GEOG 284 - Global Africa

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

(Same as AFRS 284 and ENST 284) Africa often appears in the news and popular representations as a continent plagued by civil conflict and environmental crisis, left behind by increasing global integration, and in need of external aid. Such framings obscure the continent’s great cultural and ecological diversity and its deep yet highly unequal integration with the rest of the world economy, through the transatlantic slave trade, colonization, and the neoliberal prescriptions of the international development industry. This course examines critical geographic and political ecological scholarship on a range of topics pertinent to Africa’s historical and contemporary challenges, including agriculture, gender, the scramble for mineral resources and land, conservation, environmental justice, urbanization, and South-South investment. The course also examines African-led innovations and initiatives that work to build future prosperity, justice, and sustainability. Ashley Fent.

Three 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS