GWSS 3001: Troubling Genders in African Cinema
Course Description and Textbooks Course Philosophy and Objectives Assignments and Grades University of MN Policies		Setting the Scene Women, Wives, Witches and Work Fathers, Boys; Dictators and War Queer Identities in African Cinema Final Exam
	Sarah B. Buchanan, Ph.D. 211 Camden Hall 320-589-6292 buchansb@morris.umn.edu Heures de permanence : Les mardi et jeudi: 13h00 à 14h00; Le mercredi: 10h30 à 11h30;  et par rendez-vous Buchanan's Home Page

TOP OF PAGE

Course Description:
This course explores the ways in which Sub-Saharan African film directors have used the cinematic arts to represent, challenge and re-envision paradigms of feminine, masculine and queer identities. We will begin the course by laying the groundwork: we will very briefly study African history and film semiotics to give you some context and the tools necessary for analyzing the films. We will then turn our attention to gender. Organized around the basic themes of feminine, masculine, and queer identities, we will use films as our primary texts to help us grasp the ways in which various African societies envision gender definition and roles, and to help us identify the forces at work establishing and maintaining privilege and outsidership, dominance and powerlessness.

This course is a seminar, meaning that an important percentage of class time will be devoted to discussion and debate. You are responsible for doing your part in contributing to those class activities: it is expected that you will keep up with the screenings and readings, and that you will come prepared to participate in discussions by writing down comments, questions, and reactions after watching a film and doing the readings. You should complete these tasks well ahead of class (not the hour before class begins or during class).

Required Texts:

• Arnfred, Signe, Ed. Re-thinking Sexualities in Africa. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist & Wiksell Tryckeri AB: 2005.  ISBN: 91-7106-513-X
• Oyӗwùmi, Oyèrónké, Ed. African Gender Studies: A Reader. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. ISBN: 1403962839
• Course packet

Course Philosophy:
This course is a safe space where everyone’s voice is welcome. The topics we will discuss are sensitive and may feel uncomfortable at times. That is OK: we will embrace our unease because discomfort is a sign of learning. Some of us may be politically invested in these topics and will express difficult positions with ease, while others may struggle with the appropriate vocabulary or approaches to use in order to avoid offending people. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, your ideas are important and we need to hear them. We all have different experiences of gender, sex, race, ethnicity, religion, ability, age, language and life, and everyone’s viewpoints must be heard and approached with an attitude of openness and respect. As a class, let’s assume good intentions, both in what people are saying and also in how our classmates are hearing us. Let’s work to be respectful of one another and of our differences. This means that we have to learn how to disagree. You are not required to agree with your classmates or with me, but you are required to hear everyone out. Developing your intercultural competence and global citizenship (two points in UMM’s Mission Statement) means embracing diverse points of view; recognizing that the multiplicity of cultures, beliefs and world views enriches our human experience; and learning to communicate across difference. I hope that we all will make significant strides in developing these skills this semester. One technique that helps us develop these skills is listening: if you cannot agree with someone’s ideas, you must nonetheless listen to them respectfully and strive to understand their logic. Another is debating. The “Minnesota nice” conflict-avoidance does not allow us to delve into the deeper issues. A good debate is a healthy (and fun) thing! Yet some of us are not comfortable with them. Let’s remember that debates are not the same as attacks. Let’s be honest and forthright in sharing our ideas, while recognizing that if someone challenges your ideas, they are not challenging your character. Let’s always strive to use respectful vocabulary. Let’s learn from each other by engaging and challenging our ideas!

Course Objectives : After taking this course, students will be able to:

• Think critically about gender identity in various African countries.
• Articulate the role of cultural institutions and thought in the shaping of the lives of men and women.
• Analyze the representation of gender in films made by African directors.
• Demonstrate intercultural competence and global awareness:
  • Oral and written discourse should minimize ethnocentrism, heterocentrism, and other –isms, and maximize mutual respect for other cultures.
• Students should display a mindset that is conducive to communicating effectively in the culturally diverse world.
• Name several important African film directors and identify African countries on a map of the continent.
• Write academically about film and gender.
• Feel more confident in making academic oral presentations.

