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74596-01 - Forschungsseminar: God or Chemistry? Faith and Medicine in the History of Africa and Beyond (4 KP)
| Semester | Frühjahrsemester 2025 |
| Angebotsmuster | einmalig |
| Dozierende | Julia Tischler (julia.tischler@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | The research seminar focusses on the intersection of what is commonly referred to “faith”/”religion” and “medicine” by tracing the construction of these categories through time and space. We will interrogate into African notions of healing and harming in a long-term perspective, and examine the ways in which these interacted with other traditions of health. With the help of primary sources, we will discuss the role of missionary medicine, which, in the late 19th century, was caught between faith-based traditions and the bacteriological revolution. In addition, we will discuss the impact of biomedical approaches, focussing on local contestations and appropriations. Examples will be taken from different African contexts, while we will also consider medical and religious traditions from European contexts. Students will engage in historicizing the separation of “medicine” and “faith” as distinct and (partly) incommensurable spheres. We also seek to critically assess the construction of medical problems and the ways in which the “solutions” proposed to solve these problems were embedded in asymmetrical power dynamics. A methodological focus will be placed on working with missionary and colonial written sources as well as the intersections of historical and ethnographic approaches. In addition, we will work with material culture and its potential as historical (re)sources. Students will gain insights into ongoing PhD and MA projects. Moreover, we will collaborate with the Museum der Kulturen (Museum of Cultures) to look into the meaning of selected medical/religious objects. In terms of practical exercises, all students will write an outline for a seminar paper or MA thesis over the course of the semester. Students need not have any prior experience in African History! |
| Literatur | Ratschiller Nasim, Linda. Medical Missionaries and Colonial Knowledge in West Africa and Europe, 1885-1914. New York: Palgrave, 2023. Mohr, Adam. “Missionary medicine and Akan therapeutics: Illness, health and healing in southern Ghana’s Basel Mission, 1828-1918.” Journal of Religion in Africa, 39(4) (2009), 429-461. Langwick, Stacey, "Properties of (Dis)Possession: Therapeutic Plants, Intellectual Property, and Questions of Justice in Tanzania," Osiris 36 (2021), 284-305. Vaughan, Meghan. Curing Their Ills. Colonial Power and African Illness. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991. |
| Bemerkungen | The research seminars are designed as a teaching format exclusively for Master's students of History and related programmes (African Studies, Global European Studies). Compared to seminars, they offer more space and time for research-related learning. At the same time, they place higher demands on independent research, processing of theoretically demanding research literature and working with sources. Research seminars can serve as a basis for writing seminar papers and often also for preparing a Master's thesis. |
| Teilnahmevoraussetzungen | Students need not have any prior experience in African History. Studierende der Masterstudienfächer Geschichte und Osteuropäische Geschichte und des Masterstudiengangs Europäische Geschichte in globaler Perspektive sowie Global European Studies und African Studies. |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Montag | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
Einzeltermine
| Datum | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|
| Montag 17.02.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 24.02.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 03.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 10.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Fasnachstferien |
| Montag 17.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 24.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 31.03.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 07.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 14.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 21.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Ostern |
| Montag 28.04.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 05.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 12.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 19.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Montag 26.05.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Module |
Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte in globaler Perspektive ) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master Studiengang: Europäische Geschichte in globaler Perspektive ) Modul: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul: Fields: Public Health and Social Life (Master Studiengang: African Studies) Modul: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master Studienfach: Geschichte) |
| Prüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| Hinweise zur Prüfung | Aktive Teilnahme. |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Belegen bei Nichtbestehen | nicht wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Departement Geschichte |