This course introduces students to the power of writing as a means of communication and a process of thinking and understanding. As students complete a series of writing assignments, they will engage in a process of reading, drafting, reviewing and revising, working in peer groups and individually with their instructors.
In her widely-disseminated Ted Talk, the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes what she calls the “danger of a single story”—the single story of Africa as one of poverty, dispossession, and catastrophe. This course invites students to identify, criticize, and “unlearn” this single story that all of us might have assumed. We will together ask what stories of Africa have been told and retold, and examine how Africa is represented in films, such as the Hollywood classic, “The African Queen,” and the Marvel superhero film, “Black Panther.” Finally, students will have the opportunity to research a case study on a topic of their choice about the images of Africa in our contemporary era.
Chih-Chien Hsieh