Readings and Resources

Week 2 – Theoretical Frameworks: Afrofuturism, Appropriation and Identity

Ziff and Rao “Introduction to Cultural Appropriation: A Framework for Analysis,” in Borrowed Power, pp. 1 – 27.  missing

Week 3 – African art/culture and the Museum

Make links: 

  • “What Black Panther Gets Right about the Politics of Museums”
What Black Panther Gets Right About the Politics of Museums
  • “Why Museum Professionals Need to Talk About Black Panther”
https://jhuexhibitionist.com/2018/02/22/why-museum-professionals-need-to-talk-about-black-panther/
  • “Outrage over Hiring a White Woman…”

https://frieze.com/article/outrage-over-hiring-white-woman-african-art-curator-misunderstands-expertise

Klesmith, MISSING

Week 4 – Ancient and Historical African Empires

  • Benin Empire – Igbafe “A History of The Benin Kingdom: An Overview” in Benin: Kings and Rituals, pp. 41 – 53
  • Mali and Ghana Empires – Selections from Medieval West Africa, pp. ix – xi, 9 – 22, and 50 – 65.  
  • Kingdom of Dahomey – Bay “Along the Slave Coast” in Wives of the Leopard, pp. 1 – 39. 
  • Nubian Empire – Redford “Egyptians and Nubians” in From Slave to Pharaoh, pp. 5 – 10. 
  • Nubian Empire – Kendall “Kerma and the Kingdom of Kush,” pp. 1 – 17. 

MISSING: Mali and Ghana Empires – Selections from Medieval West Africa, pp. ix – xi, 9 – 22, and 50 – 65.  

MISSING: Redford “Egyptians and Nubians” in From Slave to Pharaoh, pp. 5 – 10. 

Unit 2

Weeks 5-8

September 27, Week 5 – Wakanda: The Setting

  • The African City – Simone “Remaking African Cities” in For the City Yet to Come, pp.  1 – 19. 
  • Ndebele House Painting – Powell “Mural Art” in Ndebele: A People & Their Art, pp. 46 – 68. 
  • Sotho House Painting – Van Wyk, “Litema: Art of Earth” in African Painted Houses, pp. 78 – 81, 88 – 111. 
  • Djenne mosque architecture – Marchand, “The Djenne Mosque: World Heritage and Social Renewal in a West African Town,” pp. 4 – 15.
  • Baskets – Smith, “Gurensi Basketry and Pottery,” pp. 78 – 81. 

October 4, Week 6 – Zuri (Forest Whitaker) [Bob Szantyr]

  • Costume Designer Ruth Carter – “Interview: All Hail the Fashion Queen of Wakanda”
http://afropunk.com/2017/12/interview-hail-fashion-queen-wakanda-costume-designer-ruth-e-cater/
  • Using African Fabrics – Rabine “Translating African Textiles…” in Contemporary African Fashion, pp. 205 – 219.  
  • Robes – https://ruthecarter.com/designing-for-forest-whitaker/
  • Robes (agbada) – Abiodun, Beier and Pemberton, Selections from Cloth Only Wears to Shreds, pp. 28 – 32, 44 – 48.
  • Facial Markings – Faris “Nuba Personal Art,” pp. 55, 58 – 70, 83 – 90.  
  • Robes and Amulets – Rasmussen “Dress, Identity and Gender in Tuareg Culture and Society,” in The Art of Being Tuareg, pp. 138 – 157.

October 11, Week 7 – Eric Killmonger [Kendra Streater]

  • Mask – Cole Selections from Igbo Arts: Community and Cosmos, pp. 111- 135. 
  • Scarification – Schildkrout, “Inscribing the Body,” pp. 319 – 344. 
  • Scarification – Roberts, Allen F.  “Tabwa Tegumentary Inscription” in Marks of Civilization, pp. 41 – 56.
  • Scarification – Drewal, Henry John “Beauty and Being: Aesthetics and Ontology in Yoruba Body Art” in Marks of Civilization, pp. 83 – 96. 

October 18, Week 8– T’Challa and Shuri [Celeste Wilson]

  • T’Challa Embroidered ensemble – Oladipo “The Yoruba Clothing Culture, its Forms and Contents,” pp. 120 – 132.
  • T’Challa Embroidered Ensemble – Heathcote, David “Aspects of Embroidery in Nigeria,” in The Art of African Textiles, pp. 38 – 40. 
  • T’Challa bogolan shorts (fight scene) – Rovine, “Bogolan: Shaping Culture Through Cloth”, pp. 15 – 26, 37 – 52. 
  • Shuri Beaded Girdle (fight scene) – Gott, Suzanne “Ghana’s Glass Beadmaking Arts in Transcultural Dialogues, pp. 10 – 29. 
  • Shuri Beaded Girdle (fight scene) – Kratz and Pido, “Gender Ethnicity and Social Aesthetics in Maasai Beadwork” in Rethinking Pastoralism in Africa, pp. 43 – 71. 

