2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

FOAH1100 Creative Africas: Culture and the Arts in Modern Africa

20 creditsClass Size: 56

Module manager: Dr Brendon Nicholls
Email: B.L.Nicholls@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module will introduce students to the recent cultural history of Africa, the importance of culture in the creation of modern Africa, and to key issues and items of cultural production. It will engage with key issues such as representation, identity, religion, gender, sexuality, and politics, and with a range of forms of cultural production including art, novels, poetry, media, theatre, music or film.

Objectives

This module will enable students to have a broad understanding of the cultural history of Africa from colonialism to the present day, and to explore both how the continent is seen from the West and the key issues and forms of cultural production engaging African artists and audiences. The module will enable students to understand the factors informing African arts and cultures, and to engage with a range of artistic forms.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Assess effectively the importance of cultural concerns in the modern history of Africa
2. Engage productively with forms of contemporary African cultural production in context
3. Examine the forms and ideas animating contemporary African arts

Skills learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Appreciate and evaluate how cultural representation affects, and is affected by, factors such as race ethnicity, gender, sexuality and religion
5. Critically analyse aspects of the colonial and postcolonial politics of representations of Africa using a range of appropriate sources, evidence, ideas, and theories.

Syllabus

The syllabus of this module is organised around three major themes:
1. Representations and creations of Africa, including topics such as colonialism and postcoloniality, historical representations, cultural anthropology, or media representations (both in the West and in Africa).
2. Identity and culture in Africa, including topics such as gender and sexuality, religion and ethnicity, race.
3. Cultural provocations in post-Apartheid Southern Africa, through topics such as contemporary arts and literature, or popular culture.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
seminars	10	1.00	10.00
Lecture	11	1.00	11.00
Private study hours			179.00
Total Contact hours			21.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students will write a formative mid-term 1,000 word primary source analysis, for which written feedback will be provided. The formative assessment will prepare students for the end of term, assessed essay by asking them to demonstrate in a primary source analysis the module’s Learning Outcomes and Subject Skills Outcomes. Formative feedback will offer guidance toward preparing for assessed essay. Students may seek further clarification on their formative written feedback by email, or in tutorials and office hours.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	End of term 2,000 word essay	100.00
Assignment	Mid-term 1,000 word primary source analysis (formative)	0.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 16/02/2024

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