Spring 2013

Monday, 2:00pm – 4:00pm

This course will examine the complexity of contemporary racial and ethnic experience in the United States, focusing on self-identified “mixed-race” groups and voluntary immigrant groups from Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean (e.g. from Brazil, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Nigeria). Interdisciplinary course readings will introduce key theoretical issues in the social sciences and humanities, such as cultural relativism, the social construction of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, and the negotiation of identity in diaspora and minority settings. Assignments will include both written work and social engagement with local communities resulting in multimedia projects.

Credits: Half course

Tuesdays/Thursdays 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Description: What constitutes an act of resistance? What role do individual beliefs, collective action, public protest, art and literature have in resistance movements? What can the study of resistance teach us about the past and about the world we live in today? This course will explore these questions through case studies drawn from contemporary politics and culture, the apartheid era in South Africa, and Harvard history.
Location: CGIS-Knafel K-109

Credits: Half course

Tuesday, 3:00pm – 5:00pm

This course is a historical survey of the centuries-old Christian traditions in Africa. It begins with an outline of the trajectory of Christianity’s origins and presence in Africa from its beginning in ancient Mediterranean lands through the early period of European missionaries to the contemporary period. The course provides the ethnography of the old mission churches, indigenous independent African churches, and contemporary evangelical and Pentecostal Charismatic movements. The course explores the role of Christianity in relation to historical, cultural, social, and material realities of the African continent. It examines a broad range of topical issues related to conversion, missionization, and the development and growth of Christian agencies in Africa in relation to the construction of social, theological, and religious identities, as well as Christianity’s response to cultural pluralism, nationhood, citizenship, and civil society.

Credits: Half course

Monday, 1:00pm – 3:00pm

An examination of the various ways in which Africa historically has been conceptualized and visualized in art and illustrative materials. Emphasis is given to the critical reading of actual works of art and documents. Construction of self and others as seen through images is discussed. The interface between Africa and the Christian and Islamic worlds as well as larger concerns of slavery, colonialism, and contemporary art are examined.Credits: Half course

Tuesday/Thursday, 11:30pm – 1:00pm

This course examines the changing place of medicine in the long history of modernity. Focusing on key moments – the birth of the clinic, the colonial frontier (where biomedicine met its therapeutic “others”), the consolidation of medicine as self-governing profession, the age of genomics and biocapital – it explores the distinctive role of medical knowledge in the making of modernist persons, identities, and social worlds. Readings are drawn from across the social sciences, with material from Africa, Europe, and North America. Part lecture, part discussion, the class will be open to upper-level undergraduates and graduates.

Credits: Half course

Wednesday, 2:00pm – 4:00pm

The course will cover (i) classical readings in the field, (ii) conceptual questions focusing on the often counter-intuitive theoretical insights to be gained from the non-Western legal systems, (iii) law and colonialism, (iv) liberalism, difference, and the law in the postcolonial world, and (v) the judicialization of politics around the globe. Throughout, attention will be given to the lessons to be learned from legal anthropology for interrogating the present moment in the global north. Grades will be based on class participation, course presentations, and a term paper.

Credits: Half course

Monday 12:00pm – 1:30pm; Monday 6:00pm – 7:30pm

In a story titled Africa Rising (2011), The Economist argued that the continent epitomizes both the “transformative promise of [capitalist ] growth and its bleakest dimensions. This workshop will explore Africa’s changing place in the world – and the new economies, legalities, socialities, and cultural forms that have arisen there. It will also interrogate the claim that the African present is a foreshadowing of processes beginning to occur elsewhere; that, therefore, it is a productive source of theory about current conditions world-wide. The workshop, open to faculty and students, will meet Mondays from 6:00-7:30. 15 students will be permitted to take it as a course; they will also meet on Mondays, 12:00-1:30. Grades will be based on participation and a term essay.

Credits: Half course

Tuesday 10:0am – 1:00pm

S As of 2009 according to the Pew Charitable Trust Survey of the Global Muslim population, 241 million Muslims lived south of theSahara. This is about 15 percent of the Muslim global population. The course is designed to provide an understanding of the spread of Islam and the formation and transformation of Muslim societies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The course is organized in two parts. The first part of the course will focus on the history of Islamization of Africa, and topics will include the ways in which Islam came to Africa, the relationships of Islam to trade, the growth of literary in Arabic and Ajami, the rise of clerical classes and their contribution to State formation in the pre-colonial period. The second part of the course will address Muslim responses to European colonial domination, and the varieties of Islamic expressions in the post independence period (rise of Islamist, Shiite and Salafi jihadi movements) and Muslim globalization. The course format consists of two weekly meetings of 1.30 minutes each. In addition to lectures, the course will include film showing and discussion. Location: DIV – Divinity Hall 106

