of Africa

Spring 2014

Dr. Jack Tocco Course Number: 070:243 Email: [email protected] Tue/Fri 10:55am-12:15pm, 205 BIO Office: 208F BIO Office Hours: Thurs 1:30-3:30pm

Teaching Assistant: E. Marshall Brooks Email: [email protected]

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course explores the central issues and debates in the anthropology of sub- Saharan Africa. The objectives of the course are to give students a broad appreciation for 1) the cultural and historical diversity of the region, and 2) the role that ethnographic research has played in our understanding of this diversity. In media and in popular representations, Africa is frequently portrayed as a place of poverty, conflict, and dependence. This course will examine many of the problems that contemporary Africans face. Our aim, however, will be to contextualize these problems and counter prevailing narratives about Africa by exploring the resilience and rich cultural life on the continent. We will take a geographically and thematically broad approach to address topics including colonialism and post-colonialism, kinship and social organization, ethnicity and nationality, economics and politics, globalization, religion, health, gender and sexuality, the arts and popular culture. Students will learn to connect examples of ethnographic fieldwork with the key theoretical contributions of the anthropological study of Africa. A contemporary novel, current news articles, and selections from popular African cinema and music will complement ethnographic readings and films. The course will incorporate lectures and group discussion.

Core Curriculum Learning Goals Met by this Course

Areas of Inquiry B: Social Science and History h. Understand the bases & development of human and societal endeavors across time and place. B1: Historical Analysis k. Explain the development of some aspects of African society and culture over time, including the history of ideas or history of science. l. Employ historical reasoning to study human endeavors. B2: Social Analysis m. Understand different theories about human culture, social identity, economic entities, political systems, and other forms of social organization.

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n. Apply concepts about human and social behavior to particular questions or situations.

Learning Objectives

1. Students will expand their knowledge of the diversity of African peoples and societies.

2. Students will understand of how life has changed on the African continent and be able to connect current events to their historical antecedents.

3. Students will learn to connect examples of ethnographic fieldwork with the key theoretical contributions of the anthropological study of Africa.

COURSE COMPONENTS & EVALUATION

• Participation and Attendance (25%) Active participation, regular attendance and timely arrival are expected in this course. Students are expected to demonstrate consistent engagement with the course. ‘Engagement’ means that for each class session, you should: 1) complete the readings; 2) come prepared with thoughts and questions; 3) contribute to our group discussion. In other words, mere attendance is not sufficient to earn a high mark for participation. The instructor reserves the right to issue “pop quizzes” on assigned readings and count these towards the participation grade.

Students are expected to attend all classes; an attendance sheet will be circulated at the beginning of each class. If you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website (https://sims.rutgers.edu/ssra/) to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to me. Per university policy, in cases where you must miss class for periods longer than one week, you will be directed to see a Dean of Students for assistance to help verify these circumstances. Your grade will be reduced for each class meeting you miss over two, with exceptions made for documented emergencies.

• Map Quiz (5%) At the beginning of the fourth class meeting there will be a short quiz covering the political geography of contemporary Africa.

• Short response papers (4 assignments x 5% = 20% of course grade) Four times in the semester you will write short response papers of around 750 words (approximately three double-spaced pages). These responses should be submitted in hard copy at the beginning of the assigned class and relate to the

2 readings for that day. Assignments will not be accepted late. You are free to structure your responses as you wish, but they may include: a) A brief analysis of the readings. What are the main arguments being made? b) A short evaluation of the readings. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the readings? What kinds of evidence do the authors use? Is the author’s interpretation convincing? What other interpretations might be made? c) A discussion of the relationship between these and other course materials. d) Relating the readings to current or historical events. e) Questions the readings suggest for further inquiry.

Any assignment turned in with plagiarized materials will be given a zero and reported to the appropriate university authorities. Please see the Rutgers academic integrity policy and consult with me if you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism.

• Midterm essay (25%) Write a 6 to 8 page essay that analyzes Half of a Yellow Sun with reference to one or more themes we have taken up in the course. These themes might include: representations of Africa; gender and society; ethnicity, tribe, and nation; colonialism and social change. Please submit your essay as a Word attachment under the Assignments tab on Sakai by 12:15pm on Tuesday 25 March. Essays will be marked down 5% for each day late. Plagiarism will result in a zero for the essay.

• Final exam (25%) For the exam you will be given five essay questions and you will choose three on which to write essay responses. The exam will cover material from the entire course (i.e., not just the first half of the course). You may not use notes, but you will be provided with the Course Schedule from the syllabus. Make-up exams will only be approved in the case of a documented emergency.

READINGS There are two required books, available for purchase at Barnes and Noble or online. All other readings will be available on our Sakai site.

• Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation (2ND Edition, 2010) Edited by Roy Richard Grinker, Stephen C. Lubkemann, and Christopher B. Steiner. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. (Abbreviated as ‘POA’ in the course schedule)

• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Anchor: 2007.

