AFST 5505a, Gateway to Africa  Veronica Waweru

This multidisciplinary seminar highlights the study of contemporary Africa through diverse academic disciplines. Each session features a Yale faculty scholar or guest speaker who shares their unique disciplinary perspective and methodological approach to studying Africa. Topics include themes drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and public health, with faculty representing expertise from across Yale’s graduate and professional school departments. The course is intended to introduce graduate students and upper-level undergraduates to the breadth and depth of Yale scholarship on Africa, facilitating the identification of future topics and mentors for thesis or senior paper research. Each weekly seminar focuses on a specific topic or region, and students are exposed to various research methods and techniques in archival research, data collection, and analysis. A specific goal of the course is to impart students with knowledge of how research across diverse disciplines is carried out, as well as to demonstrate innovative methodology, fieldwork procedures, presentation of results, and ethical issues in human subjects research.
Th 3:30pm-5:20pm

AFST 5568a, Tackling the Big Three: Malaria, TB, and HIV in Resource-Limited Settings  Sunil Parikh

Malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV account for more than five million deaths worldwide each year. This course provides a deep foundation for understanding these pathogens and explores the public health issues that surround these infectious diseases in resource-limited settings. Emphasis is placed on issues in Africa, but contrasts for each disease are provided in the broader developing world. The course is divided into three sections, each focusing in depth on the individual infectious disease as well as discussions of interactions among the three diseases. The sections consist of three to four lectures each on the biology, individual consequences, and community/public health impact of each infectious disease. Discussion of ongoing, field-based research projects involving the diseases is led by relevant faculty (research into practice). The course culminates with a critical discussion of major public health programmatic efforts to tackle these diseases, such as those of PEPFAR, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Fund, and the Stop TB Partnership.
T 10am-11:50am

AFST 6351a / CPLT 6351a / FILM 6450, The Nigerian “Video Novel” and Nollywood  Staff

The course introduces students to an emerging genre of the Nigerian novel in which writers adopt narrative repurposing strategies that invite transcription and adaptation to films. This evolving “Nigerian visual novel” or “video novel,” is defined by its loosely structured, tabloid-themed and reader-friendly style, all reflecting the craft of Nollywood films, a thriving video film culture that emerged in the 1990s and has remained popular globally. Through the study of Nollywood films alongside new Nigerian fiction, the course examines the techniques adopted by writers to accommodate the aesthetics of popular culture, to revive a declining readership, and to make literature more sellable. As these novels win literature prizes and find their way onto syllabi, the implications they have for our understanding of the African literary canon is discussed. Students view selected Nollywood movies and read a number of novels in the new genre in order to appraise the extent to which the serious and the sensuous intersect in this remaking of literariness. Seminar discussions are accompanied by short lectures in which concepts such as “trans-mediality,” “reverse-adaptation,” “screen-to-page,” “appropriation,” and “quotation” are discussed to build an understanding of how the “new” approach reconfigures Nigerian novels.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

AFST 7719a, Christianity and Coloniality in Contemporary Africa  Kyama Mugambi

Missionary complicity with the colonial enterprise puts Christianity at the heart of the problematic relationship between the African continent and the West. At the same time, Christianity has continued to grow rapidly in post-independence Africa. In much of Africa south of the Sahara, decolonization efforts coincided with the period of the greatest Christian expansion in history. Africa is now the continent with the highest population of Christians. This course examines this conundrum through critical engagement with theory, literature, and data from the continent. Students examine historiographic, political, social, economic, and demographic dimensions of this discussion. They meet key theories posited with regard to African Christianity in the wake of a colonial history. The course surveys contemporary issues in the discourse within the urban, educational, social, and cultural spheres. Students also consider gender perspectives on coloniality as it pertains to religion and politics. The course assesses the role of indigenous agency in the development of Christianity within contemporary Africa. Through this course students will gain a more nuanced perspective as they examine and problematize critical arguments in the prevailing discourse on Christianity and coloniality in Africa today. Area III, Area V.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

AFST 8833a / HIST 8321a, Agrarian History of Africa  Robert Harms

The course examines changes in African rural life from precolonial times to the present. Issues to be examined include land use systems, rural modes of production, gender roles, markets and trade, the impact of colonialism, cash cropping, rural-urban migration, and development schemes.
W 9:25am-11:15am

AFST 9937a / AFAM 8250a / ENGL 6137a, African Urban Cultures: Mediations of the City  Stephanie Newell

This course approaches the study of African cities and urbanization through the medium of diverse texts, including fiction, nonfiction, popular culture, film, and the arts, as well as scholarly work on African cities. Through these cultural “texts,” attention is given to everyday conceptualizations of the body and the environment, as well as to theoretical engagements with the African city. We study urban relationships as depicted in literature and popular media in relation to Africa's long history of intercultural encounters, including materials dating back to the 1880s and the 1930s. Previously ENGL 937.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

