Browse through the database below to explore courses that will fulfill certain degree requirements in the African Studies program.
When registering for classes on the Course Timetable website, be sure to carefully read through the “Notes/Additional Fees” section of each course you select.
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AP/SWAH 1000 6.00
Introduction to Swahili
The course will provide an introduction to Swahili language and culture. Learners will be guided through the basic grammatical and phonological aspects of the language, as well as being introduced to the sociolinguistic status of …
AP/HIST 1010 6.00
War, Revolution and Society in the Twentieth Century
This course examines the origins of the two World Wars and the Cold War, the major upheavals which, together with their consequences, have shaped the world in which we live. It also introduces beginning students …
FA/MUSI 1043 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Ghanaian
Provides practical instruction in drumming, singing, and dancing of selected traditions of Ghana. The performance practice and repertoires of various West African cultures including Ewe, Dagamba, Mandinka and other Mande people. The songs and basic …
AP/HIST 1065 6.00
The Indian Ocean in Early Modern Times
This course investigates themes in the history of the Indian Ocean from 1500 to 1800 prior to European domination. Special attention is placed on the role played by the peoples inhabiting the Islamic regions as …
FA/MUSI 1094 3.00
Escola De Samba
Provides practical instruction in established and newly-composed repertoires drawn from the confluence of Afrolatin folk/popular music and jazz. The course will provide fundamental instruction in Brazilian and folk music traditions.
FA/MUSI 1097 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Mande
Explores traditional repertoire from the Mande jembe and dundun traditions (emphasizing the Malinke tradition of Guinea) with the goals of good ensemble performance and obtaining an understanding and appreciation of social values, contexts and customs. …
FA/MUSI 1099 3.00
World Music: Individual Instruction - Jembe
Provides private study of the West African jembe including technique, tone production, idiomatic soloing and accompanying patterns for the Mande repertoire and other recent cross-cultural applications.
AP/HUMA 1300 9.00
Cultures of Resistance in the Americas: The African American Experience
This course examines oppression and the ways in which Afro-American, Amerindian and racially-mixed communities in the Caribbean, Latin America, Canada and the United States use cultural patterns – the oral tradition, religion and ethics – …
AP/SOSC 1430 9.00
Introduction to International Development Studies
This foundation course introduces students to the field of International Development Studies. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach to study the theory and practice of development, and draws from the works of historians, sociologists, political scientists, …
AP/SOSC 1439 9.00
Introduction to International Development Studies (ESL)
Introduces students to the field of international development studies, which has emerged as a result of efforts to bring about development in Third World countries. It uses a critical and historical approach drawing on concrete …
FA/MUSI 1520 6.00
Rhythm and Blues, Soul, Funk and Rap
Explores in-depth the range of African-American popular music that have come into existence since the end of the Second World War. All styles and genres are studied from both a musicological and sociological perspective. Designed …
FA/MUSI 1540 3.00
World Music and Global Sounds
Explores the network of world music as it exists today by tracing the origins of some of these musical styles that now may reach a global audience. Selected classical, folk and popular traditions from around …
FA/MUSI 1556 3.00
Gospel Choir
Explores the repertoire, cultural traditions, performance techniques, aural skills, ensemble techniques, and pedagogical methods used in rehearsing and performing gospel music in a choral setting with instrumental accompaniment.
FA/MUSI 1570 3.00
Ska, Reggae, Dancehall
Examines the musical, historical, spiritual, cultural roots and traditions Jamaican music. Topics and artists include: Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Roots, Toasting, Dub, Dancehall, Maytalls, Justin Hines, Dobby Dobson, Jimmy Cliff, Heptones, Marley, Tosh, Culture, Bunny Lee, …
AP/SWAH 2000 6.00
Intermediate Swahili
Students improve their speaking, reading and writing skills. Exposure to cultural and traditional aspects of Swahili speakers through reading basic texts, listening to recordings, and viewing videos.
