Reading List | Lecture Schedule | Collegial Agreements | Core 8 Links

                      Core 8 Faculty:
  Charles Kerlin
     English
  Binnie Martin
    English 
  Heidi Rahe
    Communication
  Jody Taylor Watkins
    Anthropology and Director of Core 8
  Peter Watkins
    Political Science
  William White
    History          		 Guest Lecturers  
Susan Chattin
  History
Sean Egan
  Former SJC student, Principal of John H. Kinzie
   Elementary School, Chicago
John Nichols
  Philosophy
Reading List

Required Texts

  • Achebe, Chinua. Arrow of God. Reissue ed. New York: Anchor, 1989.
  • Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994, c1959.
  • Bâ, Mariama. So Long a Letter. Trans. Modupé Bodé-Thomas. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1989.
  • Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla. A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman
    Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid    . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
  • Meyer, Gabriel. War and Faith in Sudan. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
    Company, 2005.
  • Packer, George. The Village of Waiting. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.

Syllabus Readings (Reprinted With Permission)

  • Brooks, George E. "The African Heritage and the Slave Trade." Themes in African and World History. Rev. ed. Bloomington, Indiana: African Studies Program, Indiana University, 1982.
  • Brooks, George E. "Interlocking World Economies: The South Atlantic System." Getting Along Together: World History Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century. Fall 2004 course packet. Bloomington: Indiana University.
  • "The Heart of the Matter." The Economist 13 May 2000: 22-24.
  • "Hopeless Africa." The Economist 13 May 2000: 17.
  • Kahn, Joseph. "China and African Nations Set Trade Deals Worth $1.9 Billion." New York Times 6 Nov. 2006, late ed.: 6.

Available Online and On Library Reserves

  • Traub, James. "China's African Adventure: Where the West Sees a Need for Reform, Beijing Sees Nothing but Resources and Opportunity." New York Times Magazine 19 Nov. 2006: 74-79.
    (PLEASE NOTE: This article is available on library reserves and on the ProQuest and Academic Universe databases. To access these databases, go to the library's homepage and click on Databases. These databases are not presently accessible off campus.)

                                  

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Unit I: Images
Lecture 1/8
  "Images of Africa" - Jody Taylor Watkins

Second Discussion Class:          Things Fall Apart: 3-62

Unit II: Traditional Society & Institutions
Lecture 1/15 
   "Traditional African Religion" - Heidi Rahe

First Discussion Class:                Things Fall Apart: 63-94
Second Discussion Class:           Things Fall Apart: 95-142
Lecture 1/22
    "Kinship Ties in Traditional African Societies" - Susan Chattin

First Discussion Class:               Things Fall Apart: 143-209 
Second Discussion Class:          Arrow of God: 1-38; "Interlocking World Economies" and 
                                                               "The African Heritage and the Slave Trade" (Syllabus)
Unit III:  Historical Overview
Lecture 1/29 
    "Arrow of God" - Charles Kerlin

First Discussion Class:               Arrow of God: 39-89 
Second Discussion Class:         Arrow of God: 90-140

Lecture 2/5
     "Colonialism and Its Aftermath" - Peter Watkins

First Discussion Class:               Arrow of God: 141-180
Second Discussion Class:         Arrow of God: 181-230

Unit IV   Contemporary Africa
Lecture 2/12 
   "Volunteerism and Enculturation" - Sean Egan

First Discussion Class:               Village of Waiting: Introduction 3-46
Second Discussion Class:         Village of Waiting: 47-121

Lecturer note: Sean attended SJC and Earlham. While at Earlham as a double major in Peace Studies and International Studies, he spent a year at the University of Dakar in Senegal. He later spent three years in Benin, two of them as a Peace Corps volunteer and one teaching independently at an international school. 

Lecture 2/19
    "African Film" - Binnie Martin

First Discussion Class:                Village of Waiting: 122-165
Second Discussion Class:          Village of Waiting: 166-221
Lecture 2/26
     "A Critique of Packer" - Charles Kerlin, Heidi Rahe, and William White

First Discussion Class:               Village of Waiting: 222-282
Second Discussion Class:          Village of Waiting: 282-332

Spring Break

Lecture 3/12
     "Islam and Women's Voice"  Binnie Martin

First Discussion Class:               So Long a Letter: 1-46
Second Discussion Class:         So Long a Letter: 46-89

MANDATORY FILM SHOWING 
- "Lost Boys of Sudan" You must attend one - showings to be held in the Shen Auditorium

Sunday, March 18, 1:30 p.m. 
Monday, March 19, 6:30 p.m. 
Tuesday, March 20, 6:30 p.m.
Lecture 3/19 
    No Lecture -- Mandatory Film viewing (see schedule above)

First Discussion Class:                  War and Faith: Forward; 3-45
Second Discussion Class:             War and Faith: 47-96
Lecture  3/26  
      "The Crisis in Darfur" - William White     

First Discussion Class:                  War and Faith: 97-149
Second Discussion Class:            War and Faith: 151-196
Lecture 4/2 
    "South African History: Apartheid" - Peter Watkins

First Discussion Class:                   A Human Being: 143-148; 
Second Discussion Class:             A Human Being: 1-36
Lecture 4/9
     No Lecture - Easter Monday

First Discussion Class:                 A Human Being: 37-78
Second Discussion Class:           A Human Being: 79-116

Lecture 4-13
     "Truth and Reconciliation After Apartheid" - Jody Taylor Watkins

Lecture 4/16 
       "Forgiveness -- How far? How much? How often?: A Bridge to Core 9" - John Nichols

First Discussion Class:               A Human Being: 117-139
Second Discussion Class:         "Hopeless Africa" and "The Heart of the Matter" (Syllabus)
Lecture 4/23
      "Africa: The Hopeless Continent?" - Jody Taylor Watkins, Peter Watkins and Binnie Martin

First Discussion Class:             "China and African Nations Set Trade Deals…" (Syllabus) 
                                                      "China's African Adventure" (Available from ProQuest or Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe)
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Collegial Agreements:
  1. You are required to attend all lectures and discussion sections.
  2. You are required to write a minimum of 15 typed pages during the semester.  
  3. Among the required pages of writing, you must complete a research paper that is 8-10 pages in length. Please see your individual instructor for the specifics of this assignment.  
  4. You will be held responsible for reading and lecture material through exams, quizzes, writing assignments and discussion.  
  5. You will have a mandatory graded final exam or other project during finals week, the specifics of which will vary by instructor. This final assignment will help you and your instructor assess what you've learned from some significant portion of the course.

 
Some Links on Africa

    

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                           Revised 01/04/2007 .