COURSE SCHEDULE 3

Tue 21 Jan (1) Introduction Binyavanga Wainaina, “How to Write About Africa” (2005)

Fri 24 Jan (2) The Map of Africa McNulty, Michael. 1995. "The Contemporary Map of Africa," pp. 3-45, in Africa, Phyllis Martin and Patrick O'Meara, Eds. University Press.

Watch in class: BBC Audio Slideshow: Mapping Africa (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12675464)

Tue 28 Jan (3) Representations of Africa “Introduction” to Part I: Representation and Discourse (POA)

Obbo, Christine. 2006. “But We Know It All! African Perspectives on Anthropological Knowledge.” In African : History, Critique and Practice. Mwenda Ntarangwi, Mustafa Babiker, and David Mills, eds. Pp. 154- 169. New York: Zed Books.

Jean Comaroff and John Comaroff, “Africa Observed: Discourses of the Imperial Imagination” (POA)

Fri 31 Jan (4) Witchcraft, Science, and Rationality MAP QUIZ

“Introduction” to Part V: Witchcraft, Science, and Rationality: The Translation of Culture (POA)

Livingstone, “Conversations on Rain-making” (POA)

Evans-Pritchard, “The Notion of Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events” (POA)

Watch in class: “Strange Beliefs” (2-2522)

Tue 4 Feb (5) Elders and Ancestors “Introduction” to Part VI: Ancestors, God, and the Philosophy of Religion (POA)

Kopytoff, “Ancestors as Elders in Africa” (POA)

W.P. Murphy, “Secret knowledge as property and power in Kpelle society: Elders versus youth.” Africa 50 (1980): 193-207.

Fri 7 Feb (6) Hunter-Gatherers Introduction: to Part IV: Hunter-Gatherers in Africa (POA)

Colin Turnbull, “The Lesson of the Pygmies” (POA)

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Wilmsen, “Land Filled with Flies” (POA)

Watch in class: Selection from “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (2-1212)

Watch in class: “N!ai: The Story of a !Kung Woman” (2-1638)

Tue 11 Feb (7) Tribe, Ethnicity, and Tradition READING RESPONSE 1 DUE

“Introduction” to Part II From Tribe to Ethnicity (POA)

Leroy Vail, “Ethnicity in Southern African History” (POA)

Terrance Ranger, “The Invention of Tradition” (POA—begins page 450)

Fri 14 Feb (8) Women and Femininity “Introduction” to Part VIII: Sex and Gender Studies in Africa: Economy and Society (POA)

Boserup, “The Economics of Polygamy” (POA)

Van Allen, “Sitting on a Man” (POA)

Tue 18 Feb (9) Men and Masculinity Dorothy Hodgson. 1999. "Once Intrepid Warriors": Modernity and the Production of Maasai Masculinities” Ethnology, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 121‐150

Daniel J. Smith. 2008. Intimacy, infidelity, and masculinity in southeastern Nigeria. In Intimacies: Love and Sex Across Cultures. W.R. Jankowiak, ed. Pp. 224-244. New York: Columbia University Press.

Fri 21 Feb (10) Homosexuality and Homophobia E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1970) Sexual inversion among the Azande. American Anthropologist 72(6): 1428-1434.

Jeffery Gettleman. 2010. “U.S. Evangelical’s Role Seen in Anti-Gay Push.” New York Times 4 January.

Ebebezer Obadare “Africa's imaginary Gay crisis” The Guardian (Nigeria) 29 June 2011

Megan Lindow. “Closet Case: How Intolerance Fuels Africa’s AIDS Crisis. TIME 21 July.

Selection of recent articles on gay issues in Africa posted on Sakai

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Watch in class: Woubi Cheri (1998; excerpt)

Tue 25 Feb (11) Colonialism and Social Change READING RESPONSE 2 DUE

“Introduction” to Part IX Europe In Africa: Colonization (POA)

Fredrick Lugard, “The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa: Methods of Ruling Native Races” (POA)

Walter Rodney, “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” (POA)

Watch in class: "This Magnificent African Cake" (2-383)

Fri 28 Feb (12)

Begin reading Half of A Yellow Sun (Part I: pages 1-147)

In class: Watch “The Danger of A Single Story” (TED Talk by Adichie)

Tue 4 March (13)

Continue Half of A Yellow Sun (Part II: pages 148-257)

In class: Watch “Nigerian War Against Biafra 1967-1970” (BBC documentary; available in seven parts on YouTube)

Fri 7 March (14)

Continue Half of A Yellow Sun (Part III: pages 258-324)

Tue 11 March (15)

Finish Half of A Yellow Sun (Part IV: 325- end)

Fri 14 March (16) Lagos: Life in an African Megacity Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, “Nigeria’s Anger to BBC’s Welcome to Lagos film” http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/may/06/nigeria-response-bbc

Elizabeth Rosenthal. “Nigeria Tested By Rapid Rise in Population.” New York Times 14 April 2012.

