Our Images of Africa Are Situated in the Continent S Rural Areas the Village, the Mud Hut

HONS 4260/HIS 5720/HIS 7720: AFRICAN CITIES

Instructors: Dr. Jennifer Hart

Summer 2017

Office: FAB 3119Ashesi

Email: TWRF 9:00am-12:00pm

Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description

The most familiar images of Africa are situated in the continent’s rural areas—the village, the mud hut, the loin cloth, the savannah, and its wildlife. However, over the last 150 years migration has brought increasing numbers of Africans to cities. With nearly 50% of the continent’s population currently living in cities, the culture, economy, and society of the city has profoundly influenced African life. Through global and transnational networks of trade and cultural contact, the city has served as a crucible in which Africans have created identities as global citizens.

This course explores the emergence of cities in sub-Saharan Africa, and traces major themes in the history of urban Africa. By looking at the creative adaptations of urban Africans in work, leisure, popular culture, politics, conflict, gender, generation, and race, we will attempt to answer a number of questions: When and how did the city emerge in Africa? How African is the city? What do African cities look like? How have urban Africans responded to the dramatic historical changes and intense cultural interactions of African history (e.g. colonialism, industrialization, urbanization, globalization)? The class will engage with these questions through collective readings, films, discussion boards, blogs, journals, and individual research projects. By incorporating scholarly monographs and articles, African life histories, primary sources, fiction and film, the class will explore the variety of perspectives on the city in Africa.

Course Readings

All readings are on Blackboard (BB). Students may use their computers or tablets to access readings, but students should come to class with notes on the readings, prepared to participate in class discussion.

Learning Outcomes

This is an upper-level seminar in History, and, as such, it is designed to develop advanced analytical thinking and writing skills necessary in the study of History. Students who complete this course with a passing grade should be able to:

Explain the major themes in the history of Africa.
Discuss the relationship between rural and urban.
Discuss the ways in which the city is a built and a lived space.
Identify the argument of a text and discuss its significance in relation to a number of thematic questions.
Craft a set of research questions and propose a feasible research design, informed by classroom reading and preliminary research.
Conduct research in the field, while being particularly sensitive to cultural difference, stereotypes, biases, and assumptions.
Analyze evidence and discuss the significance of their findings in relationship to their original research questions and the materials discussed throughout the course.
Present their findings, as well as the process by which they came to those findings, as part of a Digital Humanities Project.
Collaborate with classmates and receive feedback through peer-evaluation in order to strengthen their work.

Assignments and Grading

HONS 4260/HIS 5720 Undergraduate Students:

Many of the assignments in this course are relatively low-stakes assignments, which are dedicated to helping you think about assigned course material and interact with your classmates. Failing to complete these assignments individually might not seem like a big deal, but missing these relatively easy points can significantly affect your grade if you consistently fail to complete them. But, more importantly, keeping up with these assignments significantly enhances your learning in the course.

Course Participation (30%) –Since this is a discussion-based seminar, it is essential that student actively participate in discussions. This includes timely completion of assignments, active participation in discussions and group projects, and engagement with the course materials. Students are expected not only to respond to the instructors’ questions but also to other students’ questions. Students are also encouraged to pose questions of their own to stimulate discussion. This requires that you a) take responsibility for your own learning, and b) engage actively with classmates to contribute to the overall success of the course. Course participation grades will be calculated based on two different categories of participation:

oPeer-review of group work (15%) – Twice during the semester, students will complete peer-reviews, in which they evaluate their group members’ participation in weekly Argument Wikis (see below) based on a rubric, which will be made available on Blackboard. The instructor reserves the right to alter peer-review scores if they do not reflect observed student effort.

oSelf-assessment of discussion participation (15%) – Twice during the semester, students will complete a short self-assessment in which they must identify a) an example of a time in discussion boards when your comment contributed to another students’ learning and why, and b) an example of a time in discussion boards when another students’ comments contributed to your own learning and why. Students will score themselves on participation based on these comments and the frequency of their contribution, according to a rubric, which will be made available on Blackboard. The instructor reserves the right to alter self-assessments if they do not reflect observed student effort.

