HIST 323L - Gender Relations in Africa

3 Credit(s)

Liberal Arts
In this course, we are going to think critically about the ways in which society and media depict and imagine African women through Western patriarchal lenses. We will juxtapose those perceptions and images in which Africa women imagine and represent themselves. This exercise is important because all too often, the phrase ‘African women’ conjures up certain predictable, and negative, images of poverty, illiteracy, victims of patriarchy, men shadowy figures, passive, voiceless, and docile subjects. While much attention has been paid to how African men and outsiders view African women, very rarely does the World get a sense of how African women view themselves. We are going to explore broader historical generalizations as well as individual life stories of African women to understand these women as subjects (and not objects) with agency. After a continental overview, we will consider several regional differences but not always in chronological order, beginning with African women’s experiences in pre-colonial Africa followed by the colonial period and ending with the post-colonial era-if there is one.

Prerequisite(s): Six credits in History