Course Description
Wakanda forever! Do you have the critical tools to engage with all the forms of cultural expression, related to Africa and the African diaspora, that form the backcloth of so much contemporary cultural production around the world? This course can help you bring all the stars closer.
African 100 introduces undergraduates to methods of studying African and African-diaspora cultural expression that are employed in the Department of African Cultural Studies (ACS). The course features lectures by ACS faculty and advanced graduate students, who present introductory portraits of their respective research areas and the subdisciplines to which they are attached. Topics range from literary and visual culture analysis to the study of African languages and discourse; contemporary media (e.g., film, television, cartooning, journalism, internet platforms) to performance genres (music, HipHop, theater). Through an introduction to these many areas of inquiry, students gain a new understanding of Africa and the African diaspora as cultural fields, together with an appreciation of the many theories and theoretical concepts—such as cultural circulation, colonialism, neoliberalism, religion, aesthetics, race, indigeneity—that can be used to analyze them.
Course Details
African 100: Introduction to African Cultural Expression
3 credits
Tues./Thurs. 11:00AM-12:15PM
108 Plant Sciences
Fall 2018
About the Instructor
Matthew H. Brown is a specialist of African screen media, with a focus on “Nollywood,” Nigeria’s video film industry. He also writes about television, literature, and popular music. His teaching includes courses on African screen media, African oral traditions, African literature, and melodrama in Africa.