2.0

credits

Average Course Rating

The course focuses on how gender—the social construction of femininity and masculinity—shapes development policy and how these exacerbate gender inequality and women’s continued subordination in Africa, with an emphasis on education, health, political participation, and development aid. We will examine some of the most pressing issues facing women in contemporary Africa under these broad policy agendas, including poverty, conflict and violence, HIV/AIDS, female genital cutting, and so on. We will open with theoretical perspectives on gender and engage the debates on African feminisms. Next, we will survey historical continuities and discontinuities of colonialism on the gendered dynamics of social structures and institutions. The rest of the course will then engage specific policies, their developmental/underdevelopment implications for women using case studies from the different regions, and the evolving paradigms of gender-development for women on the continent. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>