The Elementary Amharic I course can be taken to fulfill a language requirement, or for linguistic preparation to do research on Ethiopia/Africa-related topics. The course emphasizes communicative competence to enable the students to acquire linguistic and extra-linguistic skills in Amharic. 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 writting skills at the mid-high novice level, based on the ACTFL scale. The mid-high novice level proficiency skills that the students will acquire constitute threshold capabilities of the second semester range of proficiency to prepare students for Elementary Amharic II course materials.

Beginning with discussion of various perspectives on social change and law, this course then examines in detail the interdependent relationship between changes in legal and societal institutions. Emphasis will be placed on (1) how and when law can be an instrument for social change, and (2) how and when social change can cause legal change. In the assessment of this relationship, emphasis will be on the laws of the United States. However, laws of other countries and international law relevant to civil liberties, economic, social and political progress will be studied. Throughout the course, discussions will include legal controversies relevant to social change such as issues of race, gender and the law. Other issues relevant to State-Building and development will be discussed. A comparative framework will be used in the analysis of this interdependent relationship between law and social change.

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

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

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

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 study the history of African-Americans from their first encounter with Europeans in the 16th century to their emancipation during the Civil War. This course will concentrate on the variety of black responses to capture, enslavement, and forced acculturation in the New World. the difference in the slave experience of various New World countries, and the methods of black resistance and rebellion to varied slave systems will be investigated. The nature and role of the free black communities in antebellum American will also be studied.

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.