TOP OF PAGE

Assignments:

• Analytical papers:  You will write three papers 1950-2800 words long (6-8 pages) analyzing various films. For each paper, your analysis will focus on the theme of the section and you will elucidate how the film(s) to be analyzed deal(s) with that theme both in content and in the form of the film (how the film is shot, edited, lighted, costumed, designed, etc.). Your papers will be graded on the depth and originality of your analysis (How much textual evidence do you give, and how well do you integrate that evidence into your argument?) and on the organization of your argument (Does your paper have a clear thesis?  Does it flow logically?) Paper grades will be reduced 5 percentage points for every 24 hours they are turned in late.
• Presentation: In consultation with me, you will prepare a 15 minute PowerPoint or Prezi presentation on one of the directors and one of the African countries we will be studying. You will be graded on the level of detail, organization and professionalism in your presentation.
• Test on filmic terms and African history: There will be a test on the tools of filmic analysis and on African history. Both of these topics will give you the tools required for understanding the films we will be seeing and for writing academically about them.
• Attendance, Preparation, and Participation: This class is a community, and we depend on each other to create a respectful, dynamic, rich and intellectually stimulating learning environment. Attendance is mandatory in this class because your education suffers from absences, our community is impoverished without you in it, and we worry about you if you are not here among us. Final grades will be reduced 5% for every absence beyond two. In addition, you will receive up to five points for each class period for your participation. If you are absent—whether that absence is excused or not—you will receive a zero in participation for that day.
  • SCALE: You will earn one point for showing up on time and participating willingly, three points for strong participation, and five points if you are really prepared, raise your hand, and demonstrate strong intercultural communication skills. If your body is in class but you fall asleep, text, or have not done the readings or screenings, I will count you as absent and you will receive zero points.
    Absences do not override due dates: if you miss class on a day an assignment is due, please email the assignment to me that day.
• Miscellaneous assignments: From time to time there will be quizzes, small assignments to hand in, etc.
• Final exam:  The final will be composed of four sections. The first section will ask you to identify African countries on a map of the continent. The second section will consist of identifying various filmmakers, films, characters, and concepts from the semester. You will need to clearly state who or what the element is, and why it is important to the course. In the third section of the exam you will identify various clips of films we have seen over the course of the semester, tying them to the themes of the course. Finally, there will be an essay that will allow you to synthesize the readings, films and discussions from the semester.  

University of Minnesota Classroom Policies

TOP OF PAGE

Course Calendar:

I. Setting the Scene: Cinematic Art and African History

TOP OF PAGE

II. Women, Wives, Witches and Work

TOP OF PAGE

III. Fathers, boys; dictators and war

TOP OF PAGE

III. Queer Identities in African Cinema:

 