FA/MUSI 2043 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Ghanaian
Provides practical instruction in drumming, singing, and dancing of selected traditions of Ghana. The performance practice and repertoires of various West African cultures including Ewe, Dagamba, Mandinka and other Mande people. The songs and basic …
AP/GEOG 2070 3.00
Empire
This course explores the reciprocal links between geography and political processes at the global, national and local levels. Political geography asks us to understand the historical and contemporary relationships between power and space, focusing on …
FA/MUSI 2094 3.00
Escola De Samba
Offers practical instruction in established and newly-composed repertoires drawn from the confluence of Afro-Latin folk/popular music and jazz. The course will provide fundamental instruction in Latin folk music traditions.
FA/MUSI 2097 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Mande
Explores traditional repertoire from the Mande jembe and dundun traditions (emphasizing the Malinke tradition of Guinea) with the goals of good ensemble performance and obtaining an understanding and appreciation of social values, contexts and customs. …
FA/MUSI 2099 3.00
World Music: Individual Instruction - Jembe
Offers private study of the West African jembe including technique, tone production, idiomatic soloing and accompanying patterns for the Mande repertoire and other recent cross-cultural applications
AP/SOSC 2480 6.00
Introduction to African Studies
This core course introduces students to the study of Africa. The first part looks at the representation of Africa in the media as well as perspectives on the nature of African studies as a discipline. …
FA/DANC 2510 3.00
Introduction to World Dance Practices: Sub-Saharan Africa
Traditional and Current Dances of Sub-Saharan Africa introduces students to selected African dance forms in their cultural contexts such as Ghanaian, Togolese, Beninois, Nigerian and Guinean. The effects of contemporary changes on these art forms …
FA/DANC 2511 3.00
Introduction to African Dance
Offers an ongoing study of selected African dance forms in their cultural contexts such as Ghanaian, Togolese, Beninois, Nigerian and Guinean. The effects of contemporary changes on these art forms are examined. Studio/Discussion.
FA/MUSI 2520 6.00
Contemporary Black Urban Music
Examines aspects of black urban music from circa 1985 to the present through an analysis of the musical style, culture and social implications of a variety of genres such as rap, house, hip hop, jungle …
AP/HIST 2750 6.00
African History, from 1800 to the Present
This is an introductory history of the entire African continent from circa 1800 to the present. The course examines the abolition of the slave trade and slavery, the development of legitimate commerce, pre-colonial production, the …
AP/SOSC 2812 6.00
Social Thought in African and Carribean Culture
This course studies the principal images which a number of contemporary African and Caribbean writers have formed of their societies’ past and present and the larger visions of the human condition which their works suggest.
AP/SOSC 3040 6.00
Corporate Social Responsibility
This course investigates the theory and practice of Corporate Social Responsibility programs, including the normative and social science analysis of particular issues and practices, as well as their role in regulation and legitimation in larger …
FA/MUSI 3043 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Ghanaian
Provides practical instruction in drumming, singing, and dancing of selected traditions of Ghana.The performance practice and repertoires of various West African cultures including Ewe, Dagamba, Mandinka and other Mande people. The songs and basic dance …
FA/MUSI 3094 3.00
Escola De Samba
Offers practical instruction in established and newly-composed repertoires drawn from the confluence of Afrolatin folk/popular music and jazz. The course will provide fundamental instruction in Latin folk music traditions.
FA/MUSI 3097 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Mande
Explores traditional repertoire from the Mande jembe and dundun traditions (emphasizing the Malinke tradition of Guinea) with the goals of good ensemble performance and obtaining an understanding and appreciation of social values, contexts and customs. …
FA/MUSI 3099 3.00
World Music: Individual Instruction - Jembe
Offers private study of the West African jembe including technique, tone production, idiomatic soloing and accompanying patterns for the Mande repertoire and other recent cross-cultural applications.