Credits: Half course

Tuesday/Thursday, 11;30am – 1:00pm

Through selected topics, this course surveys the world’s longest archaeological record – that of the Old World Paleolithic. A series of introductory lectures provide the theoretical, chronological and climatic frameworks for the course, which begins with the earliest evidence of stone tool manufacture at 2.6 million years ago. Topics include earliest Homo life-ways in Africa; the initial colonization of Eurasia; Middle Pleistocene hominin diversification; major technological innovations like fire, projectiles and ceramics; the archaeology of modern human origins in Africa; modern human dispersals into India, Arabia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe; Neanderthal-modern human interactions; and strategies for coping with climate change.

Credits: Half course

Schedule to be determined.

Credits: Half course

Schedule to be determined.

Credits: Half course

Monday/Wednesday, 10:00am – 11:30am

Description: Studies the relationship between economic growth, poverty, and income distribution. Discusses how globalization affects poverty and inequality. Studies the main theories of economic growth and the main potential sources of economic development, from physical capital accumulation, to education, to technology, to the role of government. Discusses various global issues such as public global health (e.g. the impact of malaria and AIDS on Africa), corruption and institutions, natural resources, the environment, international donor institutions, and population growth.

Credits: Half course

Prerequisite(s): Economics 1010a1, 1010a2, (or 1011a) and 1010b (or 1011b). It is recommended that students have taken Economics 1123 or equivalent.

Schedule to be determined.

What constitutes an act of resistance? What role do individual beliefs, collective action, public protest, art and literature have in resistance movements? What can the study of resistance teach us about the past and about the world we live in today? This course will explore these questions through case studies drawn from contemporary politics and culture, the apartheid era in South Africa, and Harvard history.

Credits: Half course

Schedule to be determined.

What constitutes an act of resistance? What role do individual beliefs, collective action, public protest, art and literature have in resistance movements? What can the study of resistance teach us about the past and about the world we live in today? This course will explore these questions through case studies drawn from contemporary politics and culture, the apartheid era in South Africa, and Harvard history.

Credits: Half course

Thursday, 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Explores the multifaceted and polyphonic presence on the literary landscape of French expression, of women writers from North Africa, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iran, whose writings are a continued dialogue between feminist and gender theory, western feminine literature, the defense of the cultural particularities of their regions, and transnationalism. Works by Assia Djebar, Leila Sebbar, Malika Mokkedem, Nadia Chafik, Venus Khoury-Ghata, Andree Chedid, Nawal el Saadawi, Evelyne Accad, Chahdortt Djavann.

Credits: Half course

Scheduled to be determined.

HIV/AIDS has infected or killed more than sixty million people, and no vaccine is expected within five to ten years. About two-thirds of current infections are in ten percent of the world’s population in sub-Saharan Africa, where few patients receive life-saving treatment. Explores dimensions of AIDS in Africa including the evolution and epidemiology of HIV, the pathobiology of AIDS, prevention of infection, and treatment of disease. Encourages multidisciplinary approaches, using country-specific illustrations of successful interventions.

Credits: Half course

Monday/Wednesday, 10:00am – 11:00am

The basic social science literature on Africa’s development. Particular emphasis on political economy.

Credits: Half course

Wednesday, 2:00pm- 4:00pm

Informed by theories of gender and sexuality, this seminar investigates how historically notions of desire, body, sex, masculinity, femininity, gender and sexual subjectivities have formed and reformed in Islamicate cultures of the Middle East, North Africa, and South and East Asia.

Credits: Half course

Tuesday/Thursday, 1:00pm- 2:00pm

Rather than slowly disappearing from the world stage as advocates of the secularization thesis predicted, religious actors and arguments are a vital – and often unpredictable – force the world over. This course grounds an investigation into thematic questions such as the relationship between religion and regime, religion and human rights and religion and the politics of identity in a series of case studies drawn from Africa, Europe, the United States and the Middle East.

Credits: Half course

Thursday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm

This course will survey Augustine of Hippo’s theological career through the lens of his encounters with three “heresies” of Roman North Africa: Manichaeism, Donatism, and Pelagianism. Particular attention will be paid to following themes: evil, freedom, the will, and selfhood.

Credits: Half course

Hours to be determined

Gikuyu is a Bantu language spoken by Kenya’s most populous ethnic group. The Gikuyu are among Africa’s most recognized peoples because of the Mau Mau freedom fighters who were mainly Gikuyu.

