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| Semester | spring semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Andrea Kaiser-Grolimund (andrea.kaisergrolimund@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | The denomination Swahili derives from the Arabic word sawahil and refers to the “people from the coast” in East Africa. Over the past millennium, the Swahili developed into distinctive urban, mercantile, cosmopolitan communities through their intermediary position between their mainland neighbors and traders, religions and colonial forces from Asia, Arabia and Europe. Swahili culture cannot be captured as something fixed but rather as a repertoire on which people draw, depending upon location, historical time but also social context (Caplan 2013). This proseminar explores different aspects of these shifting and plural cosmopolitan Swahili worlds. Apart from a historical overview the proseminar examines current ways of life on the East African coast and beyond. Hereby, a particular focus lays on Swahili medical pluralism and the use of a pluralistic health setting where biomedical treatment meets “traditional healing” as well as Dawa ya Kichina (Chinese Medicine). |
| Learning objectives | -Students are familiar with the historical background of the Swahili in East Africa
-Students gain an overview on current topics in Swahili ethnography -Students improve their abilities to read academic texts, hold presentations, and write essays |
| Bibliography | An extensive list of the relevant literature will be distributed at the beginning of the semester. Walker, Ian. 2017. Contemporary issues in Swahili ethnography. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. |
| Comments | This proseminar serves to deepen the knowledge gained from the “Introduction into the Ethnography of East Africa" (by Miriam Badoux). The attendance of both courses together is not mandatory though. This course will be taught in English. Proseminararbeiten / semester papers can be written either in English or German. |
| Admission requirements | The number of participants is limited to 30 people. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to the subjects listed under "modules". |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul: Ethnographien (Bachelor's degree subject: Anthropology) Module: Projects and Processes of Urbanization (Master's degree program: Critical Urbanisms) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | All students are expected to actively participate in the proseminar on a regular basis, to engage in the weekly readings and to present their oral or written input on one of the topics of the proseminar. By taking over a proseminar paper, students can deal with a subject area in depth and present it in an oral presentation. If you would like to write a proseminar paper please contact Andrea Kaiser-Grolimund before the beginning of the semester (andrea.kaisergrolimund@unibas.ch) |
| 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 Ethnologie |