AAAS 863: READING THE AFRICAN DIASPORA:
METHODS AND APPROACHES [ Winter 2007 Call no. 03131-9 ]

Credits: 5

Instructor: Dr. Daniel Avorgbedor

Meetings: TUE THUR 9:30 – 11:18

Venue: UH 0074 [click for code and location] [online version only]

Office: 101c Hughes Hall

Contact: avorgbedor.1@osu.edu
access syllabi, assignments, etc. here at link below

http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/avorgbedor1/

--Academic Calendar (online access) Important Dates Final Exam Dates [March 15, Thur 9:30-11:18]

Course Description: A study and review of established and emerging research ideas and discourses, methods, techniques, analytical tools and research models for investigating the peoples, products and processes of the African diaspora. The course begins with an overview of paradigms, issues and concerns in worldwide diaspora research, with emphasis on their relevance to the African diaspora. Next, we will examine argumentations and landmark research projects that locate and define the African diaspora, including geographic limits, time depth, dialectics of home and abroad/exile, etc., and with focus on specific processes, products and experiences such as differentials in patterns of slavery, mobility and multiple deterritorialization, and others. We will examine specific analytical ideas and concepts such as trauma, shared consciousness and cultural memory, hybridity, Africanism, and current critical discourse on race theory and identity construction. Specific sites of cultural production and symbolic-aesthetic forms and the media that uniquely position peoples of African ancestry will be examined but with attention to the application of original and existing investigative tools from qualitative and quantitative research perspectives and from multi- and interdisciplinary backgrounds.

MAJOR TEXTS:

Theorizing diaspora : a reader. Jana Evans Braziel and Anita Mannur, eds. Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2003
Black Cultural Traffic: Crossroads in Global Performance and Popular Culture. Elam, Harry J., Jr. and Kennell Jackson, eds. Ann Arbor: Univ of Michigan Press, 2005.

Global dimensions of the African diaspora. Joseph E. Harris, ed. Washington, D.C. : Howard University Press, 1993

Global diasporas : an introduction. Robin Cohen. Seattle: University of Washington P 1997

African roots/American cultures : Africa in the creation of the Americas. Sheila S. Walker, ed. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001
New Diasporas: The Mass Exodus, Dispersal and Regrouping of Migrant Communities. Nicholas Van Hear. Seattle; University of Washington Press, 1998.

New African diasporas. Khalid Koser, ed. London ; New York: Routledge, 2003

Selections on reserve at the Main Library, Sullivant Hall (see list of reserve materials); supplementary articles are accesible from JSTOR

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Students must complete all reading assignments before each class and be prepared to respond to questions based on the readings, as indicated in the weekly schedule.

Special Assignments: Students will provide written and oral critical responses to selected essays, film, documentary, musical composition, choreography, theatre piece, or significant audio or musical recordings that reflect the experiences and ideas of individuals, people and events of the African diaspora. [Students will be given a sample list of works/artists/authors, as a starting point.] All students will complete a final research paper which is based on either specific fieldwork assignments or archival-library resources. Details of the research paper and special assignments will be discussed in class.

All written assignments must be typed, double-spaced, 12-point Times Roman and must conform to one of the major citation formats or styles (include Internet) consistently. [Please see my website under Research Guides for links to citation formats and writing /styles]

Grading:

Attendance and participation 10% 4 Short Reviews (10% each) 40%

Mid-term Exam 20%

Special Fieldwork or Archival/Library Research Paper 30%

Grading: A combination of points and letter grades and averaging will be employed, but instructor has the discretion to favor a particular system. Example: 95-100 =A; 90-94-A-; 85-89=B+; 80-84=B; 75-79=B-; 70-74=C+; 65-69=C; 60-64=D; etc Letter grades will be assigned in all cases.