AP/ANTH 3120 6.00
Anthropology of Tourism
Disneyland and Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park and East African safari parks, the Royal Ontario and Maya ruins in Belize. Why are such varied places major sites in the western tourist imagination? What exactly are …
AP/ANTH 3120 3.00
Anthropology of Tourism
Disneyland and Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park and East African safari parks, the Royal Ontario and Maya ruins in Belize. Why are such varied places major sites in the western tourist imagination? What exactly are …
AP/PHIL 3180 3.00
Conversations with African Philosophy
An examination of the development of African philosophy in the 20th century focusing on the debates among African philosophers regarding the nature of philosophical problems. This course studies the emergence of various schools of thought …
ES/ENVS 3227 3.00
Urban Planning and Politics in Global Context
This course examines urban planning practice. It examines the origins and evolution of urban planning taking into account political, social, economic, and cultural circumstances by examining case studies from the phenomenon of planetary urbanization.
FA/MUSI 3300 3.00
Music of World Cultures
Offers an introduction to some of the music cultures of the world. Issues related to context, music, identity and performance will be considered within the framework of transnationalism and globalization in this overview which includes …
AP/HUMA 3315 3.00
Black Literatures and Cultures in Canada
This course challenges the positioning of the African American experience as a dominant referent for black cultures in the Americas through an examination of fictional writing produced by blacks in Canada and the notion of …
AP/HUMA 3316 3.00
Diaspora and Gender: Black Women's Writing in the Caribbean, Canada and the United States
This course introduces students to the body of literature being produced by black women writers in the Caribbean, Canada and the United States after the 1970s. The course argues that while black women writers directly …
AP/ANTH 3320 3.00
Religious Ritual and Symbolism
This course explores anthropological approaches to the study of religion & ritual in social, cultural and political context, through a variety of ethnographic examples. Topics may include specific examples of major religious traditions of Asia, …
AP/ANTH 3320 6.00
Religious Ritual and Symbolism
This course explores anthropological approaches to the study of religion & ritual in social, cultural and political context, through a variety of ethnographic examples. Topics may include specific examples of major religious traditions of Asia, …
FA/MUSI 3322 3.00
Music of Africa
Surveys folk, popular, and art music traditions within the broad geographical expanse known as Africa. Topics focus on specific musical genres from selected geographical areas and traditions.
AP/GEOG 3370 3.00
Spaces of Third World Development
This course deals with conceptual debates on ‘Third World’ development. It also explores issues of development including economic growth and poverty, resource use, agrarian change, industrial transformation, service-sector development, rural urban inequality, gender relations, neoliberalism …
FA/MUSI 3406 3.00
History of Gospel Music
Explores the significant musical and non-musical contributions of African American gospel artists and the historical development of African American gospel music. This course is for both music majors and non-music majors who have an interest …
AP/ANTH 3410 6.00
Ethnicity and Nationalism
This course examines the significance and perception of race, ethnicity and of nationalism, both as concepts and as modes of establishing or of manipulating identity and of organizing social life in non-Western societies.
AP/SOSC 3411 6.00
Third World Feminism and the Polictics of Development
This course aims to develop a deeper understanding of the complex and often misunderstood dynamics of gender and development within the rapidly changing context of international development. It explores feminist critiques and alternative theories of …
AP/EN 3420 6.00
African Literature
This course introduces students to some important literary works from the continent of Africa. Texts will be studied in the context of histories of decolonialization of African nation states and how African writers respond to …
AP/SOSC 3480 6.00
Culture, Democracy and Development in Africa
This course explores the complex interplay of political, social and cultural forces at work in Africa, as communities, nations and regions attempt to overcome historic disadvantages and contemporary crises. Of particular interest is the often-ignored …
AP/SOSC 3481 6.00
An Introduction to African Diasporas: Identities and Practices
This course provides historical and conceptual investigations of the African diaspora: from autonomous Africa, the contact between Europeans and Africa, the slave trade, to contemporary migration movements within the historical African diaspora, and the more …
FA/DANC 3510 6.00
African Performing Arts in Context
Offers Philippine folk dances at the intermediate level. It focuses not only on lowland Christian dances but also indigenous and/or tribal dances. Studio/Discussion.