Credits: Half course

Hours to be determined

Continuation of Gikuyu A. Gikuyu is a Bantu language spoken by Kenya’s most populous ethnic group. The Gikuyu are among Africa’s most recognized peoples because of the Mau Mau freedom fighters who were mainly Gikuyu.
Prerequisite(s): Gikuyu A or the equivalent of one year’s study in Gikuyu.

Credits: Half course

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

A study of the lingua franca of East Africa at the elementary level. Contact hours supplemented by language lab sessions. Emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension, and oral fluency.
Location: Barker Center 114 (Kresge Room)

Credits: Half course

Mondays/Wednesday, 5:00pm

Continuation of Swahili A. A study of the lingua franca of East Africa at the elementary level. Contact hours supplemented by language lab sessions. Emphasis on written expression, reading comprehension, and oral fluency.
Prerequisite(s): Swahili A or the equivalent of one year of study of Swahili.

Credits: Half course

Yoruba is spoken in the West African countries of Nigeria, Benin Republic, and parts of Togo and Sierra Leone, therefore constituting one of the largest single languages in sub-Saharan Africa. Yoruba is also spoken in Cuba and Brazil. Students will acquire the Yoruba language at the basic or elementary level.

Credits: Half course

Continuation of Yoruba A. Yoruba is spoken in the West African countries of Nigeria, Benin Republic, and parts of Togo and Sierra Leone, therefore constituting one of the largest single languages in sub-Saharan Africa. Yoruba is also spoken in Cuba and Brazil. Students will acquire the Yoruba language at the basic or elementary level. Prerequisite(s): Yoruba A or the equivalent of one year of study of Yoruba.

 Credits: Half course

Thursday, 5:00pm – 7:00pm

This seminar will study several “”intractable”" conflicts. For some, such as Northern Ireland and South Africa, there has been considerable progress. For others, such as the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, and the United States and Cuba, there has not.
Pre-requisites: A previous course in negotiation.

Credits: 2.00

Thursday, 5:00pm – 7:00pm

This seminar will probe the theoretical underpinnings of U.S. antidiscrimination doctrine through a comparative lens. A wide range of legal sources from Europe, South Africa, Canada, and other jurisdictions will be read alongside U.S. cases and scholarly literature to develop a transnational understanding of discrimination. A major theme will be the complex dynamics between legal prohibitions of discrimination and public policies implementing the legal guarantees of equality. Topics will include formal and substantive equality, the globalization of antidiscrimination law, anticlassification and antisubordination theories of non-discrimination, the future of disparate impact or indirect discrimination doctrine, litigation versus regulation as modes of enforcement, the influence of social movements, affirmative action and positive discrimination, gender parity quotas, and the significance of distinctive histories (e.g. slavery, feudalism, apartheid, the Holocaust) and constitutional traditions in defining discrimination.

Credits: 2.00

Monday, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

4 credits F/S; 2 credits F; or 2 credits S
1 or 2 optional writing credits
In this Workshop Course, law students will be included as active participants in the inaugural year of the annual Harvard Africa Workshop (HAW), a University-wide interdisciplinary seminar which will be convened by Faculty of Arts and Sciences Professors John and Jean Comaroff, internationally renowned South African anthropologists and critical social theorists.
The HAWs intellectual theme for the first three years, 2012-2015, is to be Africa and the World at Large: Or, What the New Global Order Has to Learn from the Contemporary Africa. Within this broad theme, the specific focus for 2012-13 will be Changing Economies, Changing Polities, Changing Faces of Capitalism. The subsequent years foci are to be (ii) State Transformations, Social Order, and the Problem of Crime, and (iii) Health and Crises of Reproduction.
To explore the 2012-13 theme, leading scholars of international repute will present weekly papers that address the rapidly changing position of Africa in the global political economy and the impact of that change on global distributions of wealth, well-being, and power. Participating scholars tentatively include Professors Duncan Kennedy and Christine Desan from the Law School; Professors Emmanuel Akyeampong and Caroline Elkins from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (History); Professor Robert Bates from Harvard FAS (Government); and Professors Achille Mbembe (University of the Witwatersrand), James Ferguson (Stanford), and Hlonipa Mokoena (Columbia).
The HAW is an interdisciplinary initiative which will be comprised of this Law School Workshop, a seminar in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, a professional apprenticeship for doctoral Africanists-in-training across the disciplines, and a laboratory for international scholarly exchange. The Law School Workshop will meet simultaneously with the HAW throughout the academic year, i.e., for weekly two-hour paper presentations, preceded by one-hour preparation meetings for the law and graduate students. The HAW initiative is designed to cultivate a spirit of engaged, constructive critique and inter-generational mentorship.
Students may register for the Law School Workshop for either the Fall (2 credits), Spring (2 credits) or Fall and Spring (4 credits). Requirements for each semester include reading each paper and participating actively in each weeks discussion; attending the weekly one-hour student preparation meetings preceding each paper session; writing two to three page response papers on two HAW seminar papers; and writing a final twenty page paper on a course theme. Students may register for additional writing credit(s) in conjunction with the course.