In addition to these graded elements of participation, every student must make a substantive contribution to class discussion every day in order to be counted present. Students who are absent without an excused (either through lack of participation or through a physical absence) for more than two days of the course will see their final grade lower a third of a letter grade [see Attendance Policy for further instructions]

Argument Outlines(10%) – Students will submit weekly 1-2 page (single-spaced) argument outline on Blackboard, which should 1) identify the argument of each reading, and 2) provide a thesis paragraph that explains how the readings relate to the central theme for the week as listed in the syllabus.

Fieldwork (25%) – Throughout the term, the instructor will guide students through the process of research via a series of guided research tasks. Students will practice those research skills by working in groups to conduct fieldwork and collect research materials at predetermined sites throughout Accra. Students will be given all technology, expenses, and assistance necessary to complete the tasks, and they will be expected to discuss their experience in the next morning’s class meeting.

Fieldnotes (10%) – Students are expected to write regular fieldnotes in response to classroom and fieldwork research experiences while they are in Ghana.

Final Project Blog (25%) – Students must use the research material they collect through fieldwork assignments and any additional material they collect through additional fieldwork, social media, or other forms of research to present a final project which contextualizes a research question on their blog. Students will present their research questions and materials in class several times throughout the term and will receive regular feedback and suggestions from the instructor and fellow students. Students are welcome to make the blog private, but they are encouraged to engage the public, sharing their research and inviting questions. These final project blogs must include the following components:

Students are expected to post any fieldnotes relevant to their final project.
Final projects must connect to at least two major texts assigned during the semester, and the student must discuss that connection in a clearly posted space on their blog. Students may also connect their work to additional materials not assigned in the course, though they are encouraged to consult the instructor for suggestions.
Students must use research materials collected through fieldwork to contextualize their research question. These must include photographs and audio/visual recordings. Students can also use social media, websites, and other material as might be relevant to the research question.

Assignment Total (100%)

HIS 7720 Graduate Students:

*Please note that 5720 graduate students are expected to read all required reading listed in the syllabus (when 5720 undergraduates are allowed to “pick 2”).

Course Participation (30%) –Since this is a discussion-based seminar, it is essential that student actively participate in discussions. This includes timely completion of assignments, active participation in discussions and group projects, and engagement with the course materials. Students are expected not only to respond to the instructors’ questions but also to other students’ questions. Students are also encouraged to pose questions of their own to stimulate discussion. This requires that you a) take responsibility for your own learning, and b) engage actively with classmates to contribute to the overall success of the course. Course participation grades will be calculated based on two different categories of participation:

oPeer-review of group work (15%) – Twice during the semester, students will complete peer-reviews, in which they evaluate their group members’ participation in weekly Argument Wikis (see below) based on a rubric, which will be made available on Blackboard. The instructor reserves the right to alter peer-review scores if they do not reflect observed student effort.

oSelf-assessment of discussion participation (15%) – Twice during the semester, students will complete a short self-assessment in which they must identify a) an example of a time in discussion boards when your comment contributed to another students’ learning and why, and b) an example of a time in discussion boards when another students’ comments contributed to your own learning and why. Students will score themselves on participation based on these comments and the frequency of their contribution, according to a rubric, which will be made available on Blackboard. The instructor reserves the right to alter self-assessments if they do not reflect observed student effort.

Argument Outlines (5%) – Students will submit weekly 1-2 page (single-spaced) argument outline on Blackboard, which should 1) identify the argument of each reading, and 2) provide a thesis paragraph that explains how the readings relate to the central theme for the week as listed in the syllabus.

Leading Discussion (5%) – Every student will choose one week during which they wish to lead discussion on the discussion board. They have the freedom to organize that discussion in whatever way they deem effective (within reason), however, they must submit a list of discussion questions and/or relevant materials for discussion. Discussion leaders are responsible for responding at least once to other students’ comments and questions during that week.

