Courses - Fall 2012

Professor J. Collins
Using a variety of paradigms, this course explores a broad range of popular musical forms in sub-Saharan Africa as stylistic areas. Southern, Central, East and West Africa (Francophone and Anglophone) musical styles are considered. The historical scope of the inquiry extends from 19th century to the present. The investigation seeks to highlight the relationships among popular music, traditional performance, and the social and cultural forces of modernization.

Sample Syllabus

Professor G.K. Nukunya
The course introduces students to aspects of Ghanaian society and culture. It considers both traditional aspects of life and how people live their lives in this first decade of the new millennium. How Ghanaians perceive and conceive themselves and their society; how others view the society and life of Ghanaians also receive critical attention. The course emphasizes that Ghanaians are not an undifferentiated lot and that what the different people say their behavior should be differs from what their actual behavior is. Students will get to examine these varied perceptions and perspectives as well as construct their own representations of the society. The course will also attempt to answer questions about Ghana and Ghanaians that are of interest to the non-Ghanaian getting acquainted with the country. The course combines talks, readings, discussions, visits, and students' presentations in class. There will be a written examination at the end of the semester and a dissertation on an aspect of Ghanaian society and culture that students might choose to explore.

Sample Syllabus

Note: this course is open to all students for elective credit. Comparative
literature majors in track ii (literary and cultural studies) may count this
course toward one of their non-core major requirements.

Professor K. Anyidoho
The course examines certain recurring themes and critical issues in post-colonial narratives in Africa. It begins with a look at the debate and polemics around post-colonialism as a critical and theoretical concept. It then dwells on specific narratives, mainly novels by African writers, works located in the period following classical colonialism. The reading of these narratives is informed by such critical issues as the crisis of cultures in contact; personal, class, ethnic and national identities; the politics of gender; debates over language; the aesthetics and politics of art; strategic transformations in narrative form, etc.

Sample Syllabus

This course is also listed under Metropolitan Studies.

Professor J. Awindor
This interdisciplinary course combines ethnographic readings, representations, and interpretations of city and urban cultures with a video production component in which students create short documentaries on the city of Accra. The interpretative classes will run concurrently with production management, sights and sound, and post-production workshops. The course will have three objectives: (1) teach students the documentary tradition from Flaherty to Rouch; (2) use critical Cinema theory to define a document with a camera; and (3) create a short documentary film.

Sample Syllabus

Professor K. Saah
Course description coming soon.

Prof. M. Williams

This is an interdisciplinary course designed to study the life and times, intellectual thought and practical activity, of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah.  With the use of a variety of readings and audio-visual materials, this course will critically explore the socioeconomic and political factors that served to shape the life, thought, and times of Kwame Nkrumah.  The persons, ideas, and events that influenced Nkrumah and the ideas, persons and events that he also impacted will be covered as well.  Students interested in sociology, history, political science, economics, and cultural studies will find this course of particular interest as its subject matter will dovetail into each of these related fields of study.

Sample Syllabus

Professor G.K. Nukunya
The course introduces students to aspects of Ghanaian society and culture. It considers both traditional aspects of life and how people live their lives in this first decade of the new millennium. How Ghanaians perceive and conceive themselves and their society; how others view the society and life of Ghanaians also receive critical attention. The course emphasizes that Ghanaians are not an undifferentiated lot and that what the different people say their behavior should be differs from what their actual behavior is. Students will get to examine these varied perceptions and perspectives as well as construct their own representations of the society. The course will also attempt to answer questions about Ghana and Ghanaians that are of interest to the non-Ghanaian getting acquainted with the country. The course combines talks, readings, discussions, visits, and students' presentations in class. There will be a written examination at the end of the semester and a dissertation on an aspect of Ghanaian society and culture that students might choose to explore.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Ashton-Harris
This class explores post-colonial theories of identity, representation, and culture as they are expressed in contemporary art. Each student will create a series of art projects addressing and interpreting issues raised by the classes’ readings and discussions. Students will meet regularly with visiting African painters, sculptors, and designers in intimate workshop settings for lectures, critiques, and demonstrations, . The class will include field trips to galleries as well as artists’ residences and studios in urban and rural settings. Students in this course will have access to semi-private studio space for painting, sculpture, and mixed-media work.

