- Fr1067: Feminist Africa: Theory, Text, and Praxis, TTH 9:30-10:45
Prof. Astou Fall Gueye
“We should all be feminists,” claimed Nigerian writer and feminist activist Chimamanda Adichie.
But what does it mean to think about Africa as feminist? How do race, postcolonialism, and nation relate to feminism in this context? To reflect upon these issues, this course explores how African writers, directors, and critics construct and represent female subjectivities and identities in their creative works. In addition, we will explore key theoretical texts that deal with feminist discourse in Africa and the diaspora to understand its genealogies and to contextualize critical categories such as “gender.” What does “gender” even mean in these contexts?
Course taught IN ENGLISH and open to any interested student (no prerequisite). The course should be of particular interest to students in postcolonial studies, English, African/a studies, global studies, French/Francophone studies, political science, international studies, public health, and gender studies.
Gen Eds: Cross-cultural understanding, diversity, literature.
- ITAL1083: Italian Souths, Tues/Thurs. 1-2:15
What are the souths of Italy? In 1926, just before he was imprisoned by the Fascist regime, the philosopher and political theorist Antonio Gramsci condemned the representation of Italian southerners as "lazy, incapable, criminal, and barbaric" yet also defined the south as "a great social disintegration." This course explores representations of southern Italy and the people who live there through short stories, novels, memoirs, and ethnography. As we examine how writers have imagined the south as a lost home, a pastoral idyll, a place of misery, or a site of magic and rebellion, we question what power relations shape these stories. Are there differences between how outsiders write about the south and how southerners tell their own stories? How does this imagining extend to the colonial south? Throughout, we will construct a multilayered portrait of modern Italy and the tensions that shape it, and we will develop a critical awareness about how literature depicts "others." Authors include Giovanni Verga, Dacia Maraini, Carlo Levi, Ernesto De Martino, Anna Maria Ortese, Elena Ferrante, and Igiaba Scego. The course will be taught in English
- FR2767: African Feminisms, Th: 2:30-5:00PM
“We Should All Be Feminist,” claimed Nigerian writer and feminist activist Chimamanda Adichie, but what does it mean to be feminist in Africa? How do African writers, cultural critics, filmmakers, and activists relate to feminism? What does “gender” mean in this context? African feminism(s) is an interdisciplinary seminar at the intersection of Cultural studies and Gender and Women’s studies that uses a transmedial approach to reflect on Feminism in Africa. The seminar centers African perspectives to investigate the socio-political and cultural implications of feminist discourse and practice on the African continent and its diaspora. We will engage theoretical texts, examine authors whose work embraces feminist politics, and discuss the praxis of feminist activism to contextualize feminist studies in Africa.
Course taught in English. Cross-listed with GSWS.