AFST 9965b / CPLT 7290b / FREN 9650b, On Violence: Politics and Aesthetics across the Maghreb  Jill Jarvis

This humanities laboratory investigates North African literary texts and other aesthetic works that document, theorize, and disrupt forms of state violence. How might these works—as well as our practices as humanities scholars, critics, curators, co-creators—run counter to state-sanctioned memory projects or compel rethinking practices of testimony, archiving, and justice in the face of enduring colonial occupation, institutionalized racism, and the state-sponsored violence that continues to take place on scales or in forms that are difficult to frame or fathom? Works by Fanon, Djebar, Kateb, Mechakra, Meddeb, Rahmani, Mouride, Hawad, Binebine, and many others. The seminar is an RITM Humanities Laboratory designed to cultivate new forms of collaborative and experimental humanities scholarship. See Canvas page for a more complete description. Conducted in English. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of French.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

SWAH 6610a, Beginning Kiswahili I  John Wa'Njogu

A beginning course with intensive training and practice in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Initial emphasis is on the spoken language and conversation. Credit only on completion of SWAH 620.
MTWThF 9:25am-10:15am

SWAH 6630a, Intermediate Kiswahili I  Veronica Waweru

Further development of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Prepares students for further work in literary, language, and cultural studies as well as for a functional use of Kiswahili. Study of structure and vocabulary is based on a variety of texts from traditional and popular culture. Emphasis on command of idiomatic usage and stylistic nuance. Prerequisite: SWAH 620.
MTWThF 10:30am-11:20am

SWAH 6650a, Advanced Kiswahili I  John Wa'Njogu

Development of fluency through readings and discussions on contemporary issues in Kiswahili. Introduction to literary criticism in Kiswahili. Materials include Kiswahili oral literature, prose, poetry, and plays, as well as texts drawn from popular and political culture. Prerequisite: SWAH 640.
MW 11:35am-12:50pm

SWAH 6670a, Topics in Kiswahili Literature  John Wa'Njogu

Advanced readings and discussion with emphasis on literary and historical texts. Reading assignments include materials on Kiswahili prose, plays, poetry, Kiswahili dialects, and the history of the language.
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

YORU 6610a, Beginning Yorùbá I  Oluseye Adesola

Training and practice in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Initial emphasis is on the spoken aspect, with special attention to unfamiliar consonantal sounds, nasal vowels, and tone, using isolated phrases, set conversational pieces, and simple dialogues. Multimedia materials provide audio practice and cultural information. Credit only on completion of YORU 620.
MTWThF 11:35am-12:25pm

YORU 6630a, Intermediate Yorùbá I  Oluseye Adesola

Refinement of speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. More natural texts are provided to prepare students for work in literary, language, and cultural studies as well as for a functional use of Yorùbá. Prerequisite: YORU 620.
MTWThF 10:30am-11:20am

YORU 6650a, Advanced Yorùbá I  Oluseye Adesola

An advanced course intended to improve aural and reading comprehension as well as speaking and writing skills. Emphasis is on acquiring a command of idiomatic usage and stylistic nuance. Study materials include literary and nonliterary texts; social, political, and popular entertainment media such as video movies and recorded poems (ewì); and music. Prerequisite: YORU 640.
MW 1pm-2:15pm

YORU 6680a, Advanced Topics in Yorùbá Literature and Culture  Oluseye Adesola

A course for students with advanced proficiency in Yorùbá who are interested in discussion and research in Yorùbá at a level not covered by existing courses. A term paper or its equivalent is required.
TTh 9am-10:15am

ZULU 6610a, Beginning isiZulu I  Nandipa Sipengane

A beginning course in conversational isiZulu, using web-based materials filmed in South Africa. Emphasis on the sounds of the language, including clicks and tonal variation, and on the words and structures needed for initial social interaction. Brief dialogues concern everyday activities; aspects of contemporary Zulu culture are introduced through readings and documentaries in English. Credit only on completion of ZULU 620.
MTWThF 11:35am-12:25pm

ZULU 6630a, Intermediate isiZulu I  Nandipa Sipengane

Development of basic fluency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing isiZulu, using web-based materials filmed in South Africa. Students describe and narrate spoken and written paragraphs. Review of morphology; concentration on tense and aspect. Materials are drawn from contemporary popular culture, folklore, and mass media. Prerequisite: ZULU 620.
MTWThF 10:30am-11:20am

ZULU 6650a, Advanced isiZulu I  Nandipa Sipengane

Development of fluency in using idioms, speaking about abstract concepts, and voicing preferences and opinions. Excerpts are drawn from oral genres, short stories, and dramas made for television. Introduction to other South African languages and to issues of standardization, dialect, and language attitude. Prerequisite: ZULU 640.
MW 1pm-2:15pm