Sample Syllabus

Professor TBA
Using both traditional and digital photography, students will record and interpret their experiences of living in Accra. Renowned hotographic artist, Lyle Ashton Harris, will work with students at a variety of levels on both individual and group projects, as well as introducing students to local photographers, artists, and activists.

Sample Syllabus

Professor E. Sutherland
This course shall focus on the place of women in the literary tradition, an issue that is very current in the discourse on the literature of Africa and its Diaspora. Women writers have emerged at the forefront of the movement to restore African women to their proper place in the study of African history, society and culture. In this process, the need to recognize the women as literary artists in the oral mode has also been highlighted. Furthermore, the work of women writers is gaining increasing significance and deserves to be examined within the context of canon formation. Authors and texts will be examined, focusing on such topics as the heritage of women's literature, images of women in the works of male writers; women in traditional and contemporary society; women and the African family in the literary tradition; literature as a tool for self-definition and self-liberation; African women writers; female expressions of cultural nationalism in the Caribbean; female novelists of the African continent; Black women dramatists; the poetry of African women.

Sample Syllabus

Note: this course is open to all students for elective credit. Comparative
literature majors in track ii (literary and cultural studies) may count this
course toward one of their non-core major requirements.

Professor K. Anyidoho
The course examines certain recurring themes and critical issues in post-colonial narratives in Africa. It begins with a look at the debate and polemics around post-colonialism as a critical and theoretical concept. It then dwells on specific narratives, mainly novels by African writers, works located in the period following classical colonialism. The reading of these narratives is informed by such critical issues as the crisis of cultures in contact; personal, class, ethnic and national identities; the politics of gender; debates over language; the aesthetics and politics of art; strategic transformations in narrative form, etc.

Sample Syllabus

Professor K. Awonoor
This is a workshop type course intended for a small group of students, each with a strong aptitude and/or demonstrated talent for creative writing. Our basic objective is to guide students into a more systematic approach to creative writing in any of the main genres, especially fiction and poetry. Each student is expected to engage in critical discussions on samples of their own writing as well as on writing by other members of the class. Our focus shall be on developing a grasp of the rudiments and general mechanics of the writer's craft, while at the same time allowing for a fuller realization of the personal/individual creative impulse and talent. Some class sessions will be devoted to various types of writing exercises, others to the discussion of sample texts, most of it produced by members of the class. Each student will be expected to share his/her work with the class and possibly with a wider audience when possible. At the end of the semester, each student will be expected to have produced a substantial body of creative writing for assessment by the course instructors.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Stella Kofie-Yariga   
Enrollment by permission only. Application required. Contact global.academics@nyu.edu for application information. Course includes weekly seminar and minimum of 10 hours fieldwork/ week at approved internship fieldsite.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Baku
The course examines the rise, growth, effects, and the abolition of the Atlantic Slave trade as well as its legacy. The course begins with a discussion of the nature of West African society before the introduction of the Atlantic Slave Trade; and the relations among Asante peoples, other neighboring West African peoples, the indigenous slave trade, and relations with Europeans in the Atlantic Slave Trade. The Atlantic Slave trade itself is analyzed from historical, ethnographic, sociological, economic and political perspectives, focusing on Africa, Europe and the Americas. The immediate and long term effects of the Slave Trade on Africa are considered, as well as the history of the trade's Abolition, and the legacy of the Atlantic Slave trade in African, European and American societies.

Sample Syllabus

Professor A. Gadzekpo
The class will explore the sociocultural and philosophical context of the media industry and the practice of mass communication in Africa in general, and Ghana in particular. This broad perspective will be examined against the background notion that the media do not function in a vacuum. Thus, students will examine how these contexts, informed by the dominant philosophies and macro-institutional practices of society, mitigate or even dictate the operations of the media. As a special focus, we will examine the significance of the liberalization of the airwaves in emerging democracies such as Ghana.

Sample Syllabus

Professor N. Amarteifio
Counter to the prevailing view of a rural African living in traditional communities, the majority of Africans are rapidly becoming urban dwellers. African cities are fast joining the ranks of mega-cities, global market hubs and centers for political and cultural exchange. This phenomenon raises important questions that form the basis for this course. Are these cities merely the products of globalization, or do their roots lie in pre-colonial tradition? Are global cities a new phenomenon in Africa, or can we find traces of earlier international links? What factors define the spatial geography and political economy of urban Africa? What challenges do African governments face in managing the city? How has the architecture and the arts of the African city been influenced by external connections?