FA/DANC 3510 3.00
Intermediate African Dance
Offers African dance forms at the intermediate level. It includes the study of the dances in their cultural contexts such as Ghanaian, Togolese, Beninois, Nigerian and Guinean. The effects of contemporary changes on these art …
FA/DANC 3511 3.00
Intermediate African Dance
Offers an ongoing intermediate approach to African dance forms. It includes the study of the dances in their cultural contexts such as Ghanaian, Togolese, Beninois, Nigerian and Guinean. The effects of contemporary changes on these …
AP/HIST 3535 6.00
African-Canadian History
This course examines the history of African-Canadians from colonial contact in the 17th century through to the post-Second World War migrations from Africa and the Caribbean.
AP/SOSC 3541 3.00
Land, Food and Development in Africa and South Asia
This course explores the culture and political economy of food in Africa and South Asia, first in historical and comparative perspective, and second in the context of international development. The study of local and international …
AP/ECON 3550 3.00
Economic Growth and Development
Studies the economic problems of poor countries and poor communities. Explores the meaning of development by considering the characteristics of economic underdevelopment, poverty, income and wealth distribution, rural versus urban development, population growth, and unemployment …
AP/POLS 3560 6.00
The Global South: Politics, Policy and Development
This course explores various dimensions of the global south, with emphasis on political-economy and development. It examines the similarities and differences between various local experiences in the global south and explores their contemporary dynamic in …
AP/ECON 3560 3.00
Economic Policy in Developing Countries
Examines policy issues arising from development planning. Topics include agriculture versus industry, international trade, monetary and fiscal policies, foreign investment, foreign aid and self-reliance, and global issues.
GL/SOCI 3610 3.00
Global Migration and Diaspora Cultures
Migration and diaspora cultures examined in historical and comparative perspective, including patterns of forced displacement and migrant labour, and issues of citizenship, racism, religious and ethnic identity. Cases may include Jews, Africans, South and East …
AP/HIST 3630 6.00
Family and Gender in African-American History: Facts Versus Myths
This course examines how African-American views regarding gender and family have evolved over time and how these views have been represented or misrepresented in popular culture.
AP/HUMA 3665 3.00
African Oral Tradition
This course introduces students to aspects of the traditional cultures of Africa. Drawing upon historical and contemporary examples, the course examines the particular features of verbal art as performance and the social functions it serves …
AP/HIST 3700 6.00
The Making of the South Atlantic World
Relations between Brazil and Western Africa are studied from c. 1500 to the late 19th century, with an emphasis on the nature of the Portuguese Empire in Brazil and the presence of Brazil in Western …
AP/HIST 3705 3.00
Special Topics in History: Practicum in Research Technique: Harriet Tubman Seminar
This course gives students practical experience in dealing with developing technologies as they are applied to historical research. It addresses the implications of technology and its applications for historians.
AP/GEOG 3750 3.00
Africa: The Impovershiment of a Continent
This course critically examines the changing geography and depletion of Africa’s resources from the precolonial to the present, with an emphasis on current events. The course covers a range of topics, including agriculture, natural resource …
ES/ENVS 3800 6.00
Urban Planning and Practice
This course conceives a conceptual approach to studying urban planning and practice in Third World countries, considering the planning practice’s response to the problems and issues in cities of these countries. It also examines the …
AP/HUMA 3923 3.00
Littératures Francophones D'Afrique De L'Ouest
Étude des littératures francophones d’Afrique de l’Ouest dans leur contexte culturel. Au programme, des textes choisis des auteurs suivants : Olympe Bhêly-Quénum, Jean Pliya (Bénin); Nazi Boni (Burkina Faso); Bernard Dadié, Ahmadou Kourouma (Côte d’Ivoire); …
FA/MUSI 4043 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Ghanaian
Provides practical instruction in drumming, singing, and dancing of selected traditions of Ghana. The performance practice and repertoires of various West African cultures including Ewe, Dagamba, Mandinka and other Mande people. The songs and basic …
AP/HIST 4079 6.00
Colloquium in African History
Advanced colloquium on selected topics in African history. Topics vary from year to year. Please consult the History supplemental calendar for more details.
