Fall 2005

HIS 317N • Hist Women/Devel in 20-C Afr-W

Course Description

This course will provide students with a survey of the cultural and political history of Africa with a particular focus on the role of African women and development. The aim of this course is to acquaint the student with a broad range of topics associated with the various responsibilities and functions that African women perform throughout the African continent. Topics such as: African politics and gender, cultural norms and marriage, ecological demands and agricultural development, the role of women and education, as well as the African Sexual Revolution will all be presented in class lectures and discussions. The timeline of the 20th Century will involve mostly colonial and post-colonial African history. Hence, the role of European missionaries, settlers, traders, and colonial figures will also be a part of the course survey. However, the primary focus will center on the history and contributions of African women.

Grading Policy

Attendance and Class Participation (25%) (4) Four page response papers to the readings (50%) (1) Final Exam of 8 to 10 Pages (Take-Home Exam) (25%)

Texts

Jean Allman, Susan Geiger, and Nakanyike Musisi Women in African Colonial Histories Gwendolyn Mikell, African Feminism: The Politics of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, African Women: A Modern History (African Continent) Elizabeth Schmidt, Peasants, Traders, and Wives (Zimbabwe) Judith A. Byfield, The Bluest Hands (Nigeria) Tabitha Kanogo, African Womanhood in Colonial Kenya (Kenya) Cynthia Bowman and Akua Kuenyehia, Women and Law in Sub-Saharan Africa Nancy Hafkin and Edna Bay, Women in Africa (African Continent) Joseph Carrier and Stephen Murray, Woman-Woman Marriage in Africa (Africa) Simone De Beauvoir, The Making of an Intellectual Woman A. Jaggar and S. Bordo, Gender, Body, Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being

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