College of Arts & Sciences

African Studies

Director James A. Pritchett


African Studies Center


The African Studies Center offers an interdisciplinary African studies minor, as well as courses in African languages that fulfill the College language requirement. It also coordinates graduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, and encourages research and teaching on Africa. The center’s offices, classrooms, and facilities for lectures and conferences are on the fourth floor of 264–270 Bay State Road. Films and symposia are sponsored throughout the year, as are lectures by distinguished visiting scholars, journalists, faculty, and policymakers. Workshops are held on various development-related topics and in the African humanities. The center publishes a historical journal, working papers, and volumes in its African Studies Series, and it contributes to the support of the extensive research collection of the African Studies Library, which occupies the sixth floor of Mugar Memorial Library. The center’s Outreach Program maintains a collection of slides, films, records, videos, and other materials for loan to Boston-area educators, and sponsors workshops for African curriculum development.


Minor Concentration in African Languages and Literatures

The African languages and literatures minor concentration combines language and linguistic study with the study of written literature and oral traditions in the African context. In-depth knowledge of an African language of the student’s choosing is applied in courses in cultural and linguistic anthropology, sociology of language, language in government and education, literature, and folklore and oral traditions. This minor concentration is made up of required and elective courses from the African Studies Center, as well as elective courses from other College of Arts & Sciences departments.


Required Courses One year of 300-level study of an African language (two courses) is required together with the following two courses:


CAS LL 280 Introduction to the Literatures of Africa (in English translation)


CAS LL 453 Form and Function in African Oral Literature


If either CAS LL 280 or LL 453 is not offered in a given year, an acceptable alternative may be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.


Electives Students are required to select two elective courses. The following are representative of those courses that may be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.


CAS AN 351 Language, Culture, and Society


CAS LL 482 The Structure of Creole Languages


Students can pursue special interests in the format of the directed study course, within the scope of the minor concentration.


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Minor Concentration in African Studies (0305)


The African Studies minor concentration is open to all undergraduates who meet the following requirements:


1. Six courses must be chosen from three or more disciplines to constitute a coherent program of study. These courses must be approved by an advisor from the African Studies faculty.

2. Four of the six courses must be outside the discipline of the student’s concentration.

3. CAS ID 116 Africa Today is required. Students with an unusually good preparation in African studies may petition to have this requirement waived.

4. Three courses must be at the 300 level or above.

5. A senior proseminar is required.

6. A grade of C or better is required for courses to be accepted for the minor concentration.


Courses for the African Studies minor concentration may be selected from the following:


Interdisciplinary Studies


CAS ID 116 Africa Today: The Beat of Popular Culture

Core course in the African studies minor concentration. Provides a fresh view of African popular culture through the lens of contemporary literature, film, television, music, dance, and the visual arts. 4 cr, 2nd sem.


