This brief guide from Boston University for understanding Boko Haram goes behind the headlines about “Islamic militants” to the more complicated story about poverty, corruption and Islam in Nigerian politics. The guide is divided into 8 topics, each one shorter, sometimes much shorter, than a page. Resources for further reading are also included. Click here to …
Course Description Hausa is a Chadic language (a branch of the Afro-Asiatic family) spoken by more than 34 million people in parts of Nigeria, Niger, and Chad, and as a trade language by another 18 million people throughout West Africa (especially Benin, Ghana, Cameroon, Togo, and Côte d’Ivoire), Central Africa (Chad, Central African Republic, Equatorial …
Africa studies student Kaylah Cruz Herrera shared her study abroad experience in Morocco with students at Madison’s Toki Middle School through the WIOC-Urban League initiative. Herrera, a sophomore political science major and African studies certificate holder, spent one year in Marrakech, Morocco studying Arabic, enabled by the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program. During …
The Department of African Languages and Literature is asking for paper submissions for their Graduate Student Seminar, “Mobility, Narrative, and Language.” The Graduate Student Conference will provide an academic opportunity for new discussions of mobility, narrative, and African languages, and the possible avenues through which we might theorize the relationship between mobility and narrative on …
Course Description “Popular culture” as a category is a relatively new object of study in academia, and it has much to do with learning from the analysis of discourses that are unofficial, informal, or primarily commercial. Given the history of the perception of Africa as a site of only “primitive” or “derivative” cultural production, this …
The Chronicle of Higher Education writes of Harold Scheub’s love for African folktales and interviews several who had the opportunity to listen to his storytelling over the years. From classroom animation to entertaining at house parties, Scheub had “the ability to convert students into lifetime lovers of African folktales” as well, according to the article. …
277 Africa: An Introductory Survey Cross-listed in African Languages and Literature, Afro-American Studies, Anthropology, Geography, History, Political Science, and Sociology Instructor: Neil Kodesh, History Number of Teaching Assistants needed: 3 Eligibility: Applicants must be UW – Madison graduate students in good standing, making normal progress toward a degree, specializing in the study of Africa in …
The United Nations Children’s Fund recently announced the Global Citizen Fellowship-Education, a 13-month program that “prepares diverse, committed, and globally-minded individuals for effective leadership in public service.” The deadline to apply is April 25, 2014. Learn more about eligibility, the application, and other details.
Course Description The African literature this course studies arises from a creative will to bring a new community into being. It is fueled, at the same time, by a desire to undo the destructive legacy of racism and oppression bequeathed by centuries of Portuguese colonial domination. Since, in several instances, this desire led to a …
Course Description This course examines the rich heritage of African arts and architecture as they shape and have been shaped by the histories and cultural values (social, political, religious, philosophical, and aesthetic) of African peoples. Classes, organized either chronologically or thematically, will include: artists’ demonstrations, films, guest speakers, museum visits, and performances. We will make …