Thurs, Apr. 4	Steady Chioma Filomina. “An Investigative Framework for Gender Research in Africa in the New Millennium.” African Gender Studies. 313-331. Arnfred, Signe. “Sexualities in Africa: Introduction.” Re-thinking Sexualities in Africa. 7-29. 32 pages to read
SUNDAY, Apr. 7	FILM SCREENING Drabo, Adama. Taafe Fanga (Mali, 1997, 95 min)
Tues, Apr. 9	Presentation on Adama Drabo and Mali by _________________________ Thackway, Melissa. “Interview I: Adama Drabo” Africa Shoots Back, 183-191. (course packet) Simms, Laura. “The First Mask.” Parabola: The Magazine of Myth and Tradition 6 (3): Aug 1981. 31.   (course packet) Bedaux, R. M. A. “Tellem and Dogon Material Culture.” African Arts.21 (4), August 1988. 38-45; 91. (course packet) Van Beek, Walter E.A. “Becoming Human in Dogon, Mali.” IN: Aijmer, Göran (ed.); Coming into Existence: Birth and Metaphors of Birth. Gothenburg, Swed.; Inst. for Advanced Studies in Soc. Anthropol., Univ. of Gothenburg; 1992. 47-70. (course packet) 46 pages to read
Thurs, Apr. 11	Akyeampong and Pashinton Obeng. “Spirituality, Gender, and Power in Asante History.” African Gender Studies. 23-48. Oyéwùmi, Oyèrónké. “(Re)constituting the Cosmology and Sociocultural Institutions of Ọyọ-Yorùbá. African Gender Studies. 99-119. 45 pages to read
SUNDAY, Apr. 14	FILM SCREENING Bekolo, Jean-Pierre. Quartier Mozart (Cameroon, 1992, 80 min)
Tues, Apr. 16	Presentation on Jean-Pierre Bekolo and Cameroon by _________________ Buchanan, Sarah. “Untraditional Tradition: Gender and Orality in Quartier Mozart.” Cinema and Social Discourse in Cameroon. 223-248.(course packet) 25 pages to read
Thurs, Apr. 18	“African LGBTI Declaration.” African Sexualities: A Reader. Cape Town: Pambazuka Press, 2011. 182. Amory, Deborah P. “ ‘Homosexuality’ in Africa: Issues and Debates.” Issue: A Journal of Opinion. 25 (1). “Commentaries in African Studies: Essays about African Social Change and the Meaning of our Professional Work” 1997. 5-10. 6 pages to read
SUNDAY, Apr. 21	FILM SCREENING Brooks, Philip and Laurent Bocahut, Woubi Chéri (La Côte d’Ivoire, 1998, 62 min.) Camara, Mohammed, Dakan (Guinea, 1997, 87 min.) NOTE: This week’s screening will exceed our scheduled 2 hours by about 30 minutes. Please plan accordingly.
Tues, Apr. 23	Presentation on Philip Brooks, Laurent Bocahut and the Côte d’Ivoire by ________________________ Presentation on Mohammed Camara and Guinea by __________________ Eke, Maureen N. “Woubi Chéri: Negotiating Subjectivity, Gender, and Power.” In: Azodo, Ada Uzoamaka (ed. and introd.); Eke, Maureen Ngozi (ed. and introd.); Gender and Sexuality in African Literature and Film. Trenton, NJ; Africa World; 2007, 239-248. (course packet) Migraine-George, Thérèse. “Beyond the ‘internalist’ vs. ‘externalist’ debate: the local-global identities of African homosexuals in two films, Woubi Chéri and Dakan.” Journal of African Cultural Studies. 16(1), June 2003, 45-56. Ratele, Kopano. “Male Sexualities and Masculinities.” African Sexualities: A Reader. Sylvia Tamale, Ed. Cape Town: Pambazuka Press, 2011. 399-419. (course packet) 40 pages to read
Thurs, Apr. 25	Desai, Gaurav. “Out in Africa.” Sex Positives? The Cultural Politics of Dissident Sexualities. Foster, Thomas C., et al. New York: New York UP, 1997. 120-143. (course packet) Tcheuyap, Alexie. “African Cinema and Representations of (Homo)Sexuality.” Body, Sexuality, and Gender: Versions and Subversions in African Literatures 1 ed. Flora Veit-Wild and Dirk Naguschewski. Amsterdam and Union NJ: Editions Rodopi, 2005. 143-154. (course packet) 20 pages to read
SUNDAY, Apr. 28	FILM SCREENING Ramaka, Joseph Gaï. Karmen Geï. (Senegal, 2001, 82 min.)
Tues, Apr. 30	Njambi, Ngaruiya Wairimu and William E. O’Brien. “Revisiting ‘Woman-Woman Marriage’: Notes on Gikuyu Women.” African Gender Studies.145-165. Petty, Sheila. “The Rise of the African Musical: Postcolonial Disjunction in Karmen Gei and Madame Brouette.” The Journal of African Cinemas. 1 (1) 2009. 95-112. (course packet) RE-READ THIS ARTICLE 37 pages to read
Thurs, May 2	Paper #2 due Evaluations What conclusions can we draw from our studies this semester? Any overriding themes? What surprised you most? Why? 0 pages to read

BACK TO TOP

FINAL EXAM:
Thursday, May 9 at 4:00-6:00pm