African Studies
Faculty List
N. Kortenaar, M.A., Ph.D. (Toronto),
Associate Professor
J. Ndayiragije, M.A. (Montreal-UQAM), Ph.D. (Montreal-UQAM),
Associate Professor
S.J. Rockel, M.A., Ph.D. (Toronto),
Associate Professor
M. Assif, B.A. (Hassan II), M.A., Ph.D. (Case Western Reserve),
Lecturer
Program Director: S. Rockel (416-287-7145) Email: rockel@utsc.utoronto.ca
African Studies is in the strong and evolving tradition of innovative interdisciplinary programs based in Humanities at UTSC. The foundation of the program lies in the unique structure and particular strengths of Humanities yet it reaches out to the Social Sciences and beyond. African Studies aims to widen students' knowledge and experience from different perspectives in relation to the second largest and, in some respects, most complex continent, its peoples and their diasporas. It encourages students to engage with and explore ideas and material concerning African histories, cultures, economies, political systems, artistic expression and systems of belief. In many program courses Africa, its peoples and their cultures are situated in relation to the wider world. The study of interconnections over long periods of time with Europe, Asia, and the Americas highlights Africa's central role in world history. Several courses concentrating on recent periods and the current era challenge students to think beyond the stereotypes of Africa as marginal to the processes of globalization. Throughout the program students explore the exciting recent developments in our understanding of African civilizations, thought, political and religious systems, and histories of slavery, colonialism, racism, and nationalism. A number of courses emphasize modern African, Caribbean, and African-American cultural and artistic responses to modernity, racism, and liberation, as well as struggles for security and development. The program as a whole challenges students to think in new innovative directions about Africa in all of the disciplines and to reject preconceived myths and stereotypes that permeate mainstream and popular cultures in the West. As in other Humanities based programs at UTSC, students with an African Studies minor will gain strong skills in critical analysis, research, writing and communications. The program aims to go further to encourage an awareness of the relationships between the production and application of knowledge and the wider forces of global change, as well as a love of intellectual challenges.
Students who intend to complete the African Studies program should include AFSA01H3 in their first year course selection.
Certain elective courses (e.g. ENGD08H3, ENGC73H3, (ENGD63H3)) have non-African Studies prerequisites. This may require that you take more than 4.0 credits to complete the program. If you are interested in taking one of them, check the prerequisites carefully before deciding what courses to select.
The African Studies Study Guide is available at: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~humdiv/prg_af.html
MINOR PROGRAM IN AFRICAN STUDIES (ARTS)
Undergraduate Advisor: 416-287-7184 Email:
afs-undergrad-advisor@utsc.utoronto.ca
Program Requirements
Students must complete four full credits, as follows:
- AFSA01H3 Africa in the World: An Introduction
AFSA02H3 African Worldviews
- 1.0 credit from the following (students should check course descriptions for prerequisites):
ANTB05H3 Culture and Society in Africa
HISB50H3 Africa in the Nineteenth Century
HISB51H3 Twentieth Century Africa
- 2.0 credits from the list below; at least 1.0 credit must be at the C- or D-level (students should check course descriptions for prerequisites):
ANTB05H3 Culture and Society in Africa (if not used in Requirement 2)
(ANTC06H3) African Cultures and Societies II: Case Studies
CLAC05H3 Environment, Society and Economy in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
ENGB17H3 Contemporary Literature from the Caribbean
ENGC72H3 Contemporary Literature from Africa
ENGC73H3 Rap Poetics (formerly ENGD63H3)
ENGD08H3 Topics in African Literature
(ENGD61H3) James Baldwin, the African American Experience, and the Liberal Imagination
FREA01H3 Language Practice I
FREA02H3 Language Practice II
FREB01H3 Language Practice III
FREB02H3 Language Practice IV
FREB35H3 Francophone Literature
FREC47H3 Special Topics in Linguistics: Pidgin and Creole Languages
FRED12H3 Advanced Topics in Literature: Haitian Migrant Literature in Québec
HISB50H3 Africa in the Nineteenth Century (if not used in Requirement 2)
HISB51H3 Twentieth Century Africa (if not used in Requirement 2)
HISC52H3 A History of Ethiopia
HISC55H3 War and Society in Modern Africa
HISD50H3 Southern Africa, 1652-1910
HISD51H3 Southern Africa: Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Liberation
HISD52H3 East African Societies in Transition
LGGA40H3 Introductory Modern Standard Arabic I
LGGA41H3 Introductory Modern Standard Arabic II
LGGB42H3 Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic I
LGGB43H3 Intermediate Modern Standard Arabic II
LGGB45H3 Modern Standard Arabic I for Students with Prior Background
POLA90H3 Politics, Corruption and Violence
VPHB50H3 Africa through the Photographic Lens
VPHB65H3 Exhibiting Africa: Spectacle and the Politics of Representation
WSTC13H3 Women, Gender and Islam
Note: Not all courses in Requirement #2 and #3 are offered every year.
AFSA01H3 Africa in the World: An Introduction
An interdisciplinary introduction to the history and development of African Studies with Africa's place in the wider world a key theme. Students critically engage with African and diasporic histories, cultures, social structures, economies, and belief systems. Course material is drawn from Archaeology, History, Anthropology, Geography, Literatures, the Arts and Women's Studies.
Exclusion: NEW150Y
Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies
AFSA02H3 African Worldviews
An interdisciplinary introduction to African and African diasporic religions, philosophies, and oral and written cultures.
Recommended preparation: AFSA01H3
Breadth Requirement: History, Philosophy & Cultural Studies