Watch in class: “Welcome To Lagos, Part 3” (2010 BBC documentary)

-- SPRING BREAK --

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Tue 25 March (17) The Postcolonial State MIDTERM ESSAY DUE

“Introduction” in Part XII Development, Governance, and Globalization (POA)

Bayart, “The State in Africa: The Politics of the Belly” (POA)

Cooper, Frederick. 2002. “The Recurrent Crisis of the Gatekeeper State,” in Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present, pp. 156-190. Cambridge: University Press.

Friday 28 March (18) Development Peter Uvin, “Development Aid and Structural Violence: The Case of Rwanda” (POA)

Perry, Alex. “Silicon Savanna: Mobile Phones Transform Africa,” Time Magazine, June 30, 2011.

Tue 1 April (19) Corruption

Daniel Jordan Smith, “Nigerian Scams as Political Critique: Globalization, Inequality, and 419” (POA)

Ehikhamenor, Victor. Blindness at the Top. New York Times Opinion Pages. 22 January 2014.

Watch in class: “Africa: Living with Corruption” (Directed by Elizabeth Jones, 2008. 52 min).

Fri 4 April (20) Informal Economies K. Hart (1973) “Informal economic opportunities and urban employment in Ghana.” Journal of Modern African Studies 11: 61-89.

Karen T. Hansen. 2004. “Helping or Hindering? Controversies around the International Second-hand Clothing Trade.” Anthropology Today 20(4):3-9.

Watch in Class: “T-Shirt Travels” (2-6027)

Tue 8 April (21) Conflict and Violence “Introduction” in Part XI Violent Transformations: Conflict and Displacement (POA)

Richards, “Fighting for the Rainforest” (POA)

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Christopher C. Taylor, “Sacrifice as Terror: The Rwandan Genocide of 1994” (POA)

Watch in Class: “My Neighbor, My Killer” (directed by Ann Aghion, 2009)

Fri 11 April (22) Health and Healing THIRD RESPONSE PAPER DUE

Harry G. West (2006) “Working the borders to beneficial effect: the not-so- indigenous knowledge of not-so-traditional healers in northern Mozambique.” In Borders and healers: brokering therapeutic resources in southeast Africa. T.J. Luedke and H.G. West, eds. Pp. 21-42. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Elisha P Renne (2006) “Perspectives on polio and immunization in Northern Nigeria.” Social Science & Medicine 63(7): 1857-1869.

Tue 15 April (23) The AIDS Pandemic Leclerc-Madlala, “Virginity Testing: Managing Sexuality in a Maturing HIV/AIDS Epidemic” (POA)

Jack Ume Tocco (2014) “Prophetic medicine, antiretrovirals, and the therapeutic economy of HIV in Northern Nigeria” In Saving Souls, Prolonging Lives: Religion and the Challenges of AIDS Treatment in Africa. Rijk van Dijk, Hansjöerg Dilger, Marian Burchardt, and Thera Rasing (eds.) Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.

Fri 18 April (24) China, Africa and Futures of Development Ellis, Stephen. 2011. “Africa: Progress and Risk.” openDemocracy, May 24, 2011.

Shoumatoff, Alex. 2011. “Agony and Ivory,” Vanity Fair, Aug. 2011, 121-22, 123- 25, 128-29, 132-35.

Wagner, Ethan. 2011. “Niger’s Visitors.” openDemocracy, Feb. 14, 2011.

Adam Nossiter. “Eager to Settle Into China’s Embrace.” New York Times 24 April 2010.

Wambu, Onyekachi. 2007. “Africa’s Chinese Challenge.” openDemocracy, Jan. 30, 2007.

Watch in class: “Is China the new idol for emerging economies?” (TED talk by Dambisa Moyo, 2013)

Tue 22 April (25) Africans in Diaspora E. Akyeampong (2000) “Africans in the diaspora: the diaspora of Africans.” African Affairs 99: 183-216.

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Paul Stoller (2002) Money Has No Smell: The Africanization of , Chapter 1.

Fri 25 April (26) African Film Jonathan Haynes (2000) Introduction. In Nigerian Video Films. Oxford OH: University Press.

Watch in class: selections from contemporary African films

Tue 29 April (27) African Popular Music “Introduction” to Part VII: Arts, Aesthetics, and Heritage (POA)

Kelly Askew, “As Plato Duly Warned: Music, Politics, and Social Change in Costal East Africa” (POA)

Listen in class: selections of contemporary African music

Fri 2 May (28) Exam Review

RESPONSE PAPER 4 DUE

Final Exam: 14 May, 8:00am-11:00am

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