Credits: 2.00

Wednesday, 7:00pm- 9:00pm

In this seminar, we will explore proportionality as a doctrine that has been developed in public law adjudication in courts across Europe, as well as in Canada, Israel, South Africa and elsewhere. We will consider both positive and normative questions. More positive topics will include (1) understanding the fact of and reasons for the spread of proportionality as a doctrine in constitutional, international and administrative law, (2) the different forms in which proportionality analysis occurs, (3) the advantages its proponents claim for it and the disadvantages its proponents concede or that its opponents proffer, and (5) the question whether it recurs in different language in the United States. We will also try to systematically compare proportionality to alternative, more formalist approaches. More normative topics will include (1) the relationship(s) of proportionality to justice, as an aspiration, and its application across the work of different branches of governme nt; (2) whether constitutions should be understood to have justice-seeking aspirations and if so, whether proportionality as a judicial doctrine is necessarily related to those justice-seeking goals or whether other approaches may also be understood as justice seeking; (3) the relationship(s) between proportionality and democracy; (4) the relationship(s) between proportionality and institutional allocations of government authority in constitutional and administrative law and, more generally, (5) the relationships between the legitimacy or value of proportionality analysis and who the authorized decisionmaker(s) are.
Our materials will likely include some readings from jurisprudence/philosophy (including the defense of proportionality in optimizing constitutional principles by Robert Alexy, and Jurgen Habermas critique of Alexy), some from conceptual, doctrinal, interpretive or historically oriented legal scholarship (including, for example, David Beattys argument that proportionality is the ultimate rule of law, Frederick Schauers arguments on behalf of formalism, as well as critical works by, for example, Jacco Bomhoff, Grainne de Burca, David Law, Iddo Porat, Alec Stone Sweet, and Gregoire Webber); and caselaw or other legal materials concerning proportionality analysis (or its absence) in areas of constitutional, international or administrative law involving, for example, freedom from restraint or bodily harm in the face of claims about national security or the necessities of war; freedom of expression; equality and anti-discrimination law (e.g., in evaluating affirmative action or positive discrimination measures); treatment of aliens or immigrants; environmental regulation; food or drug safety regulation; new reproductive technologies regulation.

Credits: 2.00

Schedule to be determined.

This course is offered jointly with FAS, by Prof. John Comaroff. The course will cover (i) classical readings in the field, (ii) conceptual questions focusing on the often counter-intuitive theoretical insights to be gained from the non-Western legal systems, (iii) law and colonialism, (iv) liberalism, difference, and the law in the postcolonial world, and (v) the judicialization of politics across the globe. Throughout, attention will be given to the lessons to be learned from legal anthropology for interrogating the present moment in the global north. Grades will be based on class participation, course presentations, and a term paper.
Note: This course is cross-listed with FAS as African and African American Studies 190x.

Credits: 2.00

Tuesday, 4:10pm – 6:00pm

This workshop involves students in the comparative study of the operation of criminal justice systems, examining strategies for controlling crime and delivering justice across many different countries. The course combines reading, lecture, and discussion with work in small groups on a current project of practical reform in one or more of the governments collaborating with the Kennedy Schools Program in Criminal Justice Policy & Management. Contingent on funding, students may be able to conduct field work in support of these projects over Spring Break. The course first reviews reforms underway in China, Turkey, and Russia, and the response to crises in criminal justice the United Kingdom and United States. It then examines the governance and measurement of criminal justice in Jamaica, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, and the practices of international development organizations for promoting justice, safety, and rule of law. Students with prior course work or professional experience in criminal law or procedure, law enforcement, criminal justice, or criminology will be in a strong position to take full advantage of the course material, but the workshop is open to all students.
Note: This course is cross-listed with HKS as SUP-701.

