TAFARCS75U Compulsory course: Religion, Culture and Society in Africa
MA in African Studies
Drawing on the traditions of both the humanities and social sciences, this course studies religion and culture in Africa in their social contexts. The course focuses on religious and cultural phenomena in modern Africa, the importance of African cultural heritage for contemporary Africans, the interaction between local and global religious trends as they manifest on the African continent, and connections between religious and cultural movements and social, political and economic dynamics in Africa.
- Knowledge of significant aspects of the cultural, religious and social dimensions of contemporary Africa and of the social and political significance of African cultural heritage in particular in relation to large-scale trends such as migration and urbanization.
- Knowledge of the interaction between local African and global religious and cultural actors and developments
- Skills in identifying and discussing the contemporary significance, utilization and reshaping of African religious and cultural traditions
- Skills in analysing African religious and cultural phenomena in their societal contexts
- Skills in undertaking interdisciplinary analysis using literature and other relevant material on Africa’s religions and cultures
- Competences to conduct independent, interdisciplinary and critical analysis of the local and global significance of religion and culture in Africa based on relevant theoretical approaches and empirical material
Suggested literature:
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Heinemann, 1958.
Terri Ochiagha, A Short History of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, Ohio University Press, 2018.
Moses Ochonu, Emirs in London. Subaltern Travel and Nigeria’s Modernity. Indiana University Press, 2022
Karen Lauterbach, Christianity, Wealth, and Spiritual Power in Ghana, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
Naminata Diabate, Naked Agency. Genital Cursing and Biopolitics in Africa, Duke University Press, 2020.
- Category
- Hours
- Class Instruction
- 28
- Preparation
- 122
- Exam Preparation
- 59
- Exam
- 1
- Total
- 210
Professional Master students has to hand in a registration form.
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Other
- Type of assessment details
- Oral exam prepared on the basis of a selected exam question. A number of exam questions are defined and provided by the course lecturer seven days before the oral exam. The oral exam is 25 minutes long including assessment.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
- Exam period
Summer Exam
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- TAFARCS75U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree MasterPart Time Master
- Duration
- 7 weeks, 1 half of the semester
- Placement
- Spring
- Schedule
- First lesson is in week 6
Study board
- Study board of African Studies
Contracting department
- African Studies
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Theology
Course Coordinators
- Karen Lauterbach (3-737274487c6d777436737d366c73)
Lecturers
Karen Lauterbach