responses (20) | 20% |
| Reading presentation and class discussion lead (1) | 10% |
| Map quiz (P/F) | 5% |
| Paper 1 | 15% |
| Final paper (Prospectus 5% + Outline 5% + Presentation 5% + Paper 15%) | 30% |
For detail on the activities listed in the table, see the Assignments section.
Writing Support
The Writing and Communication Center (WCC) at MIT offers MIT students free one-on-one professional advice from communication experts. The WCC works with undergraduate, graduate students, post-docs, faculty, staff, alums, and spouses. The WCC helps you strategize about all types of academic and professional writing as well as about all aspects of oral presentations (including practicing classroom presentations & conference talks as well as designing slides). The WCC also helps with all English as Second Language issues, from writing and grammar to pronunciation and conversation practice.
Academic Integrity
MIT students are expected to adhere to MIT’s Academic Integrity policies. All work (research papers, weekly papers, presentations) must be completed independently. Students are encouraged to discuss the readings and their projects with each other (they may, for example, want to practice their presentations for their classmates), but they are individually responsible for all written work.