FINAL PAPER – TOPIC DUE

Week 5 – Wakanda: The Setting

  • The African City – Simone “Remaking African Cities” in For the City Yet to Come, pp.  1 – 19. 
  • Ndebele House Painting – Powell “Mural Art” in Ndebele: A People & Their Art, pp. 46 – 68. 
  • Sotho House Painting – Van Wyk, “Litema: Art of Earth” in African Painted Houses, pp. 78 – 81, 88 – 111. 
  • Djenne mosque architecture – Marchand, “The Djenne Mosque: World Heritage and Social Renewal in a West African Town,” pp. 4 – 15.
  • Baskets – Smith, “Gurensi Basketry and Pottery,” pp. 78 – 81. 

Week 6 – Zuri (Forest Whitaker) [Bob Szantyr]

Week 7 – Eric Killmonger [Kendra Streater]

Week 8– T’Challa and Shuri [Celeste Wilson]

Unit 3

Weeks 9-14

October 25, Week 9 – T’Chaka and Ramonda [Atina Sutton]

  • Ramonda’s Crown – Arnoldi and Kreamer, “Introduction” and “Zulu Woman’s Hat” in Crowning Achievements, pp. 9 – 25, 40 – 41. 
  • Ramonda’s earrings – Schildkrout “Les Parisiens d’Afrique: Mangbetu Women as Works of Art” in Black Womanhood, pp. 71 – 93. 
  • T’Chaka’s Black Panther costume (kente) – Ross “Asante: Kingdom of Cloth” and “A Beautiful Cloth Does Not Wear Itself” from Wrapped in Pride, pp.31 – 57. 
  • T’Chaka’s adinkra wrapper (dream sequence) – Boateng “Selections from Introduction” in “The Copyright Thing Doesn’t Work Here,” pp. 22 – 33.  

November 1, Week 10 – Okoye and W’Kabi [Brandy Wednesday]

  • Female Warriors – Law, Robin “The ‘Amazons’ of Dahomey” pp. 245 – 260.
  • Female Warriors – Bay, Edna “The Military in the Late Eighteenth Century” in Wives of the Leopard, pp. 129 – 142.
  • Neckbands and Armbands – Powell “Beads and Adornment” in Ndebele: A People & Their Art,” pp. 108 – 135. 
  • Head painting – Willis “Uli Painting and the Igbo World View,” pp. 62 – 67, 104.
  • Blankets – Khau, Mathabo, “Gender and the Politics of the Basotho Blanket,” pp. 95 – 111. 
  • Blankets – Bosko, Dan “Why Basotho Wear Blankets,” pp. 23 – 32. 
  • Facial Scarification – Vogel, Susan “Baule Scarification: The Mark of Civilization” in Marks of Civilization, pp. 97 – 106.

FINAL PAPER – ROUGH DRAFT DUE (with bibliography)

November 8, Week 11 – Mining Tribe and River Tribe Elders [Marlene Kryza]

  • Mining Tribe Elder, Headdress – Bollig and Heinemann “Nomadic Savages, Ochre People and Heroic Herders: Visual Presentation of the Himba of Namibia’s Kaokoland”
  • Mining Tribe Elder, wax print ensemble – “Introducing African-print Fashion,” in African Print Fashion Now, pp. 23, 27,32-49, 274-277. 
  • Mining Tribe Elder, Amber beads – Simka “Amber” in African Beads, pp. 53 – 59. 
  • River Tribe Elder, beaded adornment – Drewal “Beads, Body and Soul,” pp. 16 – 27, 54-55. 
  • River Tribe Elder, Suit – Gondola “La Sape – Exposed!” in Contemporary African Fashion, pp. 157 – 173. 
  • River Tribe Elder, Lip Plate – Turton “Lip-plates and ‘the people who take photographs’: Uneasy Encounters between Mursi and Tourists in Southern Ethiopia,” pp. 3 – 8. 

November 15, Week 12 – M’Baku (Jabari Tribe) and Merchant Tribe Elder [Tamara Mouzon]

  • Jabari Tribe, ensembles – Elliott “The Magic Land of the Xhosa,”pp. 83 – 95.
  • Jabari Tribe, Fighting Sticks – Carton and Morrell “Zulu Masculinities, Warrior Culture and Stick Fighting: Reassessing Male Violence and Virtue in South Africa,” pp. 31 – 53. 
  • Merchant Tribe Elder, Headwrap – Stylianou, Nicola “Designing for a New Nigeria: Hayes Textiles Limited and the British Banufacture of Gele in the Postcolonial Period,” in Design Objects and the Museum, pp. 41 – 50. 
  • Merchant Tribe Elder, Robes and Adornments – Loughran Tuareg Women and Their Jewelry, in “The Art of Being Tuareg,” pp. 167 – 193.

November 22, NO CLASS – HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

November 29, Week 13 – Black Panther, the Comic Book and Film

  • Selections from original and rebooted comic
  • Watch the film in class

December 6, Week 14 – Black Panther – Final Thoughts

FINAL PAPER DUE (no final exam)

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12