Teaching Workshop: African Land. an Interdisciplinary Workshop
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The workshop is addressed to undergraduate students in Foreign Languages and Literatures. Focus of the workshop is the relationship between environmental issues and the literary and cultural expressions of sub-Saharan Africa. The workshop has a strong interdisciplinary nature; some lexical and cultural commonplaces referred to 'Africa' will be identified at the beginning and then discussed in class, subject to previous readings on the part of all participants. Students will increase their knowledge on various aspects of African cultural and literary life and will be stimulated to develop their analytical, critical, and argumentative skills.
Expected learning outcomes
At the end of the workshop, students will have increased their knowledge on different aspects of the cultural and literary expressions of the African Continent; their critical and argumentative skills will be strengthened by the constant stimulation to partake in the discussion in class, as a result of their reading brief texts assigned as 'homework'. They will have also understood the difference between voicing mere (uninformed) personal 'opinions' and the discussion of an issue on the basis of their previous reading up and careful consideration.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Giudizio di approvazione
Assessment result: superato/non superato
Single course
This course cannot be attended as a single course. Please check our list of single courses to find the ones available for enrolment.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Course syllabus
The laboratory takes place in the second semester and is addressed to Lingue e Letterature Straniere students.
It is entitled "Terre d'Africa," and it investigates the relationship between social, political, and environmental issues and the literary and cultural expressions of Sub-Saharan Africa. We will deal with the way in which the different narrations on 'the land of Africa' contribute to the shaping of widespread conceptions of the 'African people' and 'African nature'; conversely, we will also take into consideration how the African environment and history partake to the construction of African literary expressions.
Meetings are held by three professors in team teaching: prof. Valerio Bini (Geography - Dip.to di Beni Culturali e Ambientali); prof. Giuliana Iannaccaro (English Literature, Anglophone Literatures - Dip.to di Lingue); prof. Vincenzo Russo (Portuguese and Brazilian Literature and African Lusophone Literatures - Dip.to di Lingue). The interdisciplinary nature of the Lab is guaranteed by the teachers' different fields of research. The laboratory addresses some key questions concerning the relationship between the African territory and its inhabitants in order to widen the students' knowledge and encourage their critical and argumentative skills.
It is entitled "Terre d'Africa," and it investigates the relationship between social, political, and environmental issues and the literary and cultural expressions of Sub-Saharan Africa. We will deal with the way in which the different narrations on 'the land of Africa' contribute to the shaping of widespread conceptions of the 'African people' and 'African nature'; conversely, we will also take into consideration how the African environment and history partake to the construction of African literary expressions.
Meetings are held by three professors in team teaching: prof. Valerio Bini (Geography - Dip.to di Beni Culturali e Ambientali); prof. Giuliana Iannaccaro (English Literature, Anglophone Literatures - Dip.to di Lingue); prof. Vincenzo Russo (Portuguese and Brazilian Literature and African Lusophone Literatures - Dip.to di Lingue). The interdisciplinary nature of the Lab is guaranteed by the teachers' different fields of research. The laboratory addresses some key questions concerning the relationship between the African territory and its inhabitants in order to widen the students' knowledge and encourage their critical and argumentative skills.
Prerequisites for admission
The laboratory is addressed to undergraduate students of Lingue e Letterature Straniere; it is held in Italian, but some readings could be proposed in English. To attend the Lab successfully, it is important to be ready to read short literary and critical material in between classes to be able to discuss it together.
Students who want to attend the Lab must be present in class. No streaming of the meetings will be provided.
TO SIGN UP
The laboratory will take place between February and May 2025. It can accommodate 25 students maximum; students attending the second and the third year have precedence over first-year students. To book their presence, students must mail Prof. Giuliana Iannaccaro EXCLUSIVELY between 10 and 20 January 2025 using the Unimi mail address and providing their identification number. Please check your own timetable before signing up for the Lab to ensure you can attend classes.
Students who want to attend the Lab must be present in class. No streaming of the meetings will be provided.
TO SIGN UP
The laboratory will take place between February and May 2025. It can accommodate 25 students maximum; students attending the second and the third year have precedence over first-year students. To book their presence, students must mail Prof. Giuliana Iannaccaro EXCLUSIVELY between 10 and 20 January 2025 using the Unimi mail address and providing their identification number. Please check your own timetable before signing up for the Lab to ensure you can attend classes.
Teaching methods
Interactive introductory lectures, individual reading in-between classes, and informed discussion during classes. Images and videos will also be employed.
Teaching Resources
The study material for analysis and discussion will be indicated or distributed during classes: short literary texts, essays, journal articles, and blogs. Also, visual material and music can provide 'food for thought' and engage students and teachers in reflection.
Suggested reading:
Catherine Coquery Vidrovitch, Breve storia dell'Africa, Il Mulino, 2012 [it can be also read in the French original version, of course].
This short introductory textbook is useful for contextualising the various topics discussed during the laboratory.
Suggested reading:
Catherine Coquery Vidrovitch, Breve storia dell'Africa, Il Mulino, 2012 [it can be also read in the French original version, of course].
This short introductory textbook is useful for contextualising the various topics discussed during the laboratory.
Assessment methods and Criteria
By completing the laboratory, students get awarded 3 ECTS credits if their assessment is 'approved'; the laboratory is not assessed in thirties. According to the activities proposed during the Lab, students will be assessed through oral interviews, presentations in class, and/or a short written text. Throughout the lab, students will be asked to actively participate in critically reading the texts proposed. Attendance is compulsory; it is possible to miss only one class without an absence justification; any other absence for serious reasons must be certified and communicated beforehand.
- University credits: 3
Humanities workshops: 20 hours
Professors:
Iannaccaro Giuliana, Russo Vincenzo
Professor(s)
Reception:
Three hours a week. Please send me a mail in advance to make an appointment.
Piazza S. Alessandro 1, Anglistica; or Microsoft Teams Platform