Current Term's Course List

The current term's courses listed by originating department, with additional information on African Studies Programs' major/minor requirements, is available here as a PDF file (for Fall 2009) .

The list for Spring 2010 will be published here when it is available. If you cannot open the PDF file get Adobe's free Acrobat Reader .

Core Courses
*Cross-listed with African Studies

African Studies
AFST		199		Undergraduate Open Seminar
AFST		222		Introduction to Modern Africa
AFST		515		Practicum in African Studies
AFST		522		Development of African Studies
AFST		550		Special Topics
AFST		599		Thesis Research
Afro-American Studies
*AFRO		103		Black Women in the Diaspora
AFRO		261		Intro to the African Diaspora
*AFRO		415		Africana Feminisms
AFRO		490		Theory in African American Studies
AFRO		491		Methodology in African American Studies
*AFRO		560		African Diaspora Seminar
Agricultural and Consumer Economics
*ACE		254		Economic Systems in Africa
ACE		454		Econ Dev of Tropical Africa
Anthropology
ANTH		102		Human Origins and Culture
ANTH		107		Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
*ANTH		266		African Film and Society
*ANTH		267		Memoirs of Africa
ANTH		448		The Prehistory of Africa
ANTH		467		Cultures of Africa
ANTH		468		Religions of Africa
ANTH		504		Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Art History
ARTH		113		Introduction to African Art
ARTH		310		African Art and Society I
ARTH		311		African Art and Society II
*ARTH		312		Central African Art
ARTH		410		West African Art and Ideas
*ARTH		413		Sacred African Diaspora Arts
*ARTH		510		Seminar in African Arts
Comparative and World Literature
CWL		189		Lit of Asia & Africa I
CWL		190		Lit of Asia & Africa II
CWL		205		Islam & West Through Lit
Economics
ECON		450		Development Economics
English
ENGL		112		Literature of Global Culture
*ENGL		211		Intro to Mod African Lit
ENGL		285		Postcolonial Lit in English
*ENGL		470		Modern African Fiction
French
FR		219		Intro to Francophone Lit
*FR		240		Constr Afr and Carib Identity
FR		479		Studies in Francophonie
Geography
GEOG		101		Geog of Developing Countries
GEOG		455		Geog of Central & South Africa
GEOG		520		Political Ecology

Gender and Women’s Studies
GWS		380		Black Women Hist & Cultures
History
HIST		110		History of Africa
HIST		210		History North & West Africa
HIST		211		History East & Southern Africa
HIST		410		20thC Africa Colonial Era
HIST		411		Africa 1945 to the Present
*HIST		412		Southern Africa Race & Power
HIST		413		The Horn of Africa
*HIST		438		Egypt Since World War I
*HIST		510		Problems in African History
*HIST		511		Seminar in African History
Landscape Architecture
LA		220		Exploring African Cities
Law
LAW		693		Clinical Training
				(Topic: Adv’d International Human Rights Clinics
				Topic: International Human Rights)
Library and Information Science
LIS		530		Info Needs of Part Communities
				(Topic: Bibliography of Africa)

Linguistics
*LING		412		Lang in African Culture & Soc
LING		420		Intro to African Linguistics
LING		465		Introduction to Bantu Syntax
*LING		469		Structure of Semitic Languages
LING		510		Topics in African Linguistics
Music
MUS		133		Introduction to World Music
MUS		252		Ethnomusicology Perf Ensembles (Topic: Mbira)
MUS		417		Area Studies Ethnomusicology (Topic: African Music)
MUS		450		Advanced Ensemble Music (Topic: Mbira)
Political Science
PS		241		Comp Politics in Dev Nations
*PS		243		Pan Africanism
PS		341		Gov & Pol in Africa
PS		544		Politics of African States
Religious Studies
RLST		214		Introduction to Islam
RLST		403		Women in Muslim Societies
RLST		408		Islam and Modern Society
South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
SAME		133		Intro to the World of Islam
Sociology
SOC		122		Africa in World Perspective

Theatre
THEA		199		Undergraduate Open Seminar (Topic: Women in Theatre in Africa)
THEA		591		Special Problems (Topic: Women in Theatre in Africa)
Urban Planning
UP		199		Undergraduate Open Seminar (Topic: Cities In Global Perspective)
UP		423		Intro International Planning (Topic: Community Development in the 3rd World)
UP		521		International Planning Seminar