African American Studies


CAS AA 316 African Diaspora Arts in the Americas


CAS AA 385 Atlantic History


CAS AA 396 State and Commerce in Atlantic Africa, 1450–1850


CAS AA 489 The African Diaspora in the Americas


CAS AA 514 Comparative Slavery


CAS AA 588 Women, Power, and Culture in Africa


African Languages


Hausa


CAS LA 111 First-Semester Hausa


CAS LA 112 Second-Semester Hausa


CAS LA 211 Third-Semester Hausa


CAS LA 212 Fourth-Semester Hausa


Bambara


CAS LD 113 First-Semester Mandinka/Bambara


CAS LD 114 Second-Semester Mandinka/Bambara


CAS LD 213 Third-Semester Mandinka/Bambara


CAS LD 214 Fourth-Semester Mandinka/Bambara


Pulaar


CAS LU 111 First-Semester Pulaar


CAS LU 112 Second-Semester Pulaar


CAS LU 211 Third-Semester Pulaar


CAS LU 212 Fourth-Semester Pulaar


Wolof


CAS LW 111 First-Semester Wolof


CAS LW 112 Second-Semester Wolof


CAS LW 211 Third-Semester Wolof


CAS LW 212 Fourth-Semester Wolof


Swahili


CAS LE 111 First-Semester Swahili


CAS LE 112 Second-Semester Swahili


CAS LE 211 Third-Semester Swahili


CAS LE 212 Fourth-Semester Swahili


CAS LE 311 Fifth-Semester Swahili


CAS LE 312 Sixth-Semester Swahili


Setswana/Sesotho


CAS LD 117 First-Semester Setswana/Sesotho


CAS LD 118 Second-Semester Setswana/Sesotho


CAS LD 217 Third-Semester Setswana/Sesotho


CAS LD 218 Fourth-Semester Setswana/Sesotho


isiXhosa


CAS LM 111 First-Semester isiXhosa


CAS LM 112 Second-Semester isiXhosa


CAS LM 211 Third-Semester isiXhosa


CAS LM 212 Fourth-Semester isiXhosa


Yoruba


CAS LO 111 First-Semester Yoruba


CAS LO 112 Second-Semester Yoruba


CAS LO 211 Third-Semester Yoruba


CAS LO 212 Fourth-Semester Yoruba


isiZulu


CAS LD 115 First-Semester isiZulu


CAS LD 116 Second-Semester isiZulu


CAS LD 215 Third-Semester isiZulu


CAS LD 216 Fourth-Semester isiZulu


Other African Languages and Linguistics


CAS LD 281 African Languages, Culture, and Society (in English translation)


CAS LX 501 Linguistic Field Methods


CAS LX 533 The Structure of Creole Languages


Anthropology


CAS AN 240 Legal Anthropology


CAS AN 285 Coping with Crisis in Contemporary Africa


CAS AN 312 Peoples and Cultures of Africa


CAS AN 351 Language, Culture, and Society


CAS AN 520 Nilotic Peoples: African Culture in Depth


CAS AN 585 Seminar: Advanced Readings in African Ethnography


Archaeology


CAS AR 232 Archaeology of Ancient Egypt


CAS AR 513 Studies in African Archaeology


Art History


CAS AH 215 Arts of Africa


CAS AH 315 African Architecture


CAS AH 316 African Diaspora Arts in the Americas


CAS AH 430 Seminar: African Art


Economics


CAS EC 387 Introduction to Health Economics


CAS EC 581 Health Economics I


Geography


CAS GE 356 Geography of Third World Development


History


CAS HI 291 Reconstructing the African Past


CAS HI 292 Colonialism in Africa: Impact and Aftermath


CAS HI 371 African American History


CAS HI 385 Atlantic History


CAS HI 394 Environmental History of Africa


CAS HI 396 State and Commerce in Atlantic Africa, 1450–1850


CAS HI 484 Revolutionary Change in North Africa and the Middle East


CAS HI 485 Selected Problems in the Modern Middle East


CAS HI 488 Life Histories of African Women


CAS HI 489 The African Diaspora in the Americas


CAS HI 584 Comparative Slavery


CAS HI 595 Morocco: History on the Cusp of Three Continents


International Relations


CAS IR 383 Understanding Modern North Africa


CAS IR 430 Africa and Globilization: Opportunities and Obstacles


CAS IR 507 The Muslim and Western Worlds—Prospects for a Clash of Civilizations


Literature and Film


CAS LF 456 The Postcolonial Novel


CAS LL 280 Introduction to the Literatures of Africa (in English translation)


CAS LL 285 Images from Africa: Introduction to African Cinema


Political Science


CAS PO 351 Politics of Race and Ethnicity


CAS PO 560 Politics and Society in North Africa and the Middle East


CAS PO 565 Government and Politics of Contemporary Africa


CAS PO 566 Political Systems of Southern Africa


Niamey, Niger

Students may take courses in Hausa to fulfill their language requirement and courses toward a minor concentration in African languages and literatures or as electives in the Boston University Study Abroad Program in Niger. Additional information on this program is available in the Study Abroad and Internship Programs section of this site.


Dakar, Senegal


Students may take courses through the six-week Senegalese Studies Program in Dakar, Senegal. Students may choose to study Wolof, one of the principal languages spoken in Senegal. Students live with Senegalese families. Upon successful completion of the program, students earn eight Boston University credits.


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16 October 2008
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