JoAnn D’Alisera
University of Arkansas
Office: 336 Old Main
Office Hours: T/Th 10-11:30
575-4460/2508
dalisera@uark.edu                                                                                                                                                      

Anth 4583: Peoples and Cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa

This course explores the people and places of Africa from a variety of anthropological perspectives.  It is at once an introduction to the cultures of Africa and a history of how those cultures have been perceived and interpreted.  In this course we will examine the cultural practices of a number of selected communities in sub-Saharan Africa that highlight the way in which individual and group identities are constructed, maintained, and contested.  Rejecting from the start the notion that identities are inborn and fixed, we will challenge the way in which western frameworks have produced general images of Africans and build instead an image of the peoples of Africa as diverse and dynamic.  Readings have been chosen to illustrate the vast diversity of social, political, and economic systems in Africa.  Classic and contemporary works will be studied in order to underscore the unity and diversity of African cultures, as well as the importance African societies have played in helping us understand culture/society throughout the world.  As such, we will explore the way in which Africans construct who they are outside of Africa, and ultimately how constructed images are a conflation of the ongoing interaction between and amongst Africans and “Others.”

This course presupposes no prior knowledge about Africa.  While we cannot look at more than a few societies and themes with any degree of depth, students with ongoing interests in African studies will find this course a good introduction for further study.  Students with  interests in other geographic or culture areas should also find this course a good grounding for future study.

Required Texts:

Grinker, Roy and Christopher Steiner (eds.)
1997   Perspectives on Africa:  A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation.  Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Hamilton, Carolyn
1998   Terrific Majesty: The Powers of Shaka Zulu and the Limits of Historical Invention.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Pieterse, Jan Nederveen
1992    White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture.  New Haven: Yale University Press.

Requirements:

Book Reviews (200pts/100pts each )

You will write a 5-8 page book review for Hamilton and Pieterse.  The review should describe the authors intent, the issues addressed, and the broad and specific questions posed by the author.  However, it should not be a mere regurgitation of the authors ideas, but include a thoughtful assessment of those ideas.  It should show me that you have read the book carefully, and participated in class discussions.  It should be concise, clear, and well written.  All direct quotes and key ideas from the text should be properly acknowledged and a standard reference/citation format should be used. I prefer American Anthropologist or American Ethnologist style.  Guidelines for each of these reference/citation formats will be placed on reserve in the Anthropology Reading Room (room 332 Old Main).

Weekly Reviews ( 200pts/20pts each  )

You will hand in once a week (Tuesday) a 2-3 page review of the previous week’s readings (Grinker and Steiner only).  Your review should be a thoughtful assessment of the weekly readings that incorporates issues raised by readings from past sessions.

Participation/Reading Groups ( 200pts)

You will be assigned to a reading group at the start of the semester.  Your group will be responsible for presenting an assigned set of readings from the syllabus.  I expect everyone in the group and in the entire class to participate in discussing the readings.  So it is expected that you read all assigned material prior to class.  Come prepared to discuss and/or ask questions. 

Format for Written Assignments

Please note that all assignments should be typed and doubled-spaced.  Type should be no smaller than 10pt or larger than 12pt.  You may use any common, distinctly legible, non-script font.  Failure to adhere to these standards will result in a loss of points.

Academic Honesty

I expect that all written work that you turn in for this class is ultimately authored by you and you alone.  Any student found to be deliberately copying from the written work of someone else (this includes fellow students, a published author or anyone else) without acknowledgment will receive 0 points for that assignment.  In severe cases (100% plagiarism) you will receive an F for the entire course.  There will be NO second chances.  If you are unsure what constitutes legitimate paraphrasing vs plagiarism please see me or check your University Catalog.

 Grading

You are expected to complete ALL written assignments.  If you fail to hand in an assignment you will receive an F for that assignment.  If you fail to hand in an assignment ON TIME  I will deduct  10%  from the grade for that assignment.  Late papers will  be accepted only after you have consulted with me and within one week of the due date.  Class discussions are structured around readings.  I expect you to have completed ALL of the assigned readings for a given day and that you come to class prepared to discuss and/or ask questions related to those readings.  This is not a course in which passive note taking and night-before-the-test memorization are important.  I want you to think, actively and often.

