Curriculum:

What units will I cover?

This course consists of seven (7) units. 

Unit 1 | Africa ─ An immense continent

Unit 1 helps you to appreciate Africa as an immense and diverse continent that is neither static nor fixed in time and space. Africa's geography, people, languages, and political histories are diverse and changing. Relative to other continents, Africa is complex and huge. 

Unit 2 | Movements across Africa over time: People and places

Throughout time Africans (and others) have moved ─ both voluntarily and forced ─ across the continent, and outside of it. In this unit, we appreciate how such movements of people have enriched thinking and experiences in and of Africa.

Unit 3 | A question of language(s)

In Unit 3, we learn about the diversity and richness of languages across Africa. This is both a celebration and a challenge, given that many people use language as an identity marker and an important part of people's cultures. The unit helps us to be conscious of the influence of the language we speak and write in.

Unit 4 | Resistance and cultural renaissance  

While colonialism and neo-colonialism disrupted the paths Africans had set themselves, and while structural issues remain that set major challenges for Africa and Africans, Africans have taken up agency to enable their own experiences and reimage their futures. By looking at cases, we hope that you will celebrate the agency of Africa, despite the structural constraints she faces.

Unit 5 | Africa's women

Unit 5 is about African women's struggles, policy victories, and various achievements in society. We will learn that African women have not been dominated throughout history. In recent history, most of Africa's women have experienced oppression both as women (through patriarchy) and as Black people (through whiteness). Nevertheless, Africa's women as standing up for themselves. 

Unit 6 | African sexualities

Unit 6 invites you to learn about African sexualities, which have always been diverse. We will also consider sexual minorities and their struggles for recognition in a patriarchal society with dominant masculinities that insist on a rigid and homogenous notion of sexual identity and behaviour for everyone. 

Unit 7 | African futures

Unit 7 is about Africa's way forward, as expressed by African writers and thinkers. Given Africa's history and unique attributes, how can she invent herself and move forward into the future with the dignity she deserves? We will see that the connectedness of our histories is also our futures as Africans. And we want you to be able to explain for yourself what it means to be African.