This course uses the history of black displacement to examine community power and advocacy. It examines the methods of advocacy (e.g. case, class, and legislative) and political action through which community activists can influence social policy development and community and institutional change. The course also analyzes selected strategies and tactics of change and seeks to develop alternative roles in the group advocacy, lobbying, public education and public relations, electoral politics, coalition building, and legal and ethical dilemmas in political action. Case studies of neighborhood displacement serve as central means of examing course topics.

Topics vary. See the Africana Studies Department's course list at https://africana.sas.upenn.edu for a description of the current offering.


Fall 2017:After an examination of the philosophical, legal, and political perspectives on Human Rights, this course will focus on US policies and practices relevant to Human Rights. Toward that end, emphasis will be placed on both the domestic and the international aspects of Human Rights as reflected in US policies and practices. Domestically, the course will discuss (1) the process of incorporating the International Bill of Human Rights into the American legal system and (2) the US position on and practices regarding the political, civil, economic, social, and cultural rights of minorities and various other groups within the US. Internationally, the course will examine US Human Rights policies toward Africa. Specific cases of Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt, as well as other cases from the continent, will be presented in the assessment of US successes and failures in the pursuit of its Human Rights strategy in Africa. Readings will include research papers, reports, statutes, treaties, and cases.

Urban development has been influenced by religious conceptions of social and economic justice. Progressive traditions within Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Baha'i, Humanism and other religions and systems of moral thought have yielded powerful critiques of oppression and hierarchy as well as alternative economic frameworks for ownership, governance, production, labor, and community. Historical and contemporary case studies from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East will be considered, as we examine the ways in which religious responses to poverty, inequality, and ecological destruction have generated new forms of resistance and development.

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 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 analysis, 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.

This course will primarily consider case studies in Africa with a view to drawing comparisons with conflict geographies here at home (in Philadelphia or where you consider home to be). Conflicts on the African continent are some of the least well understood by lay publics; often characterized as the result of pre-modern tribalism and a naturalized consequence of state dysfunction or resource scarcity. In this course, we will demystify the notion that war is inevitable or that some cultures are naturally prone to conflict. We will do so by examining some of the underlying challenges to consensus and peace in cities and countries in Africa, drawing connection to conditions, both historic and contemporary, that exist closer to home. After all-and as recent conflict conflict geographies such as the Dakota Access Pipeline, Charlottesville Rally, and Women's March remind us-spaces and communities in in the United States are rife with struggle and contestation. Throughout the semester, we will ask: How do individuals experience conflict? What roles do spaces have in structuring oppression, activating conflicts, resisting power, and building peace? How is the study of conflict-understood as both routine contestation and violent confrontation-informed by research on built and natural environments? This is a course that will require the active


participation of every individual-in completing all readings, preparing questions and comments, and debating issues with respect and openness. There are no other prerequisites for this course, nor preferred disciplinary concentrations. We will draw from our collective experiences (academic and and personal) to discuss research in diverse fields, including Anthropology, Conflict and Peace Studies, Geography, Political Ecology, and Urban Studies.

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.

Al- Andalus, the Muslim Kingdom of Spain, is the point of departure for this Penn Global Course which looks at the history, religion, and memories of the Andalusian Peninsula in Spain. The purpose of this course is to investigate the interreligious lives of Muslims, Christians, and Jews during what is called the Convivencia, or La Convivencia. This time refers to a time when Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in peace before the Reconquista, or reconquest of Spain by Catholics in 1492. Our task is to not only understand this history, but to understand how convivencia is a problematic,but useful term in understanding this time period of great cultural growth,building, and religious innovation.