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

This course is cross listed with HIST 214 (America after 1800: Advanced Benjamin Franklin Seminar) when the subject matter is related to African, African American or African diaspora issues.


See the Africana Studies Program's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a description of the current offerings.

This selective survey will examine a variety of the circumstances of sub-Saharan African art, ranging from imperial to nomadic cultures and from ancient times to comtemporary participation in the international market. Iconography, themes and style will be considered, as will questions of modernity, religious impact, tradition and colonialism.

This course provides an introduction to the study of Africa in all its diversity and complexity. Our focus is cultural, geographical, and historical: we will seek to understand Africa s current place in the world political and economic order and learn about the various social and physical factors that have influenced the historical trajectory of the continent. We study the cultural formations and empires that emerged in Africa before European colonial invasion and then how colonialism reshaped those sociocultural forms. We ll learn about the unique kinds of kinship and religion in precolonial Africa and the changes brought about by the spread of Islam and Christianity. Finally, we ll take a close look at contemporary issues such as ethnic violence, migration, popular culture and poverty, and we'll debate the various approaches to understanding those issues.

The elementary Swahili course can be taken to fulfill a language requirement, or for linguistic preparation to do research on East Africa/Africa-related topics. The course emphasizes communicative compentence to enable the students to aquire linguistic and extra-linguistic skills in Swahili. The content of the course is selected from various everyday life situations to enable the students to communicate in predictable commom daily settings. Culture, as it relates to language use, is also part of the course content.


Students will acquire the speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills at the mid-high novice level, based on the ACTFL scale. The mid-high level proficiency skills that the students acquire constitute threshold capabilities of the second semester range of proficiency to prepare students for Elementary Swahili II course materials.

This course will cover southern culture and history from 1607-1860, from Jamestown to secession. It traces the rise of slavery and plantation society, the growth of Southern sectionalism and its explosion into Civil War.

This course will cover southern culture and history from 1607-1860, from Jamestown to secession. It traces the rise of slavery and plantation society, the growth of Southern sectionalism and its explosion into Civil War.

This course will cover southern culture and history from 1607-1860, from Jamestown to secession. It traces the rise of slavery and plantation society, the growth of Southern sectionalism and its explosion into Civil War.

This course will cover southern culture and history from 1607-1860, from Jamestown to secession. It traces the rise of slavery and plantation society, the growth of Southern sectionalism and its explosion into Civil War.