Department of International Relations

Subsaharan Africa Studies(RI414)

Course Code Course Name Semester Theory Practice Lab Credit ECTS
RI414 Subsaharan Africa Studies 6 3 3 0 3 5
Prerequisites
Admission Requirements
Language of Instruction French
Course Type Elective
Course Level Bachelor Degree
Course Instructor(s)
Assistant
Objective The main objective of this course is to contribute to the knowledge of sub-Saharan Africa, a region that attracted attention only in the early 2000s in Turkey; as well as the production of literature and systematic knowledge about the region. Passing through the "colonial moment" that made Sub-Saharan Africa a subcontinent dominated by mainly European powers, the course aims to encourage students to engage in a questioning about the major issues of this subcontinent.
Content Taking into account the heterogeneity of the history of the region (hence, sensitive to the diversities of national historical trajectories, especially from the end of the Second World War), this course is committed to studying the contemporary challenges to what may be termed "sub-Saharan Africa's policy" (or even "policies" in sub-Saharan Africa) such as the construction (even the design) of the state in sub-Saharan Africa, issues of under) development, the state of permanent violence, etc., but also the place of sub-Saharan Africa in international politics.
Course Learning Outcomes The students:
- Acquire historical knowledge about sub-Saharan Africa;
- Acquire some knowledge of the place of sub-Saharan Africa in international politics;
- Have the ability to predict the future of sub-Saharan Africa.
Teaching and Learning Methods The course consists of two parts: a narrative part accompanied by documentaries of 5 to 10 minutes, and a section devoted to guests (including diplomats who worked / work in sub-Saharan Africa) and lectures.
References UNESCO, The African Slave Trade from the Fiftheenth to the Ninetheenth Century. The General History of Africa. Studies and Reports -2, Reports and papers of the meeting of the experts organized by UNESCO at the Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 31 January-4 February, 1948, Paris: UNESCO, 1979, 330 p.

AMIN, Samir, Accumulation on a World Scale: A Critique of the Theory of Underdevelopment, Monthly Review Press, January 1974, 640 s.
------------------- The Class Struggle in Africa, Africa Research Group, 1969, 46 p.
COOPER, Frederick, Africa since 1940. The Past and the Present, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009, 11th edition, 216 p.
COOPER, Frederick et al. (ed.), Confronting Historical Paradigms. Peasants, Labor, and the Capitalist World System in Africa and Latin America, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1993, vii+422 s.p.
DİRLİK, Arif, Postkolonyal Aura. Küresel Kapitalizm Çağında Üçüncü Dünya Eleştirisi, İstanbul: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Yayınevi, 2005, 371 p.
GOODY, Jack, Tarih Hırsızlığı, Trans. Gül Çağalı Güven, İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, Şubat 2017, 4th edition, 420 p.
GUHA, Ranajit, Dünya-Tarihinin Sınırında Tarih, Trans. Erkal Ünal, İstanbul: Metis Yayınları, 2006, 139 p.
LOVEJOY, Paul (ed.), The Ideology of Slavery in Africa, Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1981, 307 p.
MERT, Ali Osman (2012). Türkiye’nin Sahraaltı Ülkelerine Yönelik Kamu Diplomasisi Faaliyetleri (2005-2011), Uzmanlık Tezi, Ankara: Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Başkanlığı, Ankara.
MIERS, Suzanne; KOPYTOFF, Igor, Slavery in Africa: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives, Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1977, xvii+474 p.
MILLER, Joseph C., The Problem of Slavery as History: A Global Approach, New Haven; Londres: Yale University Press, 2009, 240 p.
------------------------ Slavery: A Comparative Teaching Biography, Waltham, Massachusetts: Crossroads/ African Studies Association, 1977.
PATTERSON, Orlando, Slavery and Social Death. A Comparative Study, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982, 511 p.
SPIVAK, Gayatri Chakravorty, In Other Worlds. Essays in Cultural Politics, New York ve Londra: Methuen, 1987, 309 p.
THORTON, John, Africa and Africans in the making of the Atlantic world, 1400-1800, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2nd edition, 380 p.
WATSON, J. L. (ed.), Asian and African Systems of Slavery, Berkeley & Londra: University of California Press,1980, 384 p.
YOUNG, Robert J., Postkolonyalizm. Tarihsel Bir Giriş, Trans. Burcu Toksabay Köprülü; Sertaç Şen, İstanbul: Matbu Kitap, 2016, 652 p.
Print the course contents
Theory Topics
Week Weekly Contents
1 Introduction
2 “The colonial moment:” Brief history of colonization of Africa – Conquest and share of the Sub-saharan Africa - I
3 "The colonial moment." The Brief History of colonisation of the Sub-saharan Africa - II
4 The First World War and its Consequences
5 Interwar period. Repartition of the Sub-saharan Africa : Change of modalities of domination
6 The Second World War and its aftermath: Prelude to independance
7 Independance Waves
8 MIDTERM
9 Visiting professor
10 The Delinquency and the Colonial Legacy
11 Violence Cycle in the Sub-saharan Africa
12 World Powers and the Sub-sabsaharan Africa
13 The Sub-saharan Africa as the Rising Power in the 21st Century
14 General Revision
Practice Topics
Week Weekly Contents
Contribution to Overall Grade
  Number Contribution
Contribution of in-term studies to overall grade 9 60
Contribution of final exam to overall grade 1 40
Toplam 10 100
In-Term Studies
  Number Contribution
Assignments 4 20
Presentation 4 10
Midterm Examinations (including preparation) 1 30
Project 0 0
Laboratory 0 0
Other Applications 0 0
Quiz 0 0
Term Paper/ Project 1 40
Portfolio Study 0 0
Reports 0 0
Learning Diary 0 0
Thesis/ Project 0 0
Seminar 0 0
Other 0 0
Toplam 10 100
No Program Learning Outcomes Contribution
1 2 3 4 5
1 To have a detailed knowledge on the principal concepts, actors and components of the international system X
2 To master the fundamentals such as history, law, economics, sociology and political science required by the multidisciplinary nature of International Relations X
3 Pouvoir analyser la pratique à partir d’une infrastructure théorique assimilée X
4 To have acquired the capability of specializing on a particular theme and/or region X
5 In the light of Galatasaray University’s traditional and institutional links with Europe, to have developed the ability to contribute to Turkey’s accession process to the EU in a concrete manner X
6 To interpret and explain Turkish foreign policy through its domestic components as well as from the perspective of the international system X
7 To have reached the necessary level of competence to be able to undertake a career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as other state institutions and/or the private sector X
8 Possess the required skills to work at various international organizations and NGOs X
9 To be in perfect command of French, teaching language of Galatasaray University, and of English, its mandatory language, at the academic -with a view to write a thesis/project/book in the field of International Relations- as well as the professional level X
10 To have the capacity to utilize the methodological instruments acquired throughout the studies at any conceptual and/or academic work X
Activities Number Period Total Workload
Class Hours 13 3 39
Working Hours out of Class 10 4 40
Assignments 3 3 9
Presentation 4 3 12
Midterm Examinations (including preparation) 1 11 11
Final Examinations (including preparation) 1 14 14
Total Workload 125
Total Workload / 25 5,00
Credits ECTS 5
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