This course explores the creation and transformations of the American constitutional system's structures and goals from the nation's founding through the period of Progressive reforms, the rise of the Jim Crow system, and the Spanish American War. Issues include the division of powers between state and national governments, and the branches of the federal government; economic powers of private actors and government regulators; the authority of governments to enforce or transform racial and gender hierarchies; and the extent of religious and expressive freedoms and rights of persons accused of crimes. We will pay special attention to the changing role of the Supreme Court and its decisions in interpreting and shaping American constitutionalism, and we will also read legislative and executive constitutional arguments, party platforms, and other influential statements of American constitutional thought.

In the past few decades, many African nations have overthrown colonial regimes and police states in favor of some form of democratic governance. But what doesthis ideological and political shift mean for a country's youth? In this coursewe will use anthropological texts to explore the ways in which young Africans are both socialized into and also play an active role in negotiating the terms of democracy. In doing so, we will look both at the great diversity in democratic ideals across the continent as well as the perceived failures of many African nations to transition to constitutional democracies. We will use a variety of examples from recent history to examine these issues, such as the recent youth uprising in Egypt and its use of social media as a tool of democracy, the role of youth in apartheid-era political protest in South Africa, and the complex intersection of indigenous politics and democratic legislation in Tanzania. This course will engage key debates in current anthropological analysis, asking about both young people's capacity for agency as well as the formation of political subjectivity.

This course considers Caribbean musics within a broad and historical framework.Caribbean musical practices are explored by illustrating the many ways that aesthetics, ritual, communication, religion, and social structure are embodied in and contested through performance. These initial inquiries open onto an investigation of a range of theoretical concepts that become particularly pertinent in Caribbean contexts--concepts such as post-colonialism, migration, ethnicity, hybridity, syncretism, and globalization. Each of these concepts, moreover, will be explored with a view toward understanding its connections to the central analytical paradigm of the course--diaspora. Throughout the course, we will listen to many different styles and repertories of music ranging from calpso to junkanoo, from rumba to merengue, and from dance hall to zouk. We will then work to understand them not only in relation to the readings that frame our discussions but also in relation to our own North-American contexts of music consumption and production.

This class provides an overview of the most popular music styles and discussion of the cultural and political contexts in which they emerged in contemporary Africa. Learning to perform a limited range of African music/dance will be a part of this course. No prior performance experience required.

An advanced Amharic course that will further sharpen the student's knowledge of the Amharic language and the culture of the Amharas. The learner's communicative skills will be further developed through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. There will also be discussions on cultural and political issues.

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.