Academic Policies on Plagiarism and Access

REGULATIONS: Plagiarism: It is against University regulations to "steal" answers from your classmates during exams/quizzes. A research paper or assignment that is composed mostly of unacknowledged sources will be treated as a case of plagiarism, and after a consultation with the student concerned. The Internet: All information downloaded/ printed from the internet/WWW must receive proper citation, as detailed below. It is being considered unethical, troublesome and even "illegal" in certain academic sectors when student purchase ready-made term papers on the Internet. Identifiable cases will be processed according to university regulations. Visit http://www.osu.edu/offices/oaa/procedures/1.0.html for details.
Academic Misconduct: According to University regulations, it is the responsibility of the Committee on Academic Misconduct to investigate or establish procedures for the investigation of all reported cases of student academic misconduct. The term "academic misconduct" includes all forms of student academic misconduct wherever committed; illustrated by, but not limited to, cases of plagiarism and dishonest practices in connection with examinations. Instructors shall report all instances of alleged academic misconduct to the committee (Faculty Rule 33356-5-487). For additional information, see the Code of Student Conduct (http://studentaffairs.osu.edu/resource_csc.asp).
Disability Services: Students with disabilities that have been certified by the Office of Disability Services will be appropriately accommodated, and should inform the instructor as soon as possible of their needs. The Office for Disability Services is located in 150 Pomerene Hall, 1760 Neil Avenue; telephone 292-3307, TDD 292-0901;
http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/.
INTERNET Access Problems: If you have trouble access class-related web pages, contact me immediately at 614-292-9441 or by email at: avorgbedor.1@osu.edu.
Access and Special Arrangements: Individuals with special limitations (e.g., sight, hearing, attention, physical handicap) should inform the instructor early in order to ensure proper arrangements are in place.

SCHEDULE* Winter 2007 AAAS 863-- Reading the African Diaspora

WEEK 1 First things first; WHAT IS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA?
What and Where is Home? Current world events and challenges to notions of a diaspora
Comparing and reasoning out definitions—Questions that demand complex answers

Readings: special handouts

Assignments: special instruction

WEEK 2 Definitions, cntd

WEEK 3 AFRICAN SOCIETIES, PAST AND PRESENT

--Major African civilizations and their global impact; diversity of socioeconomic, political, religious and aesthetic traditions; and external linkages and influences; unity in diversity

--Critical review of early African diaspora studies

WEEK 4: THE MEDIA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA--I

Contemporary local performances, fiction, exhibition (physical and virtual cyberspace,

photography, etc), theater, and questions of Roots and Memories of Africa (nostalgia, imaginary, etc.) cultural, racial, ethnic identities

WEEK 5: THE MEDIA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA--II

Contemporary local performances, fiction, exhibition (physical and virtual cyberspace,

photography, etc), theater, and questions of Roots and Memories of Africa (nostalgia, imaginary, etc.) cultural, racial, ethnic identities

Critiques of the literature and in the light of specific performance/media events

WEEK 6: CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO STUDYING DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES--1

Selective ideas from Theorizing Diaspora; Global Diasporas; Cartographies;

Displacement, diaspora, and geographies of identity; Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora; Identity and the Arts in Diaspora Communities; Maggie Morehouse essay

WEEK 7: CONTEMP. APPROACHES TO STUDYING DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES--II

Overview of Qualitative and Quantitative Methods—Questionnaire design

Problems of the quantitative method in studying Africa and the African Diaspora
WEEK 8: CONTEMP. APPROACHES TO STUDYING DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES--III

“Space” in Historiography; techniques of oral history; interpreting and analyzing

autobiographies and narratives; auto-ethnography and critical ethnography

WEEK 9: The Comparative Method—review and critique of selective studies, I

large-scale and simple comparative methods

WEEK 10: The Comparative Method—review and critique of selective studies, II

--one ethnic group spread in several African Diaspora communities—Yoruba

--maroon communities and basic assumptions underlying Africanisms and retention studies

--Typology of trauma and challenges to theory and method

WEEK 11: Archaeology—integrating oral history, linguistics, indigenous script; the

relevance of mixed methods and triangulation, team research, audiovisual documentation;

--review and critique of selective documentaries, professional and amateurs

*NB: This is work-in-progress and details will be provided based on final demographics of the class and needs. The instructor reserves the right to change, substitute or add information to the weekly themes of the course schedule.