FA/MUSI 4094 3.00
Escola De Samba
Offers practical instruction in established and newly-composed repertoires drawn from the confluence of Afrolatin folk/popular music and jazz. The course will provide fundamental instruction in Latin folk music traditions.
FA/MUSI 4097 3.00
West African Drum Ensemble: Mande
Explores traditional repertoire from the Mande jembe and dundun traditions (emphasizing the Malinke tradition of Guinea) with the goals of good ensemble performance and obtaining an understanding and appreciation of social values, contexts and customs. …
FA/MUSI 4099 6.00
World Music: Individual Instruction - Jembe
Offers private study of the West African jembe including technique, tone production, idiomatic soloing and accompanying patterns for the Mande repertoire and other recent cross-cultural applications.
/ENVS 4220 3.00
Urbanization in Developing Countries
The key issues of cities in the Third World are addressed, including squatter settlements, rural-urban migration, urban agriculture, housing, urban transport, basic services (water, sanitation, waste management, health and education), urban governance, socio-cultural diversity, and …
AP/FR 4361 3.00
Francophone Literature I: Towards Independence
Through a study of works in their historical, social and aesthetic context, this course explores literary genres and philosophical perspectives as expressions of the spirit of 20th-century anti-colonial movements in the Francophone world.
AP/GEOG 4370 3.00
The Geography of Third World Development
Problems and patterns of rural and urban development in Third World countries are examined from a geographical perspective. Theoretical and practical aspects are treated, based on case studies drawn mainly from Africa and the Pacific …
AP/EN 4420 6.00
African Drama
The course investigates the cultural and linguistic diversities of Africa and the constitutive roles of language, gender, history, the local, and the universal, in the production of African Drama.
AP/EN 4421 3.00
African Diasporic Dialogues
Focusing on 20th-century African, Afro-Caribbean and African American fiction, this course explores elements of African cultures that emerge in diasporic writing, and how they have been shaped by historical, geographical and cultural factors that differentiate …
AP/SOSC 4510 6.00
African Popular Culture
This core course investigates the multiple dimensions of African popular culture through looking at forms of cultural productivity: music, film, literature, theatre, cartoons, sport, leisure, and aspects of material culture. It also explores ways in …
FA/MUSI 4556 3.00
Gospel Choir
Explores the repertoire, cultural traditions, performance techniques, aural skills, ensemble techniques, and pedagogical methods used in rehearsing and performing gospel music in a choral setting with instrumental accompaniment.
AP/HIST 4770 6.00
The African Urban Past: From the Pre-Colonial Era to the Present
This course examines Africa’s urban past. It first concentrates on precolonial cities as centres of political organization, religious learning, regional and long-distance trade and, thereafter, on urban health, crime, women, crowds, squatters, workers and political …
AP/HIST 4799 6.00
Selected Topics in African History
Research seminar on selected topics in African history. Topics vary from year to year. Please consult the History supplemental calendar for more details. This course is restricted to History and African Studies Honours majors and …
AP/HIST 4830 6.00
In Slavery and Freedom: Blacks in Americas
This course examines and compares the responses of Africans and their descendants to the experiences of enslavement, racism, colonialism and imperialism from the fifteenth century to the twentieth century and analyses the impact of the …
AP/SOSC 4918 6.00
Freedom, Rights, Community
This course revisits two traditions of social and political thought. One affirms the primacy of the individual as bearer of universal rights and freedoms. The other vindicates community as ground of the whole and guarantor …