Video: “The New Apartheid”

April 11, 2008

Here is a YouTube version, in three parts, of the documentary that we watched today about illegal immigration in South Africa, primarily from Zimbabwe. The goal of discussing this video was to:

continue our close attention to the election crisis in Zimbabwe
link to our focus on South Africa earlier in the course, and
draw connections between Africa and America

As we discussed in class, the piece raises several issues:

The further impact of Robert Mugabe’s rule and the shattered economy in Zimbabwe
The emergence of post-apartheid intra-racial racism/xenophobia in South Africa
The almost one-to-one parallels between illegal immigration in South Africa and in America

The series is Channel 4’s The Unreported World; the episode is called “The New Apartheid.” You can also find a Channel 4 summary online here and an article on the issue and this episode from The Independent here.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Video: highland gorillas

April 10, 2008

Here’s the video we watched about the plight of the highland gorillas in the Virunga Mountains. The first half (the report) is excellent, but the satellite-delayed interview that comes second is a bit slow.

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Video: Mount Kilimanjaro

April 9, 2008

Click here to see the National Geographic piece we watched today about the effects of global warming and deforestation on “the roof of Africa.” Since 1912, the mountain’s ice cap has lost 80 percent of its mass, and scientists predict that those glaciers will be gone entirely by 2020.

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

The BBC on religion in Africa

April 3, 2008

In our overview of religion in Africa, I mentioned BBC Radio broadcasts on the subject from the BBC’s The Story of Africa. Here are the streams; you may need to download the RealPlayer software. Each program is 28 minutes long, so follow your interest – I recommend at least listening to the first program, which gives an overview of the entire topic.

Religion in Africa: The role of traditional religion in Africa’s past and how the continent responded to the spread of Islam and Christianity.
Traditional Religions: The evolution of traditional sacred beliefs and the form of their worship.
The Coming of Islam: How Islam in Africa spread and why.
The Coming of Christianity: How and why Christianity twice came to Africa.

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Women’s issues paper assignment

April 1, 2008

Research and make an argument about an issue of relevance to African women:

Your paper should be analytical in nature. Take a stand and make a clear argument about your topic. Take advantage of my offer to discuss theses/arguments early in the process – better to hear, “This argument is no good,” when you’re just getting started than to read it on your paper next to a grade.

You may wish to focus on a prominent African woman. Here are some suggestions:

Helen Suzman
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Wangari Maathai
Winnie Mandela
Nadine Gordimer
Ayaan Hirsi Ali

You may wish to focus instead or as well on a major issue. Here are some suggestions:

The education gender gap
Family structure and roles – e.g. polygamy
Women’s role in the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Sexual rights and freedom
Female genital mutilation
Body image as it relates to a broader issue
Female political leadership

I MUST approve your topic, even if you select one of these.

Due dates:

Your proposed topic and tentative argument are due on Thursday, April 2.
A draft or significant outline is due on Tuesday, April 8 - write over the weekend.
The paper is due on Friday, April 11.
Late papers lose a letter grade a day. Turn in your paper on time. Never turn in nothing.

Summary of requirements:

Write on a topic that I approve.
Make a formal, structured, and concise argument.
Write at least 5 pages.
You may double-space.
Include citations and a bibliography in MLA style.
Use 12-pt Times New Roman as your font.
Use the standard Word margins (left & right: 1-inch, top & bottom: 1.25-inch).
Proofread your paper for errors.
Don’t cheat, plagiarize, or commit multiple submission.

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Nation of Andorra not in Africa

March 19, 2008

Nation of Andorra Not in Africa, Shocked U.S. State Dept. Reports

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Education readings

March 11, 2008

Read and outline this document for class/homework. It contains a good overview of the issues surrounding and current state of education in Africa and would make a reasonable addition to our book as a chapter on the topic. You’ll see many of the topics we addressed visually with the Worldmapper maps laid out here more traditionally.

If you want to get ahead on the work for Wednesday, you can read

this article, which discusses the colonial legacy in African education and describes promising reforms on that front.
p. 409-412 in the book, an introduction to technology issues.

We’ll have a basic “did you read?” quiz over the Sacred Heart article and the overview paper on Wednesday. Study the bigger issues in each article – I suggest making a brief outline for the Sacred Heart article too.

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Malaria assignment & follow-up reading

February 27, 2008

Here again is the Malaria handout from today’s class.

The class/homework assignment is to prepare a chart comparing & contrasting AIDS and Malaria – their characteristics, the challenges of fighting them in Africa, etc. Some similarities and differences will be obvious, and some will require thought + analysis to draw connections. The purpose of the assignment is to push you towards that thought and analysis.

Also, read these two Economist articles (in PDF format) as follow-up:

This piece addresses one of the links between AIDS and malaria: they make each other worse.
This one updates the current state of affairs in Zimbabwe

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies

Weekend reading

February 15, 2008

1. When we discussed the ongoing ethnic violence in Kenya, 850 people had been killed. The number is now over 1,000. Here is the story of one tragedy among the many with brief background.

2. This New York Times piece investigates the de facto ethnic segregation now taking place in Kenya and gives more background on what’s happening and why.

3. Africa is one of the only places in the world where President Bush remains popular, and he’s visiting the continent starting this weekend. This Economist story begins by citing a pair of artfully-conceived insults towards Mr. Bush but otherwise outlines American aid efforts and the resulting resiliently-positive view of America prevalent in Africa.

Posted by Duncan Brook | Filed Under African Studies