Joint section African Studies A3 och African Cultural Expressions and Artistic Creativity spring 2022

 
Female griots (jeliw) sing praise-songs to Presidential Candidate Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in Bamako, Mali, in August 2013. At the time, Keïta was portrayed as the hero and the man who can make it - l'homme de la situation. He was celebrated as the heir of both Sunjata Keïta, the founder of the Mali Empire in 1235, and Modibo Keïta, the Republic of Mali's first president. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was elected Mali's President in 2013, and he was re-elected in 2018. Yet, in August 2020, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was removed from power in an army takeover after months of popular protests. No one was singing praise-songs any longer... This study forms part of ongoing research by the LACET research lab on Mali's sociopolitical transformations. Photo: Sten Hagberg.

Welcome to the course in African Cultural Expressions and Artistic Creativity 7,5hp

During this course you will have a unique opportunity to get more knowledge of and deeper insights into African cultural expressions and artistic creativity. Traditions from different cultural and language areas, as well as social and political movements, are described and compared. A special focus concerns African cinema. Read course plan here

To get an overview, please find the detailed schedule and most updated schedule here

All lectures and seminars will be conducted on site at the Engelska Parken Campus and Blåsenhus, except for the seminar 'This month in Africa', which will take place on zoom on Wednesday, 13 April at 14.15-16.30.  
A zoom link will be provided soon!

The teachers are researchers and other professionals with long first-hand experience of researching and working in African countries and/or with African issues. This course is being offered by researchers of the Forum for Africa Studies, an inter-disciplinary centre whose purpose is to support research on, in, and with Africa at Uppsala University. We lead research projects, organize lectures and round-tables, and host the seminar series Friday Seminar in Africa Studies. You may follow Forum for Africa Studies' Facebook page to get updated information.

The teaching is composed of lectures, seminars, group discussions, round-tables and other public events, and, if the corona-pandemic allows, study visits. 

We expect you to be actively engaged and always present at all our course events. This is key for the learning process. And it makes the course more lively and interactive.

Presentations (power-point, etc.) can be used for learning purposes, but should not be spread beyond the class-room, be it virtual or physical.

The course is examined through home exams, that is, you should write essay answers to a number of questions by drawing on the literature and the lectures and seminars.

The course starts on Monday 28 March at 11:15-13.00. It is very important that you attend the course introduction. But prior to that, please take some time, from now onwards, to explore this virtual class-room. We will update more and more the coming weeks.

Welcome and Good Luck!

Dani Kouyaté, Ashleigh Harris, Sten Hagberg and Oulia Makkonen.