African Language Course Listing
Arabic, Standard Elementary, Intermediate, & Advanced
Arabic, Undergraduate Open Seminar
Arabic, Colloquial Arabic I & II
Arabic, Topics in Arabic Language & Literature, I & II
Arabic, Advanced Topics in Arabic Language & Literature, I & II
Bamana, Elementary, Intermediate, & Advanced
Lingala, Elementary, Intermediate, & Advanced
Lingala, Topics in Lingala Language & Literature, I & II
Swahili, Elementary, Intermediate, & Advanced
Swahili, Topics in Swahili Language & Literature, I & II
Swahili, Advanced Topics in Swahili Language & Literature, I & II
Wolof, Elementary, Intermediate, & Advanced
Wolof, Topics in Wolof Language & Literature, I & II
Zulu, Elementary, Intermediate, & Advanced

Additional Courses

From time to time, depending on instructor availability, we offer additional limited-time courses. When these special courses are available we post information about them here.


Landscapes, Commemoration, and Trauma: Slavery Sites

AFRO 398/ AFRO 598/ AFST 550/ LA 390/ LA 590
Spring 2010, M/W, 2-4
Instructor: Rebecca Ginsburg
Email: rginsbur@illinois.edu

Why do we commemorate the past? Is commemoration ever socially irresponsible? Can the physical form of a commemoration support any healing functions, or undermine them? And how do the answers to these questions change when it comes to commemorating horrific episodes of the past, such as slavery? This seminar applies theory to practice in a real historical setting.

More information is available here as a PDF file.


African Women in Theatre

AFST 550 & THEA 399/591
Spring 2010, M/W 2:00 – 3:50PM
Professor Kathy Perkins
Contace: kaperkin@illinois.edu

This course will examine the lives of women from Africa through theatre. The primary goal of this course is to heighten awareness, understanding and appreciation for theatre performed and written by these artists/writers. Both published and unpublished material
will be used, along with audio/video tapes of various productions and interviews .

More information is available here as a PDF file.

Carnivals and Festivals of the African Diaspora

AFST 550 & THEA 399/591
Spring 2010, Tues. 2:00 – 4:50 pm
Professor: Kathy A. Perkins, Department of Theatre
Contact: kaperkin@illinois.edu

With the abolishment of slavery in the Americas, newly freed Africans and their descendants claimed Carnival and transformed it into an expression of freedom. Not only was Carnival a way to express this new found freedom, but it also became a vehicle for cultural survival. This course will examine the role of Carnival and various festivals in the African Diaspora, and explore its history and its many theatrical forms.

More information is available here as a PDF file.

Islamic Law
Course Location and Time: Room G30, Foreign Languages Bldg., Mon. 5:00-7:30pm
Fall 2009
Instructor: Mohammad H. Khalil

This course will introduce students to Islamic legal philosophy and the historical evolution of Islamic legal and jurisprudential systems. We will begin by studying the origins, nature, sources, and interpretive methodologies of classical Islamic law, and the main institution for upholding this law, the madhhab, or school of law, examining its development from the formative to the post-formative periods and highlighting important controversies generated along the way. We will then look at the early encounter of Islamic law with modernity. This will be followed by an exploration of several contemporary topics that have served as catalysts for new tensions and alternative approaches and interpretive theories. (3 credits UG; 4 credits Grad)

For more information, contact Mohammad H. Khalil: khalil@uiuc.edu

African and Carribbean Love Stories (French 240: Constructing African and Caribbean Identity)
Course Location and Time: 226 Wohlers Hall, MWF 12-12:50 pm
Fall 2009
Instructor: John Nimis

In this course, we will look at the ways African and Caribbean writers and artists imagine and portray love in literature, film, and music: heartbreak and passion, infidelity and forbidden love, marriage and diverce, as well as brotherly love, religious love, love of parents for children and intercultural love. These most human and intimate themes will be our window into modern African and Caribbean cultures, revealing tensions between tradition and modernity, family and community, masculinity and femininity. This course satisfies the General Education criteria for a Non-Western cultures course. It will be taught in English. Credit is not applicable to the major or minor in French.

For more information, visit the website

Climate and Social Vulnerability: Concepts and Policy Approaches (Geography 594: Seminar in Social Approaches)
Course Location and Time: Room 137C Davenport Hall, Tuesdays 2-4:50pm
Fall 2009
Instructor: Jesse C. Ribot

This course explores how policy can produce or reduce vulnerability. It will examine: social and political-economic causes of climate-related stress and disaster, theories of vulnerability and adaptation, and practices and policies designed to reduce economic loss, hunger, famine, and dislocation in the face of climate trends and events. This course will focus on multiple policy scales affecting poor and marginal populations, who are disproportionately vulnerable when facing climate stress. It will draw on case examples primarily from the developing world.

More information is available here as a PDF file.

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