First year courses

Please note that this course does not count as  a credit towards a humanities degree. NB: this is a service course designed specifically for non-Humanities students preparing themselves for a life of professional practice.

8 NQF credits at NQF level 5; First-year, second-semester course, one lecture and one compulsory tutorial per week.

Convener: Dr. D Jethro

Course entry requirements: This course is for non-Humanities students only and does not count towards Humanities degrees.

Course outline: This is a service course designed specifically for non-Humanities students preparing themselves for a life of professional practice. Broad-based and introductory, it is intended to satisfy the complementary studies requirements of professional institutes (like the Engineering Council of South Africa). It does this by focusing on contexts and ideas which will be of direct benefit in professional practices, as well as on more abstract ideas which will be generally enriching. In the time available, this course sets out to introduce and discuss the dynamic interplay between the various forces of globalisation and the impact on culture and identity in Africa. The ideas explored and debates encouraged in the course are expected to contribute towards a more thoughtful professional practice and critical awareness of social and historical context, particular   the post-colonial context in Africa. From Cape Town to Algiers and Puntland, the course examines a range of different contemporary issues, historical moments and diverse localities across the continent. Dominant concepts and vocabularies that operate in relation to complex processes of globalisation which impact everyday life in distinctly different ways are critically discussed as “tools to think with.”

Lecture times: Friday, 5th period.

DP requirements: Attendance at lectures and tutorials is compulsory, failing which students’ papers may not be marked.

Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

Closed

18 NQF credits at NQF level 5

Convener: A/Prof. Chris Ouma/ Dr. J Gibson

Course entry requirements: None

Course outline: This course will focus on the ways in which Africa has been imagined and represented across the ages. Drawing on key texts from the creative and performing arts, the course will explore specific depictions of Africa and Africans in each era and open up questions about the relationship between arts and society. It will examine African self-representations alongside representations that focus on Africa as a site of difference or ‘othering’. Topics include: Introduction - What is representation?; Images of Slavery; Travel writing and tourism; Visual Arts; Anti-colonialism/ nationalism in film. Lecture times: Monday and Tuesday 6th period.

DP requirements: None.

Assessment: Coursework: tutorial hand-ins (20%), 1st essay (20%), 2nd essay (30%).

Closed

10 NQF credits at NQF level 5

Convener: Ms. I Adams

Course entry requirements: None (extended programme students only).

Co-requisites: ASL1201F

Course outline: The purpose of this course is to augment and support its co-requisite course: ASL1201FS Representations of Africa. It aims to improve students’ performance by enhancing their grasp of key ideas and concepts, and by developing their mastery of the disciplinary discourse. It provides additional pedagogic enrichment in the form of regular Plus Tuts that extend into Writing Hub exercises and consultations. In these tutorials, students will receive explicit support around the co- requisite course assignments and detailed feedback on their written work.

Lecture times: 6th period.

DP requirements: 80% tutorial attendance plus successful completion of coursework assignments.

Assessment: This course will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis. In order to receive a pass grade, students will be required to complete: coursework 100% comprising of tutorial assessment, other written work and participation.

Closed

18 NQF credits at NQF level 5

Convener: Dr. A Humna

Course entry requirements: None

Course outline: The course aims to introduce students to requisite academic literacies in preparation for their second year of study in the Humanities. This includes argumentative essay writing and the basics of research writing. These literacies are taught through the topical concepts of identity and mobility in an ever-changing world. The course's blended feature enables students to exchange their ideas of these issues with participants across the globe doing the MOOC, Writing Your World. The global flavour of the course gives students exposure to other cross-border perspectives and experiences.

Lecture times: Monday to Wednesday, 4th period.

DP requirements: 80% lecture attendance, MOOC completion, submission of all assignments.

Assessment: Coursework – 3 academic essays. Weighage: 60%. Exam – section A short writing tasks, Section B essay. Weighage 40%.

