AFRC406 - Existence in Black

Status
C
Activity
SEM
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
Existence in Black
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC406401
Course number integer
406
Meeting times
M 12:00 PM-03:00 PM
Meeting location
GLAB 102
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
David K. Amponsah
Description
Racial, colonial, and other political formations have encumbered Black existence since at least the fifteenth-century. Black experiences of and reflections on these matters have been the subject of existential writings and artistic expressions ranging from the blues to reggae, fiction and non-fiction. Reading some of these texts alongside canonical texts in European existential philosophy, this class will examine how issues of freedom, self, alienation, finitude, absurdity, race, and gender shape and are shaped by the global Black experience. Since Black aliveness is literally critical to Black existential philosophy, we shall also engage questions of Black flourishing amidst the potential for pessimism and nihilism.
Course number only
406
Cross listings
HIST406401, AFRC506401
Use local description
No

AFRC405 - Religion, Social Justice & Urban Development

Status
O
Activity
SEM
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
Religion, Social Justice & Urban Development
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC405401
Course number integer
405
Registration notes
Permission Needed From Instructor
Meeting times
M 07:00 PM-10:00 PM
Meeting location
WILL 201
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Andrew T. Lamas
Description
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.
Course number only
405
Cross listings
RELS439401, URBS405401
Use local description
No

AFRC373 - Aid & Intervention Afrc

Status
O
Activity
LEC
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
Aid & Intervention Afrc
Term
2022A
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC373401
Course number integer
373
Meeting times
M 03:30 PM-06:30 PM
Meeting location
COLL 318
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Lee V Cassanelli
Description
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 course work on Africa is strongly advised.
Course number only
373
Cross listings
HIST372401
Use local description
No

AFRC334 - Sighting Black Girlhood (SNF Paideia Program Course)

Status
C
Activity
SEM
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
Sighting Black Girlhood (SNF Paideia Program Course)
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC334401
Course number integer
334
Registration notes
Permission Needed From Instructor
Designated SNF Paideia Program Course
Meeting times
T 01:45 PM-04:45 PM
Meeting location
MUSE 330
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Deborah A Thomas
Grace Louise B Sanders Johnson
Description
This course will investigate the relationships among women, gender, sexuality, and anthropological research. We will begin by exploring the trajectory of research interest in women and gender, drawing first from the early work on gender and sex by anthropologists like Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict; moving through the 1970s and 1980s arguments about gender, culture, and political economy; arriving at more current concerns with gender, race, sexuality, and empire. For the rest of the semester, we will critically read contemporary ethnographies addressing pressing issues such as nationalism, militarism, neoliberalism and fundamentalism. Throughout, we will investigate what it means not only to "write women's worlds", but also to analyze broader socio-cultural, political, and economic processes through a gendered lens. We will, finally, address the various ways feminist anthropology fundamentally challenged the discipline's epistemological certainties, as well as how it continues to transform our understanding of the foundations of the modern world. Prerequisite: Should have some functional knowledge of Cultural Anthropology.
Course number only
334
Cross listings
ANTH334401, ANTH634401, AFRC634401
Use local description
No

AFRC324 - Dress & Fashion in Afrca: Dress and Fashion in Africa

Status
O
Activity
LEC
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
Dress & Fashion in Afrca: Dress and Fashion in Africa
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC324401
Course number integer
324
Meeting times
TR 03:30 PM-05:00 PM
Meeting location
MCNB 410
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Ali B. Ali-Dinar
Description
Throughout Africa, social and cultural identities of ethnicity, gender, generation, rank and status were conveyed in a range of personal ornamentation that reflects the variation of African cultures. The meaning of one particular item of clothing can transform completely when moved across time and space. As one of many forms of expressive culture, dress shape and give forms to social bodies. In the study of dress and fashion, we could note two distinct broad approaches, the historical and the anthropological. While the former focuses on fashion as a western system that shifted across time and space, and linked with capitalism and western modernity; the latter approach defines dress as an assemblage of modification the body. The Africanist proponents of this anthropological approach insisted that fashion is not a dress system specific to the west and not tied with the rise of capitalism. This course will focus on studying the history of African dress by discussing the forces that have impacted and influenced it overtime, such as socio-economic, colonialism, religion, aesthetics, politics, globalization, and popular culture. The course will also discuss the significance of the different contexts that impacted the choices of what constitute an appropriate attire for distinct situations. African dress in this context is not a fixed relic from the past, but a live cultural item that is influenced by the surrounding forces.
Course number only
324
Cross listings
ARTH324401, ANTH342401
Use local description
No

