AFRI 4000 Advanced Topics in African Studies (Course Description)

AFRI 4000 Advanced Topics in African Studies Fall 2014

Topic: Political Leadership and Transformation in Africa

The description of African leaders has often ranged from visionary, charismatic, benevolent to corrupt. Such depictions can be applied to any government but in Africa’s case how do we differentiate fact from fiction? Because these descriptions are not new, our task will be to see how current African leadership is helping countries thrive and transform, or in many cases merely survive or fall behind.
We will explore the current literature on political leadership and how it is practiced in select African countries. To help us in our inquiry we will discuss the game changing potential of leadership through current topics, such as, elections, charismatic personalities, women presidents, “strongman” image, ethno-political networks, insurgents’ threat to stability, management of rich natural resources, and international tensions.
To expand and enliven text and group analysis, a weekly “buzz” feature will tap into news events from a variety of media sources, inside and outside Africa, keeping in mind biases in media coverage. Personal accounts can also yield questions missing in the literature.