Kwame Nkrumah Revisited A Critical Examination of His Life and Times
NYU – Ghana Course Syllabus
Dr. Michael Williams
This is an interdisciplinary course designed to study the life and times, intellectual thought and practical activity, of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. With the use of a variety of readings and audio-visual materials, this course will critically explore the socioeconomic and political factors that served to shape the life, thought, and times of Kwame Nkrumah. The persons, ideas, and events that influenced Nkrumah and the ideas, persons and events that he also impacted will be covered as well. Students interested in sociology, history, political science, economics, and cultural studies will find this course of particular interest as its subject matter will dovetail into each of these related fields of study.
The following specific areas will be covered over the span of the semester:
AUG 23 SOCIAL BIOGRAPHY OF KWAME NKRUMAH READINGS: Kwame Nkrumah, A Biography. June Milne. Panaf Books, 2006, Chapters 1-3.
AUG 30 POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT READINGS: The History of Africa: The Quest for Eternal Harmony. Molefi Kete Asante. Routledge, 2007, Chapters 11-12.
SEPT 6: EVOLUTION OF THE PAN-AFRICAN MOVEMENT READINGS: “The Pan-African Movement,” Michael Williams. In Africana Studies: A Survey of Africa and the African Diaspora. Mario Azevedo, ed. Carolina Academic Press, 2007, Chapter 10.
SEPT 13: GHANAIAN HISTORICAL CONTEXT READINGS: Ghana: A Concise History from Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century. D.E.K. Amenumey. Woeli Publishing Services, 2008, Chapters 1-3, 5-7.
SEPT 20: COUNTERPARTS AND CONTEMPORARIES READINGS: Pan-African History: Political Figures From Africa and the Diaspora Since 1787. Hakim Adi and Marika Sherwood. Routledge, 2003, Pgs. 64-104; 113-133; 147-155.
SEPT 27: Field Trip to the W.E.B. DuBois Centre & George Padmore Library READINGS: W.E.B. DuBois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963. David Levering Lewis. Henry Holt and Company, 2000. Chapter 2.
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OCT 4: THE IDEOLOGY OF NKRUMAISM READINGS: Kwame Nkrumah’s Contribution to Pan-Africanism: An Afrocentric Analysis. D. Zizwe Poe. University of Sankore Press, 2010. Chapters 8-9.
OCT 11: KWAME NKRUMAH’S POLICIES: DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL READINGS: The Life and Work of Kwame Nkrumah. Kwame Arhin, ed. Sedco, 2001. Part 2, xii.; Part 3, xiii.
OCT 18: MIDTERM BREAK
OCT 25: MIDTERM EXAM
NOV 1: THE FEBRUARY 24, 1966 COUP & POST-COUP GHANA READINGS: ‘Documents Expose US Role in Overthrow of Nkrumah,’ Paul Lee.
NOV 8: LIFE AND TIMES OF NKRUMAH IN GUINEA READINGS: Kwame Nkrumah: The Conakry Years, His Life and Letters. June Milne, ed. Panaf, 2004. Introduction.
NOV 15: CRITICS AND DETRACTORS READINGS: Kwame Nkrumah: The Anatomy of an African Dictatorship. T. Peter Omari. Sankofa Educational Publishers, 2000, Chapter 6.
NOV 22: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITES OF AFRICAN UNITY READINGS: “Speech at the Conference of African Heads of State and Governments at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1963” Kwame Nkrumah. In The Nkrumaist Review: Pan-African Perspectives of African Affairs, Volume 5, Number 1, November 2009, pgs. 26-33.
NOV 29: THE NKRUMAH LEGACY IN RETROSPECT READINGS: “The Legacy of Kwame Nkrumah in Retrospect,” Ama Biney. Journal of Pan-African Studies, Volume 2, Number 3, March 2008, pgs. 129-159.
DEC 6 FINAL EXAM
Quizzes and Exams
There will be three unannounced quizzes and two disclosed exams—a midterm and the final. The quizzes and exams will include, primarily, essay styled questions. The purpose of the quizzes and exams will be to gauge the students’ grasp of the material covered in the class lectures and in the assigned readings as well as to measure the students’ ability to reflect critically on the subject matter of the course.
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Research Paper
A research paper of no less than 12 double-spaced typed pages will be required from each student. The subject matter of the research paper must address one of the subtopics of the course as approved by the professor. All students must turn in a copy of an outline of the specific topic chosen along with a brief annotated bibliography of sources within four weeks from the beginning of the course. The final paper is due, in class, on Tuesday, December 6, 2011.
Grading
The course will consist of three quizzes, worth 15%; two exams, worth 60%; and the research paper, worth 25%. Five points (extra credit) can be earned for consistent classroom participation.
3 Quizzes (5 points each) 15 points 100 – 90 = A 2 Exams (30 points each) 60 points 89 – 80 = B 1 Research Paper 25 points 79 – 70 = C ------69 – 60 = D 100 points 59 – 0 = F