Fieldwork (25%) – Throughout the term, the instructor will guide students through the process of research via a series of guided research tasks. Students will practice those research skills by working in groups to conduct fieldwork and collect research materials at predetermined sites throughout Accra. Students will be given all technology, expenses, and assistance necessary to complete the tasks, and they will be expected to discuss their experience in the next morning’s class meeting.

Fieldnotes (10%) – Students are expected to write regular fieldnotes in response to classroom and fieldwork research experiences while they are in Ghana.

Final Project Blog (25%) – Students must use the research material they collect through fieldwork assignments and any additional material they collect through additional fieldwork, social media, or other forms of research to present a final project which contextualizes a research question on their blog. Students will present their research questions and materials in class several times throughout the term and will receive regular feedback and suggestions from the instructor and fellow students. Students are welcome to make the blog private, but they are encouraged to engage the public, sharing their research and inviting questions. These final project blogs must include the following components:
Students are expected to post any fieldnotes relevant to their final project.
Final projects must connect to at least two major texts assigned during the semester, and the student must discuss that connection somewhere on their blog. Students may also connect their work to additional materials not assigned in the course, though they are encouraged to consult the instructor for suggestions.
Students must use research materials collected through fieldwork to contextualize their research question. These must include photographs and audio/visual recordings. Students can also use social media, websites, and other material as might be relevant to the research question.
5720 Graduate students differ from 5720 Undergraduate projects in the following ways:
5720 Graduate students are expected to include both assigned texts and at least 5 additional secondary sources (at least two of which should be historical monographs).
In addition to the requirements above, 5720 Graduate student final projects must also include:
A 500-word book review of one of the monographs most closely related to the research topic.
A 2000-word historiographical essay that lays out the ways in which historians have approached this topic, as well as the gaps in the historical literature

Assignment Total (100%)

Note: There is no midterm or final exam for this course. Your final project serves as your final exam.

Course Policies

Reading Questions

Students should complete weekly readings and come to class prepared to discuss the following questions:

1)What is the author’s thesis or argument?

2)What two or three points does the author use to support his/her argument?

3)What sources or evidence does the author use to prove his/her argument?

4)What other scholarship does this relate to?/What is its historiographical context?

5)What, if any, theories does the author use to make his/her argument?

6)Why did we read this? Why and how is it significant and important?

7)Did you like it? Why or why not?

GRADING POLICY:

The grading scale follows Wayne State University guidelines.

Grade / Percentage / Total Points
A / 93.0-100% / 930-1000
A- / 90.0-92.9% / 900-929
B+ / 87.0-89.9% / 870-899
B / 83.0-86.9% / 830-869
B- / 80.0-82.9% / 800-829
C+ / 77.0-79.9% / 770-799
C / 70.0-76.9% / 700-769
F / 0-69.9% / 0-699

A NOTE ON GRADES:

A wise man once said that a grade is not a gauge of your intelligence but rather an evaluation of your work in the course—to a large degree, the outcome, in other words, is largely dependent on how much work and thought you put into the course. The scale for work in this course is standard for other courses at a research university; this means that the baseline for average work will earn a “C”. Grades will follow: A=excellent work; B=good work; C=average work; D=below average work; F=failing work.

I am very willing to speak to you about your grades, but I require that you wait at least 48 hours before speaking to me, that you read the comments as well as your paper, that you provide me with a written list of specific questions about your grade, and that you either come to my office hours or schedule an appointment.

ETIQUETTE:

TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONES. Do not answer a cell phone in class or text message someone from your phone during class. There will be a penalty in your class participation grade for this behavior and I will remove you from the class.

Out of respect for me and your classmates, I also ask that you refrain from conversations with neighbors, reading magazines/ newspapers/books (other than those assigned for class) and playing video games.

Keep your computers at home or in your bag—the internet is just too tempting, even for me. If you have a documented disability that requires you to use your computer in class, please let me know.

When you do use your computer to contact me, please use formal language (capitalization, punctuation, complete sentences, correct spelling, salutation [Dear Jennifer] and closing [Sincerely/Best, Student]) and be courteous in the way that you ask your question or you’re your comment. I will not respond to rude emails.