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72647-01 - Seminar: Living with the Dead: Ancestors in African History (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Julia Tischler (julia.tischler@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Death has long been a key concern in historical and ethnographic writing on African societies. Social anthropologists have researched funeral practices, which are often more elaborate than in the Europe and North America. Moreover, Africans have been described as living more closely with the dead, with ancestors playing a key role in decision-making processes. While the supposedly more accepting and “healthy” approaches to death and the dead have been contrasted with the sanitized and privatized attitudes prevailing in the global north, African societies have equally been affected by demographic change, urbanization, industrialization, and the rise of biomedicine. We will explore shifting meanings of death, funeral and mourning practices (including the vibrant funeral “industry”), and particularly the role of the dead for the world living, through the spreading of Christianity and colonial rule to the rise of the modern postcolonial nation. |
| Bibliography | Rebekah Lee and Megan Vaughan (2008), “Death and Dying in the History of Africa since 1800,”, Journal of African History, 49 (2008), pp. 341-59. John Parker (2021), In My Time of Dying: A History of Death and the Dead in West Africa. Princeton: Princeton University Press. |
| Admission requirements | Für Masterstudierende sowie fortgeschrittene Bachelorstudierende der Geschichte mit abgeschlossener Grundstufe (Nachweise: drei Proseminare, drei Proseminararbeiten). Die Teilnehmer:innenzahl ist auf 25 beschränkt. Bei Überbelegung werden Studierende der Geschichte bevorzugt zugelassen. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 16.09.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 23.09.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 30.09.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 07.10.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 14.10.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 21.10.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 28.10.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 04.11.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 11.11.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 18.11.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 25.11.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 02.12.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 09.12.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Monday 16.12.2024 | 14.15-16.00 | Departement Geschichte, Seminarraum 3 |
| Modules |
Modul: Areas: Afrika (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Aufbau Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Bachelor's degree subject: History) Modul: Epochen der europäischen Geschichte: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Neuere / Neueste Geschichte (Master's degree subject: History) Modul: Sachthemen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Modul: Spezialisierung «Geschichte und Polititsche Bildung» (Master's Studies: Subject-Specific Teaching and Learning) Modul: Theory and General Anthropology (Master's degree subject: Anthropology) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Public Health and Social Life (Master's degree program: African Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Aktive Teilnahme. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Departement Geschichte |