The presence of Africans and their descendants produced a complex visual culture in colonial and 19th century Latin America. This course introduces students to a rich body of imagery from the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Americas in order to explore the multiplicity of meanings ascribed to Blackness across the region; from colonial conceptions rooted in lineage and bloodlines, to the construction of race as an material and biological 'fact' in the 19th century. Sources include the casta paintings of colonial Mexico, fashion and material culture, the popular iconography and print culture forged by costumbrismo, and late 19th century photography. Focusing on several countries including Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Peru, this seminar provides a thematic exploration of these sources through topics including slavery, citizenship, national identities, religion, self-fashioning and resistance. The aim is to explore how ideas of Blackness were configured, imposed and remade, through representations of Afrodescendants in the visual arts, and the production and use of visual and material culture in Black self-fashioning and collective identities.

This course examines the history, politics, and significance of foreign aid to Africa since the late 19th century. While we do not typically think about the European colonial period in Africa in terms of 'foreign aid,' that era introduced ideas and institutions which formed the foundations for modern aid policies and practices. So we start there and move forward into more contemporary times. In addition to examining the objectives behind foreign assistance and the intentions of donors and recipients, we will look at some of the consequences (intended or unintended) of various forms of foreign aid to Africa over the past century. While not designed to be a comprehensive history of development theory, of African economics, or of international aid organizations, the course will touch on all of these topics. Previous coursework on Africa is strongly advised.

This course will be a broad overview on current health, culture and development topics in Ghana. The health segment will focus on the experience, treatment and impact of sickle cell anemia. The course will cover basic principles of Ghanaian culture as it relates to health and development. The first part of the class will be taught through lectures, case studies, discussions on campus and a local field trip in the Philadelphia area. The second part of the course will involve a field trip to Ghana during spring break to help students gain a global perspective on a health and development topics that impact Africans across the diaspora. For more information: https://global.upenn.edu/pennabroad/pgs.

This course will be a broad overview on current health, culture and development topics in Ghana. The health segment will focus on the experience, treatment and impact of sickle cell anemia. The course will cover basic principles of Ghanaian culture as it relates to health and development. The first part of the class will be taught through lectures, case studies, discussions on campus and a local field trip in the Philadelphia area. The second part of the course will involve a field trip to Ghana during spring break to help students gain a global perspective on a health and development topics that impact Africans across the diaspora. For more information: https://global.upenn.edu/pennabroad/pgs.

This course is about how to apply a race, gender and LGBTQ lens to support contemporary social justice movements in the U.S. and globally, including Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, transgender equality, and disability justice. We will explore intersectionality as a theoretical framework, and how it is practically applied to support social justice organizations and leaders, and fund social change. Over the course of the semester, Professor of Practice Roz Lee, a black lesbian feminist and lifelong racial, gender, LGBTQ and economic justice advocate, and who currently serves as Vice President of Strategy and Programs at the Ms. Foundation for Women, will be joined by movement leaders and philanthropy colleagues to discuss and analyze what's happening on the frontlines of movements for equity, justice and freedom.

This interdisciplinary seminar aims to introduce students to the countries of North Africa, with a focus on the Maghreb and Libya (1830-present). It does so while examining the region's close economic and cultural connections to sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Readings will include histories, political analyses, anthropological studies, and novels, and will cover a wide range of topics such as colonial and postcolonial experiences, developments in Islamic thought and practice, and labor migration. This class is intended for juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Prerequisite: A university-level survey course in Middle Eastern, African, or Meditterranean history.

The end of colonial rule was the springboard for the start of cold wars in various regions of Africa. Where peace could not be maintained violence erupted. Even where secession has been attained, as in the new country of South Sudan, the threat of civil war lingers. While domestic politics have led to the rise of armed conflicts and civil wars in many African countries, the external factors should also not be ignored. Important in all current conflicts is the concern to international peace and security. Overall this course will: (1) investigate the general nature of armed conflicts in Africa (2) provide in-depth analysis of the underlying factors (3) and discuss the regional and the international responses to these conflicts and their implications. Special emphasis will be placed upon African conflicts and civil wars in: great Lakes area, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda.

In this course, we will explore race and ethnicity in the Roman world by focusing on the life and works of Roman Africans and the ways in which non-African Romans engaged with and presented the peoples of Africa. The course covers Roman literature in translation from the comedies of Plautus produced in the late 3rd - 2nd centuries BCE, to African Christian writing of the 5th century CE. It also covers a wide range of genres: we will examine how Roman writers articulate questions of race in comedy and satire, epic, history, biography, and elegy among others. We will read African writers (Apuleius, Augustine) and ask how their Africanness influences their works. We will read Roman accounts of journeys to Africa, wars with Africa, and encounters with Africans to ask how the Romans saw themselves as different from or similar to Africans. The course will also explore in more general terms how Romans talk about race: did racism exist? What aspects of different cultures and peoples did Romans choose to emphasize when they talked of non-Romans?