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78350-01 - Lecture: African Studies as Critical Inquiry (2 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Elisio Macamo (elisio.macamo@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | African Studies is often described as an “area studies” field, i.e. a specialized body of knowledge about a specific region of the world. Yet African Studies has always been more than that. It has been a laboratory where disciplines, theories, and methodologies are tested, reconfigured, and sometimes overturned. This lecture traces the history, major debates, and current challenges of African Studies. It introduces students to key authors and controversies, but it also emphasizes African Studies as a way of rethinking the methodology of the social sciences and humanities more broadly. The course develops around three pillars: Key facts: historical developments, institutions, and authors shaping the field. Key ideas: theories, concepts, and debates that have defined African Studies. Key skills: critical thinking, reflexivity, and the ability to translate scholarship into broader societal and policy debates. Students will come to see African Studies not as a bounded discipline, but as an ongoing intellectual project inspired by a commitment to rigorous scholarship that critiques its own shortcomings in order to improve itself. Following the intellectual agenda of the Centre for African Studies in Basel, the course is guided by the motto: “Studying Africa, Understanding the World.” |
| Learning objectives | By the end of the lecture, students will: • Understand the historical trajectories of African Studies, from colonial knowledge to postcolonial and decolonial debates. • Engage with major disciplinary approaches (anthropology, history, political science, philosophy, literature). • Critically assess how African Studies has confronted questions of capitalism, globalization, and neoliberalism. • Develop skills in framing, reframing, and questioning dominant categories. • Learn to apply African Studies insights to contemporary academic and policy debates. |
| Comments | Relevance: African Studies is uniquely positioned to address the epistemological potential, but also the shortcomings of other frameworks such as postcolonialism and decolonization in two relevant ways: Commitment to scholarship: Critique is valuable only if it strengthens scholarship. African Studies’ task is not to discard knowledge traditions, but to use critique to improve them. “Studying Africa, understanding the world”: African Studies provides more than regional expertise; it challenges the very foundations of how knowledge is produced and opens pathways to rethinking global social sciences and humanities. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 20.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 27.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Fasnachtsferien |
| Friday 06.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 13.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 20.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 27.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 03.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Ostern |
| Friday 10.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 17.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 24.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 01.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Friday 08.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Friday 15.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Auffahrt |
| Friday 22.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Rosshofgasse (Schnitz), Seminarraum S 01 |
| Modules |
Modul: Politik, Entwicklung und soziale Ungleichheit (Bachelor's degree subject: Sociology) Modul: Transfer: Europa interdisziplinär (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Ungleichheit, Konflikt, Kultur (Master's degree subject: Sociology) Modul: Wirtschaft, Wissen und Kultur (Bachelor's degree subject: Sociology) Module: Basics: Sociology (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Europeanization and Globalization (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Interdisciplinary Seminar (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Three short response papers (facts and ideas synthesis). Final paper/project: Reflect on a controversy in African Studies, bridging theory and practice. |
| 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 | Fachbereich Soziologie |