HIS 369 - Urban Africa/Popular Culture

Instructor
Weimers, Bowles

How have African cities been imagined and experienced? Jointly offered in Africana Studies, Anthropology, and History, this course uses contemporary popular media, ethnographic texts, and historical artifacts to explore intersections of gender, ethnicity, race, and class in 20th c. African cities. We will give particular attention to visual and material culture, including radio, film, photography, and urban transit cultures. Additionally, the course examines how representations of Africa, within the nation-state and transnationally, have shaped both popular culture and academic writing about African cities. Drawing on our training in anthropology and history, we will ask how popular cultural forms can serve as a basis for powerful critiques of scholarly gazes, disciplinary boundaries, and traditional academic forms.

Satisfies a major and minor requirement in History and Anthropology
Satisfies a requirement in the Africana Studies major (Geographic Region: Africa).
Satisfies a Historical Thought requirement.
Satisfies a cultural diversity requirement.

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