AFRC322 - American Slavery and the Law

Status
O
Activity
SEM
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
American Slavery and the Law
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC322401
Course number integer
322
Meeting times
W 01:45 PM-04:45 PM
Meeting location
VANP 305
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Heather A Williams
Description
In this course, we will work both chronologically and thematically to examine laws, constitutional provisions, and local and federal court decisions that established, regulated, and perpetuated slavery in the American colonies and states. We will concern ourselves both with change over time in the construction and application of the law, and the persistence of the desire to control and sublimate enslaved people. Our work will include engagement with secondary sources as well as immersion in the actual legal documents. Students will spend some time working with murder cases from the 19th century South. They will decipher and transcribe handwritten trial transcripts, and will historicize and analyze the cases with attention to procedural due process as well as what the testimony can tell us about the social history of the counties in which the murders occurred. Students will have the opportunity to choose a topic and conduct original research using both primary and secondary sources, resulting in a 20-page research paper. We will spend a good deal of time throughout the semester learning how to research, write, and re-write a paper of this length. At the end of the semester students will present the highlights of their research to the class.
Course number only
322
Cross listings
HIST322401
Use local description
No

AFRC307 - Race, Science and Justice

Status
C
Activity
REC
Section number integer
403
Title (text only)
Race, Science and Justice
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
403
Section ID
AFRC307403
Course number integer
307
Registration notes
Registration also required for Lecture (see below)
Meeting times
R 10:15 AM-11:15 AM
Meeting location
MEYH B13
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Rebecca Anna Schut
Description
This course draws on an interdisciplinary body of biological and social scientific literature to explore critically the connections between race, science, and justice in the United States, including scientific theories of racial inequality, from the eighteenth century to the genomic age. After investigating varying concepts of race, as well as their uses in eugenics, criminology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, and medicine, we will focus on the recent expansion of genomic research and technologies that treat race as a biological category that can be identified at the molecular level, including race-specific pharmaceuticals, commercial ancestry testing, and racial profiling with DNA forensics. We will discuss the significance of scientific investigations of racial difference for advancing racial justice in the United States.
Course number only
307
Cross listings
SOCI307403
Use local description
No

AFRC307 - Race, Science and Justice

Status
C
Activity
REC
Section number integer
402
Title (text only)
Race, Science and Justice
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
402
Section ID
AFRC307402
Course number integer
307
Registration notes
Registration also required for Lecture (see below)
Meeting times
R 08:30 AM-09:30 AM
Meeting location
WILL 215
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Rebecca Anna Schut
Description
This course draws on an interdisciplinary body of biological and social scientific literature to explore critically the connections between race, science, and justice in the United States, including scientific theories of racial inequality, from the eighteenth century to the genomic age. After investigating varying concepts of race, as well as their uses in eugenics, criminology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, and medicine, we will focus on the recent expansion of genomic research and technologies that treat race as a biological category that can be identified at the molecular level, including race-specific pharmaceuticals, commercial ancestry testing, and racial profiling with DNA forensics. We will discuss the significance of scientific investigations of racial difference for advancing racial justice in the United States.
Course number only
307
Cross listings
SOCI307402
Use local description
No

AFRC307 - Race, Science & Justice

Status
C
Activity
LEC
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
Race, Science & Justice
Term
2022A
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC307401
Course number integer
307
Registration notes
Registration also required for Recitation (see below)
Meeting times
MW 05:15 PM-06:15 PM
Meeting location
MCNB 150
Level
undergraduate
Instructors
Dorothy E Roberts
Description
This course draws on an interdisciplinary body of biological and social scientific literature to explore critically the connections between race, science, and justice in the United States, including scientific theories of racial inequality, from the eighteenth century to the genomic age. After investigating varying concepts of race, as well as their uses in eugenics, criminology, anthropology, sociology, neuroscience, and medicine, we will focus on the recent expansion of genomic research and technologies that treat race as a biological category that can be identified at the molecular level, including race-specific pharmaceuticals, commercial ancestry testing, and racial profiling with DNA forensics. We will discuss the significance of scientific investigations of racial difference for advancing racial justice in the United States.
Course number only
307
Cross listings
SOCI307401
Fulfills
Cultural Diversity in the US
Use local description
No

AFRC290 - African Amer Wom Writers

Status
O
Activity
SEM
Section number integer
401
Title (text only)
African Amer Wom Writers
Term
2022A
Syllabus URL
Subject area
AFRC
Section number only
401
Section ID
AFRC290401
Course number integer
290
Meeting times
TR 10:15 AM-11:45 AM
Meeting location
BENN 141
Level
undergraduate
Description
See the Department of Africana's website at www.sas.upenn.edu/africana for a description of the current offereings.
Course number only
290
Cross listings
ENGL290401, GSWS290401, COML290401
Use local description
No