Back to selection
79081-01 - Seminar: Re-Thinking Blackness From Africa (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Semhar Haile (semhar.haile@unibas.ch, Assessor)
Sindi-Leigh McBride (s.mcbride@unibas.ch) |
| Content | Blackness has been richly theorised across various disciplines. However, these theorisations are often grounded in the experiences of the historic Black diaspora, particularly within the settler-colonial contexts of the Americas and the Caribbean. By contrast, the African continent has been largely marginalised in these discourses, with the notable exception of Southern Africa, due to its history of racial apartheid. Yet, as Africanist scholars such as Mahmood Mamdani have argued, racial apartheid was “unique to South Africa only in name.” This seminar seeks to locate Africa within the theoretical contours that shape Blackness, and to explore why, despite its deep histories of displacement, dispossession, and racial formation through colonial encounters, the continent remains peripheral to dominant formulations of Blackness. To this end, we will begin by unpacking what Blackness means and tracing how its articulations have shifted across time, geography, and historical contexts—from colonial encounters to anti-colonial movements across the continent. Drawing from diverse disciplinary fields — including urban studies, critical theory, Africana studies, Black geographies, and Black ecologies—the seminar will examine the multilayered dimensions of Blackness on the continent. In doing so, it aims to move beyond US-centric frameworks and illuminate forms of Blackness that exceed the Middle Passage as the central point of reference through which it is often theorised. The course will also engage non-scholarly sources—such as fiction, visual arts, and film— to explore varied expressions of Blackness across the continent. Ultimately, it seeks to open space for collective reflection on what it means to rethink Blackness from the perspective of Africa itself. |
| Learning objectives | By the end of the course, students should be able to: • Understand core theoretical concepts surrounding Blackness and its diverse articulations. • Critically engage with varied expressions of Blackness across different mediums, including visual arts, sound, and photography. • Analyse the interconnections between colonialism, coloniality, and racial formation as they manifest through spatial practices, discourses, and cultural forms. • Actively participate in seminar discussions and collective reflections, and formulate productive questions to guide group dialogue. |
| Bibliography | Alkalimat, Abdul. The History of Black Studies. Pluto Press, 2021. Ekow Eshun, Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Macarena Gómez-Barris (2025) Black Earth Rising. Thames and Hudson Hawthorne C, Lewis JS (2023) Introduction: black geographies: material praxis of black life and study. In: Hawthorne C, Lewis JS (eds) The Black Geographic: Praxis, Resistance, Futurity. Durham: Duke University Press, 1–27. Lewis, D. and Gabeba, B. editors. Surfacing: On Being Black and Feminist in South Africa. Wits University Press, 2021. Mamdani, Mahmood. Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism. Princeton University Press, 1996. Matlon, J (2022), Blackness in the (Post) Colonial African City. In: Hawthorne C, Lewis JS (eds) The Black Geographic: Praxis, Resistance, Futurity. Durham: Duke University Press Pierre, J. (2013) . The Predicament of Blackness: Postcolonial Ghana and the Politics of Race. The University of Chicago Press. Pierre (2020) Slavery, Anthropological Knowledge, and the Racialization of Africans Sall, Amy. 2024. The African Gaze. Thames and Hudson. The Funamblist (2025), ‘Black Indigeneities’ Issue N59 Wright, Michelle M. Physics of Blackness: Beyond the Middle Passage Epistemology. University of Minnesota Press, 2015. |
| Comments | The course is open to Master students from other programs with a priority for MA Students in Critical Urbanisms and in Changing Societies on timely registration. Max. capacity 20 (first come, first served). |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Mehrzweckraum 035 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 20.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 27.02.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Fasnachtswoche |
| Friday 06.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 13.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 20.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 27.03.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 03.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Osterwoche |
| Friday 10.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Mehrzweckraum 035 |
| Friday 17.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Kollegienhaus, Mehrzweckraum 035 |
| Friday 24.04.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 01.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Friday 08.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 15.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Auffahrt |
| Friday 22.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Friday 29.05.2026 | 10.15-12.00 | Biozentrum, Seminarraum U1.195 |
| Modules |
Module: Fields: Knowledge Production and Transfer (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Fields: Media and Imagination (Master's degree program: African Studies) Module: Migration, Mobility and Transnationalism (Master's degree program: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources) Module: The Urban across Disciplines (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | The seminar will be organized around mandatory weekly readings. In addition, the instructors will supplement these with teaching materials such as videos, photographs,fiction texts, and magazines. Students will be invited to co-lead one session of their choice—in pairs or groups of three—by facilitating discussion and preparing guiding questions based on the assigned readings and additional sources of their choosing. Evaluation: The course will be graded on a pass/fail basis, determined by regular attendance, completion of assigned readings, and active participation in class discussions, and performance in co-led sessions. |
| 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 Urban Studies |