African Studies

The minor in African Studies allows students to complement their major with a program that provides a systematic introduction to the complex historical, political and social issues of the African continent. The minor is structured to give students interdisciplinary training within key fields of knowledge: literature and the arts, social science and historical studies.

The wide array of courses on Africa offered at Smith and at the other Five College campuses ensures that students, whether focusing on literature, art, history, politics, or social and economic issues, have an unusual opportunity to customize their program both topically and geographically.

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Requirements & Courses

The Minor

Director

Jeffrey Ahlman, History

Advisers and African Studies Committee

Jeffrey Ahlman, History
Colin Hoag, Anthropology
Aaron Kamugisha, Africana Studies
Caroline Melly, Anthropology
Katwiwa Mule, Comparative Literature
Anna Mwaba, Government
Camille Washington-Ottombre, Environmental Science and Policy
Greg White, Government

Minor Requirements

Six semester courses on Africa are required.

One course must be drawn from each of the following three fields:

Arts, Literature and Humanities
Historical Studies
Social Sciences

No more than two courses from a student's major may be counted toward the minor. At the discretion of the adviser, equivalent courses at other colleges may be substituted for Five College courses.

Language

Students interested in African studies are encouraged to study French or Portuguese. In addition, a student who has achieved intermediate level competence in an African language may petition for this to count as one of the required courses in the field of arts, literature and humanities.

Students with the required language component may apply for the Five College African Studies Certificate.

Study Abroad

Students are encouraged to spend a semester or more in Africa. Information on current programs may be obtained from the African studies director and the Office of International Study, and should be discussed with the minor adviser.

Interdisciplinary Courses

Not every course listed below is offered each semester. Check the Smith College Course Catalog for course descriptions and current course offerings.

African Studies

AFS 113 Themes in African Studies
AFS 222 African Music, Gender, and Sexuality

Comparative Literature

CLT 100 Introduction to Comparative Literature: The Pleasures of Reading, Topics Course: Cannibals, Witches and Virgins
CLT 205 Twentieth-Century Literatures of Africa
CLT 266 Studies in South African Literature and Film, Topics Course: Modern South African Literature and Cinema
CLT 271 Writing in Translation: Bilingualism in the Post-Colonial Novel

French

FRN 230 Women Writers of Africa and the Caribbean
FRN 252 French Cinema, Topics Course: Cities of Light: Urban Spaces in Francophone Film
FRN 262 After Algeria: Revolution, Republic and Race in Modern France
FRN 380 Topics in French Cultural Studies, Topics Course: French Travel Writing and Self-Discovery

First-Year Seminar

FYS 165 Childhood in African Literature

Music

MUS 220 Topics in World Music: African Popular Music

Africana Studies

AFR 218 History of Southern Africa (1600 to about 1900)
AFR 370 Seminar: Modern Southern Africa

History

HST 234 Global Africa
HST 257 Early African History
HST 258 Modern Africa
HST 259 Aspect of African History. Topics course.
HST 276rj Colloquium: Topics-Historians Read the News-Race, Democracy and Reproductive Rights

Anthropology

ANT 229 Africa and the Environment
ANT 271 Globalization and Transnationalism in Africa

Economics

ECO 311 Topics in Economic Development: The Political Economy of Development in Africa

Government

GOV 227 Contemporary African Politics
GOV 233 Problems in Political Development
GOV 257 Colloquium: Refugee Politics
GOV 347 Seminar in International Politics and Comparative Politics, Topics Course.