Course: Societies and Cultures of Africa

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Course title Societies and Cultures of Africa
Course code KSA/SPKAD
Organizational form of instruction Seminary
Level of course Doctoral
Year of study 1
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 5
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory-optional
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Fajfr Alexander, doc. PhDr. Ph.D.
Course content
Contentwise the course will give stdudents a sense of specific issues such as identities, cultures, ethnicity, migratzion and other phenomena forming and having an impact on African societies and cultures in an era of globalization with considering also the colonial heritage. The lectures introduce students to complex issues of an anthropological study of societies and cultures of Africa. The course combines a set of relevant and current anthropological themes such as social organizations, relgiion and politics, poverty and migration, ethnicity and (trans)nationalism, or globalization and glocalization. African societies are taken as complex and dynamcially changing entities reacting on broader global phenomena. So is taken the concept of culture, as an everchanging entity depending on a broader spectrum of social, political, religious, ethnic and global inmpacts.

Learning activities and teaching methods
One-to-One tutorial, Individual study, Students' self-study, Self-study of literature, Seminar
  • Preparation for an examination (30-60) - 104 hours per semester
  • Contact hours - 26 hours per semester
prerequisite
Knowledge
to orientate in basic terms and methods in ethnographic fieldwork
to orientate in the basic concepts of social science research for selected African societies and cultures
to orientate in the issues of African societies and cultures and their dynamics
Skills
to read and understand scholarly literature in native and foreign languages and reflect gained knowledge for his/her research and its outcomes
to evaluate the obtained data
to elaborate individual work on any and specified topic
to work independently with sources and literature
on the basis of previous studies to conduct field research in accordance with the methodological principles of the field
learning outcomes
Knowledge
to characterize and orientate in the basic issues of social organizations of selected African countries / societies, including the global context in anthropological and interdisciplinary perspectives
to orientate in the specifics of field research in Africa and its feasibility
to orientate in global and local contexts and factors that influence the dynamics of change in African societies and cultures
to orientate in the basic sources for research of selected African societies and cultures
Skills
to carry out field research
to conduct field research in accordance with the methodological principles of the field and on the basis of acquaintance with the context of field research in selected African countries
to elaborate a qualified professional text in a foreign language (English) and present it
to critically assess the fieldwork data and analyze them in qualified manner
teaching methods
Knowledge
Seminar
Self-study of literature
One-to-One tutorial
Skills
Seminar
Self-study of literature
One-to-One tutorial
assessment methods
Knowledge
Oral exam
Seminar work
Skills
Oral exam
Seminar work
Recommended literature
  • Aminzade, R. Race, Nation, and Citizenship in Post-Colonial Africa. The Case of Tanzania. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
  • Aquilar, M. Being Oromo in Kenya. Trenton, Africa World Press, 1998.
  • Bourdillon, M. The Shona Peoples.. Harare: Mambo Press., 2004.
  • Donham, D. History, Power, Ideology: Central Issues in Marxism and Anthropology. Los Angeles, 1999.
  • Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. Ethnicity and nationalism. London : Pluto Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7453-1887-8.
  • Falola, T. and Mbah, E. Contemporary Africa: Challenges and Opportunities. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
  • Freeman, D. - Pankhurst, A. Living on the Edge. Marginalized Minorities of Craftworkers and Hunters in Southern Ethiopia.. Addis Ababa: Addis Ababa University Press, 2001.
  • Graham, M. Contemporary Africa. London: Red Globe Press, 2018.
  • Kandert, Josef; Kodeš, Jiří. Afrika. Praha : MF, 1984.
  • Sellstroem, T. Africa in the Indian ocean. Islands of Ebb and Flow. Leiden: Brill, 2015.
  • Sheriff, A. Slaves, Spices and Ivory in Zanzibar. Oxford: James Currey, 2002.
  • Van Walraven, K. The Yearning for Relief. A History of Sawaba Movement in Niger. Leiden: Brill, 2013.
  • Zegeye, A. - Pausewang, S. Ethiopia in Change. London: British Academic Press, 1994.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester