Women in Africa and African Diasporic Cultures

This course challenges stereotypical constructions of Africa and African diasporic women (or ADW) in mainstream media. This is done by analyzing internal and external historical relationships that have shaped and redefined the cultures, ideas, institutions, politics, and social relations of several specific groups of African and ADW women. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the course addresses issues and challenges of contemporary Africa, and explores specific themes and concerns that have existed throughout Africa’s colonial, gendered, complex, and changing history. In particular, the course centers on African and African diaspora feminist movements and icons who have applied feminist ethics to social phenomena in their own contexts (e.g. gender based violence, LGBTQIA marginalization, etc.). Popular culture sources, as well as scholarly studies and activist writing, will be employed to help illuminate the lived experiences and perspectives of contemporary women living in various African and African diaspora societies including within the US and worldwide.