Proseminar in the Humanities: Culture and Globalization

Catalog description

This proseminar explores how to do interdisciplinary research in the humanities. To exemplify this approach, our subject is Africa-China relations. China’s controversial investment in Africa causes reactions ranging from accusations of a “new colonialism” to celebrations of a collaborative “win-win” for development. Also, immigration both by Africans to China and by Chinese to Africa signals a shift in global power dynamics and an opening of a new era of multi-polar globalization. Through an analysis of media, history, literature, political economy, sociology, film, and art this seminar examines the interdisciplinary nature of these relations. We ask what are the connections between the longue durée of history and the contemporary moment? How do different actors at state and individual levels engage with Africa-China relations? What are the symbolic dimensions of these relations? And finally, how does this shift to multi-polarity impact theories of globalization across disciplines?