African Studies and Anthropology Modules

This module provides students with a critical and analytical knowledge of gender relations in African states and societies, particularly in the light of different strands of theoretical feminist work and work on masculinities and, through specific examples, looks at the significance of gender as an axis for analysis in policy areas in African contexts.

Assessment: 4,000 word essay

You focus on an area of specific interest to yourself. You must plan and carry out a project, researching it on the basis of archival and/or appropriate documentary material. Preliminary sessions provide background information and help in project planning. 

Assessment: One 4,000-word project written on the topic of your choice

This module examines how anthropologists have tried to better represent those without a voice in society. The module departs from key debates from the 1980s in anthropology and its neighbouring disciplines, which questioned the power, authority and ethical position of the researcher. This module follows the developments of anthropological theory from the 1980s up to the present day to consider how anthropologists have tried to tackle these concerns not only through innovative methodology (from fieldwork to writing and onto public engagement) but also in their theoretical considerations of social life. As it explores how anthropologists represent the less powerful ‘other’, the module pays attention to both empirical realities shaped by power differentials (e.g. race, gender, wage labour, globalisation, sexuality) and also the conceptual frameworks employed by anthropologists (e.g. resistance, language, hope, fantasy).  

Assessment: One 4,000-word essay

Using a variety of conceptual and analytical perspectives, but particularly livelihood thinking/analysis, this module examines rural and urban livelihood systems and processes during the colonial and post-independence periods, and assesses both state and non-state interventions which aim to transform regional livelihoods. We will look at the long-term evolution of livelihood thinking; the contemporary utility of livelihood as concept and practice; the changing contexts, under the influence of processes like globalisation, modernity and environmental change, for pursuing regional livelihoods; and the structure and dynamics of livelihood systems, practices and outcomes, using selected case study examples.

We will pay particular attention to processes of livelihood diversification and associated strategies of mobility and multilocality, including transnationality and the deployment of diasporan network connections. This module involves individual/group research on the background to, and nature and impact of, specific development interventions aiming to promote secure and sustainable livelihoods. 

Assessment: One 4,000-word essay

The module offers you the opportunity to engage with popular texts and performances in contemporary African genres. Special attention will be paid to emerging and locally-based genres such as neo-traditional oral poetry; improvised popular theatre; popular print culture; and television and video drama, all of which will be related to contemporary social and political developments in Africa. 

Assessment: One 4,000-word essay or a multimedia format project utilising audio/video recordings, where the text element may be reduced to 2,500 words.

You will engage with some of the most important questions in the field of African Studies, and find out how these questions might be answered in relation to a specific country, Ghana.  You will establish a chronological framework through the sessions that deal with the reasons for and responses to colonisation, the changing nature of the colonial state, and the emergence and success of anti-colonial nationalist movements. However, whilst Independence in 1957 is often seen as a dramatic break in Ghana’s modern history, this module will also identify elements of continuity into the second half of the twentieth century.  Commercial agriculture, labour migration, urbanisation, increased demand for formal education, and changing marital and family relationships were seen as ‘problems’ by both colonial and post-colonial governments. 

Through a series of individual life histories, and a range of other primary sources, you will learn how ‘real’ men and women identified the economic and social opportunities that were open to them, and responded in ways that reflected their changing understandings of what it meant to lead a successful life.  ‘Modern Ghana’ is defined as the period since 1874, and this module will provide a firm basis for students seeking to undertake doctoral research on Ghana or one of its neighbouring / comparable countries.

Assessment: One 4,000-word essay

This module provides a practical introduction to research methods which takes you through the process of conducting research in Africa by covering such topics as defining a research topic; identifying and accessing sources, including archival and electronic sources; compiling a bibliography; producing an overview of existing work on the topic; designing a project; establishing a timetable; gaining research permission; the ethics of research; planning and executing fieldwork; using interviews and surveys; using photography, sound and video recording; keeping field notes; conducting archival research; assessing and analysing findings; and writing up.

Through talks by invited speakers on research in progress, the module also offers a broader perspective on research and raises questions about interdisciplinary approaches to it.

Assessment:Written assignments

This module explores anthropological approaches to the study of African cities. It pays attention to how ethnographers have investigated the urban as a place characterised by, and as a site of experiencing, often contradictory forms of togetherness and interconnectedness, exclusion and segregation. Students will gain critical awareness of how the urban has been situated within broader anthropological debates in African Studies. Reviewing key themes in the study of urban life in Africa – such as marginality, urban economies, built environment and popular culture - students will evaluate whether anthropologists have created an anthropology of the city or merely carried out anthropology in the city.

Assessment:  One 4,000 word essay