1 GRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING 9 May 2012 102 Kern Graduate ...

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resources; land reform and rural livelihood systems; community-based resource programs,
mining, the environment and rural communities; and national parks, transfrontier parks and rural
livelihood systems.
*AFR/PL SC 534- Political Economy of Petroleum, Energy and Extractive Industries in Africa
(3)
This course examines the extractive industry-driven changes in Africa’s political economy as
well as in the continent’s foreign relations. Students are encouraged to examine the institutional
mechanisms under which the expansion of the industry is taking place in Africa. The course,
thus, involves an extensive discussion of the institutional characteristics of Africa, including
issues of land tenure and property rights laws. It examines how the institutional mechanisms are
changing in order to facilitate the industry’s expansion and the repercussions of these
institutional changes on society. The course also analyzes the industry’s impacts on Africa’s
socioeconomic development and global relations.
*AFR 536- Kinship and Social Practices in Africa (3)
The course analyses different kinship theories and how they may enable us to enhance our
understanding of the different dimensions of African social practices in historical and
contemporary Africa. It examines theories of kinship and social formations in order to interpret
the relevance of traditional formations in historical and contemporary African development. It
also examines the implications of social formations for political change (example,
democratization), social (example, corruption and institutional failures) and cultural (ethnicity
and religion) for shaping change in contemporary Africa.
*AFR/WS 537-Gender, Sexuality and Islam in Africa (3)
This course focuses on the intersection of Feminist Studies, African Studies and Religious
Studies. It offers students an advanced level of reading, analysis and discussion about discourses
of sexuality and gender in studies of Islam in Africa. It discusses key African and feminist
theoretical concepts in the study of gender and Islam and also engages discussions of religion,
gender and sexuality. Building on these foundations, the course examines the historical, literary
and visual representation of gender, sexuality and Islam in South Africa as case study. The latter
section includes discussions of recent theoretical debates about sexual diversity in Islam as well
as the impact of activism, political representation and artistic, literary and autobiographical
representations by gay and lesbian Muslims in South Africa.
The core electives listed above provides students with the opportunity to pursue in greater detail,
one of the three key themes covered in AFR 501: history and culture (536 or 537); political
economy (527, 530, 534,); human-environment interaction (527, 532, 534).
African-Related Courses Currently Available in the African Studies Program and in other
Units at Penn State.
AFR/PL SC/IB 440 (US;IL) Globalization and Its Implications (3)
AFR/PL SC 443 (IL) Ethnic Conflict in Africa (3)