curriculum

Department of World Arts and Cultures
Africa: Tanzania

Summer 2008

AfricanSt-Tanzania Curriculum

June 23 - July 21, 2007

Curriculum

Required Courses:
Swahili 1a, 2a or 103a (4 units)
WAC 135 (course number pending approval): African Popular Arts (4 units)

Students will choose among beginning (1a), intermediate (2a), and advanced (103a) Swahili depending on their level. Intensive Swahili instruction will take place during the first two weeks of the program in Zanzibar.

WAC 135 African Popular Arts (course number pending approval) will focus on the role of popular culture in contemporary Tanzanian urban life. Students will explore through readings, lectures, discussions, interviews with guest speakers, and personal research projects, the complexity and fluidity of Swahili identity. Beginning with a focus on the label “Swahili” as an ethnic marker that now signifies, to many Dar residents, a post-ethnic modern lifestyle, students will explore how Swahili identity is used, contested and reworked in popular forms, including but not limited to popular novels, hip-hop music, cell phone culture, clothing, barbershop culture, poetry competitions, cultural festivals and filmmaking.

Optional Film Internship (Requires instructor consent)
WAC 199 (course number pending approval): Directed Research

For an additional 4 units, students may intern with the Tanzanian filmmaker Josiah Kibira on the set of a Swahili feature film. Students should have general knowledge of film production. Instructor consent is required. Please complete our online application, and your information will be forwarded to the instructor for approval. Your deposit payment will not be due until your application is approved. Upon instructor consent, you will be notified immediately regarding payment and reservation. There is an additional fee for the film internship units.

Optional Field Research in Popular Culture
WAC 199 (course number pending approval): Directed Research

Students may earn independent study units by conducting primary research in the field of African popular culture. Projects need to be discussed with the Program Director and are due in September. Please note that deadlines apply even if you plan to travel after the program ends. There is an additional fee for this independent study course.

Syllabus

For a copy of the program syllabus, click here.

Grading

Grading percentages are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.

Swahili grading will be based on:

Participation 30%
Quizzes 25%
Essays 20%
Final exam 25%

WAC 135 grading will be based on:

Daily Journal Entries 25%
Participation 45%
Oral Presentation 10%
Project Proposal 20%

Schedule

All schedules, itineraries, and group activities are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.

Swahili language courses will meet for 4 hours per day, Monday through Friday, during the first two weeks of the program.

The WAC 135 course will meet for 3 hours each morning, Monday through Friday, during the last two weeks of the program.

Textbooks

You are responsible for purchasing your own textbooks. Texts for summer 2007 include:

Pat Caplan and Farouk Topan, eds. Swahili Modernities: Culture, Politics and Identity on the East Coast of Africa. Trenton, NJ & Asmara: Africa World Press, 2004.

Ann Gray, Research Practice for Cultural Studies. London, Thousand Oaks, and New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2003.

Alamin M. Mazrui and Ibrahim Noor Shariff. The Swahili: Idiom and Identity of an African People. Trenton, NJ & Asmara: Africa World Press, 1994.

For optional independent study:
John Fiske. Understanding Popular Culture. London & New York: Routledge, 1990. [for those students conducting research]
or
Mulvihill, Queenae. Warriors Spiritually Engaged: The Making of Maangamizi, the Ancient One. Lulu: 2006. [for those student interning on the set of Bongoland II]