Closed

Second year courses

24 NQF credits at NQF level 6; Three lectures and one compulsory tutorial per week.

Convener: Dr. Z Msomi

Course entry requirements: Students must be in their second or subsequent year of study.

Course outline: In the context of the current level of globalisation, this course explores Africa’s position in and relations with other parts of the globalising world. The course highlights Africa’s experience of globalization, focusing on the challenges and opportunities which globalisation presents, particularly on cultures and identities in the continent.

Lecture times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 6th period.

DP requirements: Attendance at lectures and tutorials is compulsory, failing which students’ papers may not be marked.

Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

Closed

(Not offered in 2023)

10 NQF credits at NQF level 6

Convener: Professor H Chitonge

Course entry requirements: None (extended programme students only).

Co-requisites: ASL2200S.

Course outline: The purpose of this course is to augment and support its co-requisite course: ASL2200S Culture, Identity and Globalisation in Africa. It aims to improve students’ performance by enhancing their grasp of key ideas and concepts, and by developing their mastery of the disciplinary discourse. It provides additional pedagogic enrichment in the form of regular Plus Tuts that extend into Writing Hub exercises and consultations. In these tutorials, students will receive explicit support around the co-requisite course assignments and detailed feedback on their written work.

DP requirements: 80% tutorial attendance plus successful completion of coursework assignments.

Assessment: This course will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis. In order to receive a pass grade, students will be required to complete: coursework 100% comprising of tutorial assessment and other written work.

Closed

24 NQF credits at NQF level 6

Convener: Dr. D Jethro

Course entry requirements: Second-year status.

Course outline: This course explores African political systems and thought, from precolonial Africa through to postcolonial political systems. In so-doing, the course examines the forms of African political thought that emerged across three periods: the pre-colonial; the era of colonisation and political forms of resistance against it; and the postcolonial/neo-colonial period. The course ends with current critiques of postcolonial governance, which argue that, in many important ways, decolonisation of our political systems has not yet occurred.

Lecture times: Monday and Tuesday, 6th period.

DP requirements: None.

Assessment: Coursework 100%

Closed

10 NQF credits at NQF level 6

Convener: Ms. I Adams

Course entry requirements: None (extended programme students only).

Co-requisites: ASL2202F

Course outline: The purpose of this course is to augment and support its co-requisite course: ASL2202F African Political Thought. It aims to improve students’ performance by enhancing their grasp of key ideas and concepts, and by developing their mastery of the disciplinary discourse. It provides additional pedagogic enrichment in the form of regular Plus Tuts that extend into Writing Hub exercises and consultations. In these tutorials, students will receive explicit support around the co-requisite course assignments and detailed feedback on their written work.

Lecture times: 6th period.

DP requirements: 80% tutorial attendance plus successful completion of coursework assignments.

Assessment: This course will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis. In order to receive a pass grade, students will be required to complete: coursework 100% comprising of tutorial assessment, other written work and participation.

Closed

Third year courses

30 NQF credits at NQF level 7

Convener: Dr. Z Msomi

Course entry requirements: Third-year status.

Course outline: This course will focus on critical debates on the political economy of Africa, with specific reference to Sub-Saharan Africa. It will be anchored in the works of Archie Mafeje.

Lecture times: 6th period.

DP requirements: None.

Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

Closed

30 NQF credits at NQF level 7

Convener: Dr. Z Msomi

Course entry requirements: Third-year status.

Course outline: This course introduces students to the field of critical linguistics which addresses the linguistic effects of political and cultural oppression, marginalization, colonialism and coloniality. It is also a field interested in articulating a new view of language that emphasizes the experience of language as intimate and lived, implied in structures of hegemony of power, as well as its potential for liberation, freedom and creativity.

Lecture times: Monday and Tuesday, 6th period.

DP requirements: None.

Assessment: Continuous assessment (essays, projects, tests, etc.) counts 100%.

Closed