Credits: 2.00

Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

How can education contribute to the work of building “lasting peace” in settings of armed conflict globally? This course examines the multidimensional and multidirectional relationships between armed conflict and education. How does education reflect inequalities and reinforce social tensions? How does it contribute to stability and reconciliation? What role does it play in shaping individual and collective imaginings of a post-conflict future? Through critical reading of theoretical texts and case studies, engagement with guest speakers, simulations, and other learning tools, we will adopt an action-oriented approach to investigation of these and other questions. We will look beyond the provision of schooling to the learning and teaching that takes place in schools and community settings, and examine the relationships that are at the core of these educational interactions. Central to discussions will be connections between public policy, daily experiences, and social justice. The course will include real-time project work in partnership with a NGO/UN-agency, through which students will develop professional relationships; deepen their research, writing, and policy analysis skills; and explore the intellectual and practical dimensions of connecting research, policy, and practice.
No prior course work required; however, basic understandings of processes of policymaking helpful. Open to all students with an interest in settings of armed conflict or comparative education generally.Weekly, one-hour mandatory section.

Credits: 4.00

Tuesday/Thursday, 6:00pm – 9:00pm

There is a clear and pressing need for clinicians trained in the prevention and management of diseases found in developing countries. a Clinical Topics in Global Healtha introduces students to the evidence-based knowledge and skills they will need to be effective clinicians in resource-limited settings. Ten evening sessions, led by Harvard faculty who practice clinically in developing countries in Africa, will orient students to the most important global health problems, explore each of these conditions with particular focus on clinical practice, and provide practical guidance for students interested in pursuing further training or careers in global health. Topics covered will include the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, including malnutrition, malaria, diarrheal illness, perinatal disease, HIV/AIDS, TB, and chronic non-communicable diseases. The elective will explore key concepts relevant to the delivery of clinical services in resource-limited settings. The elective will also include discussion of clinical issues particularly relevant to populations affected by humanitarian crisis, including refugees, internally displaced persons, and orphans. Teaching methods will be tailored to each clinical topic and will include lectures, practical skills sessions, case discussions, and ongoing reinforcement of core material. Selected guest speakers will address current innovations in global health practice. Course Notes: Motivated students will have the option to complete a mentored scholarly project. To ensure course effectiveness, the submission of a course evaluation and completion of an online pre- and post-course knowledge assessment (not graded) are a requirement for this course. Enrollment is limited, and course director signature will be required. Interested students should submit a brief statement of interest (several paragraphs, not to exceed 500 words) to the course directors. Given the clinical nature of the course, enrollment preference will be given to students in their clinical years of training.

Credits: 1.00

Tuesdays 3:30 p.m. – 6:20 p.m.

This course is designed to provide an overview of the way international institutions deal with health and human rights issues. Focus will be on the responses of the United Nations system, including the World Health Organization (WHO), regional organizations, and non-state actors to some of the pressing issues of health from a human rights perspective. Issues to be explored include: mother-to-child transmission of HIV and ARV drug pricing in Africa; traditional practices, such as female genital cutting (FGC); forced sterilization and rights of indigenous people in Latin America; accountability for mass violations of human rights; health of child workers; and international tobacco control. Among the international institutions to be examined are the WHO, UNAIDS, the World Trade Organization (WTO), UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States, the World Bank, and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The principal teaching method is simulation of actual cases, in which students prepare and present positions of various protagonists, based on research into those positions. The ultimate aim of the course is to prepare students to work for and interact professionally with international institutions to advance the health and human rights objectives, whether through governmental, intergovernmental or nongovernmental processes.

Credits: 2.5

Mondays/Wednesdays 1:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.

GHP 535 is a second level class which builds on the material covered in the GHP 272 Foundations of Global Population and Health, GHP 220 Introduction to Demographic methods, GHP 506 Measuring population health and GHP 507 Population health risk factors. It has been designed for those seeking more advanced training in demographic methods and analysis and is particularly recommended for doctoral students in the Population and Reproductive Health Concentration. Students are introduced to the commonly used methods through review of the literature in interactive lectures, assigned readings (3-4 per session), case studies and web-based sources. The most important part of the course is the application of a variety of analytic methods to cases chosen mostly from Africa and the Middle East. The section of data sources provides a guide to the use of complex data sets including those provided by DHS as well as other public domain surveys (e.g. UNICEF’s MICS surveys). Together, these provide a graduate-level introduction to the concepts and application of standard as well as newer methods of demographic analysis, especially in populations where the data are incomplete or inaccurate. The emphasis throughout is on understanding the key relationships, models and assumptions used primarily for the analysis of levels, trends and differentials in fertility, mortality and migration in developing countries. Practical training will be provided through sessions in the MicroLab. There are class exercises which will be completed as short homework assignments. There will be a final paper that brings together the analyses completed throughout the course. Full details of the homework assignments, MicroLab exercises and final paper will be provided in separate notes distributed in class. Course Note: Computer use of at least one software package such as SAS/STATA/SPSS. Facility with EXCEL spread sheets and graph production assumed.

Credits: 2.5