This course examines those factors that have shaped Accra throughout history. While the emphasis of the course is on Accra, the course also introduces the main theoretical debates across disciplinary fields in the comparative study of the city. Students will be challenged to utilize primary resources such as national archives and special collection libraries, maps, and various cultural resources to address some of the questions being posed.

Sample Syllabus

This course is also listed under Africana Studies.

Professor P. Jaddo
This interdisciplinary course combines ethnographic readings, representations, and interpretations of city and urban cultures with a video production component in which students create short documentaries on the city of Accra. The interpretative classes will run concurrently with production management, sights and sound, and post-production workshops. The course will have three objectives: (1) teach students the documentary tradition from Flaherty to Rouch; (2) use critical Cinema theory to define a document with a camera; and (3) create a short documentary film.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Stella Kofie-Yariga   
Enrollment by permission only. Application required. Contact global.academics@nyu.edu for application information. Course includes weekly seminar and minimum of 10 hours fieldwork/ week at approved internship fieldsite.

Sample Syllabus

Professor Steiner-Asiedu 

The course is designed to enhance students’ awarenessof the multifaceted nature of nutrition problems across the globe and the needfor holistic approaches to methods to address them including research. Thecourse will review the UNICEF malnutrition structure within the context oflivelihood frameworks to demonstrate the linkages between health, nutrition andagriculture. Food security issues and impacts on nutrition and developmentalissues will be discussed. The course will also discuss the trends ofglobalization and the nutritional implications. The fact that the intensity andeffects of globalization are experienced differently across different nations,social classes, cultures, and genders will be stressed. The course will furtherreview key concepts and debates regarding nutrition transition, infant andyoung child feeding, women, aging and health.  

Sample Syllabus

Professor C. Akotia
Community Psychology attempts to understand people in their social contexts. It integrates social action and psychological research in culturally diverse contexts. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the breadth of topics, social issues, and research approaches that characterize community psychology. These topics include the history of Community Psychology, major theoretical approaches, and the nature and methods of community research. In addition, the course explores different perspectives on mental health, and research and practices related to programs intended to promote or prevent certain behaviors. Finally the course explores the relationship between communities and social change. Teaching will be in the form of lectures, discussions, and class presentations.

Sample Syllabus

Professor K.A. Senah
This course will examine the various dimensions of the field of public health and how the public’s health is protected. Students explore the ways social, economic, and political forces influence the health of populations. Additionally, this course will focus upon some of the current ethical public health dilemmas where the rights of the individual versus the rights of society come into conflict. The course makes use of diverse methods of instruction, including, but not limited to, small group discussion, group exercises, mini-lectures, student debates, field-based group projects and student presentations. Students may be involved in gathering information and observations from projects outside of the classroom at government, NGO and health care institutions.

Sample Syllabus

Professor A. Darkwah
Globalization has become a buzzword in our time. Four different sets of literature have been developed around this concept. The first set of literature seeks to define the concept in terms of its relationship to the changing workforce, technology and communications, culture and finance. A second set of literature debates the novelty of the various processes encoded in the concept of globalization. Another set of literature debates the changing role and nature of the state in an era of globalization. The final set of literature debates the issue of whether the economic prospects of the developing world indeed hinge on their full participation in the globalization process. This course will expose students to these four sets of literature and provide the students with an opportunity to interrogate the very concept of globalization and to debate its benefits and disadvantages for the developing world in general and Africa in particular.

Sample Syllabus

Current courses and syllabi will only be available upon arrival at NYU Accra. Credits and course equivalency, if any, are to be determined in consultation with student's departmental advisor. Any course expected to count for major/minor credit should be pre-approved by student's advisor. (Students are encouraged to obtain a written record of approval for their records.)

Actual fall course listings from all departments will only be available upon arrival. Students may find the sample course lists provided below useful in discussing their planned semester abroad with their advisor.

Archeology, Botany, Dance, Economics, Geography, History, Linguistics, Music, Nutrition, Politics, Psychology, Religion, Social Work, Sociology, Theatre, Zoology