TAFAPDC01U Compulsory course: Politics, Development and Change in Africa

This interdisciplinary course aims at investigating both the particular aspects of, and the inter-connectedness between, politics, development and change in diverse African settings, as well as in relation to Africa’s position in the world. In doing so, the course pays attention to key ideas and discourses on the one hand, and social, political and economic actors and institutions on the other, as they express themselves through/within given empirical contexts.  Core African political and developmental arenas and their dynamic interactions will be explored conceptually, historically, and through contemporary case examples.

Pedagogically, the course consists of four modules. The first is a classroom-based instruction module focusing on critical engagement with theoretical, methodological and empirical aspects of the course literature.  The second module will focus on Critical Development Planning as a practice. It will involve the preparation of selected country profiles in designated groups as the basis for formulating a development ‘project’ to be discussed in a final workshop. The third module consists of the preparation of an individually defined and written paper which constitutes the first draft of the final exam essay. It will be possible to obtain individual supervision in connection with the preparation of this paper. The fourth and final module consists of a compulsory opponent phase in which the individual draft papers of the students are presented in small groups, and the students both provide and receive feedback from opponent partners and the lecturer. The course is examined through a final version of the essay that has previously been developed and discussed during the opponent phase. 

For information on how to register please see www.teol.ku.dk/cas/studentinformation/courses/course_registration