Grading Scale

Your final grade will be based on the total number of points you have accumulated for all assignments. Your grade will be a percentage of that score.  The percentages to be used are as follows:

A  90-100%;   B  80-89%;   C  70-79%;   D  60-69%;  F  Below 60%

Grading Philosophy -- Written Assignments

My grading philosophy is as follows:

An A paper is an excellent paper that uses information from class readings and independent research to make an argument that is not simply a repetition of arguments made in those readings, but goes well beyond them.  An A paper should be a sophisticated, insightful, and convincingly made synthesis of ethnographic and theoretical resources.  An A paper is very well written, that is, your paper should have outstanding grammar, spelling and organizational style.

A B paper is an above average paper that contains good coverage of topics covered in class readings and independent research.  A B paper should be an articulate synthesis of ethnographic and theoretical resources.  A B paper is well written with good grammar, spelling and organizational style.

A C paper is an average paper that recapitulates information correctly from class readings and independent research.  It may be a B paper with some shortcomings.

A D paper is a paper with errors in information (these range from misidentifying authors, people, and places- including misspellings- to broader misrepresentations).  A D paper is poorly written with numerous mistakes in grammar and spelling.  A D paper is poorly organized.

An F paper is riddled with error, is badly written, and makes no attempt beyond repeating (albeit badly) information.  Or it may reveal openly that the writer has not done the work upon which the assignment was based.

Inclement Weather

In icy or snowy weather, I will have a voice mail message (575-4460) about whether or not class will be held.

Please note if you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me A.S.A.P.

COURSE OUTLINE

Perspectives on Africa

Week 1   1/16 – 18
From Tribe to Ethnicity: Kinship and Social  Organization
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 1-86

Week 2  1/23 –25
Economics as a Cultural System
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 87-210
Weekly Review Due

Week 3   1/30 –2/1  
Hunter-Gatherer Studies in Africa: The Mbuti, the !Kung San, and Current Debates
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 211-293
Weekly Review Due

Week 4    2/6 – 2/8
Witchcraft, Science, and Rationality: The Translation of Culture
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 293-358
Film: Sir E. Evans-Pritchard: Strange Beliefs
Weekly Review Due

Week 5    2/13 – 2/15
Ancestors, Gods and the Philosophy of Religion
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 359-422
Weekly Review Due

Week 6    2/20 – 2/22
Arts and Aesthetics
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 423-496
Film: In and Out of Africa
Weekly Review Due

Week 7   2/27 – 3/1
Sex and Gender Studies in Africa
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 497-566
Weekly Review Due

Week 8   3/6 – 3/8
Europe in Africa: Colonization
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 567-622
Weekly Review Due

Week 9   3/13 – 3/15
Nations and Nationalism
Grinker and Steiner, pp. 623-678
Film: Frantz Fanon: Black Skin, White Mask
Weekly Review Due

Week 10 3/20 – 3/22
SPRING BREAK !

Week 11 3/27 – 3/29
Representation and Discourse
Grinker and Steiner, pp.  679-731
Film: Black Athena
Weekly Review Due

White on Black: Images of Africa and Blacks in Western Popular Culture

Week 12   4/3 – 4/5
Pieterse, pp. 9-123
Weekly Review Due

Week 13    4/10 – 4/12
Pieterse, pp. 124-211

Week 14    4/17 – 4/19
Pieterse, pp. 212-235
Film: Color Adjustment
Book Review (Pieterse) Due

Terrific Majesty: The Powers of Shaka Zulu and the Limits of Historical Invention

Week 15    4/24 – 4/26
Hamilton, pp. 1-129

Week 16    5/1 – 5/3
Hamilton. pp. 130-206
Book Review (Hamilton) Due