CHID 250 E: Special Topics: Introduction to the History of Ideas

"IN-BETWEEN WORLDS: AFRICAN LITERATURE, MIGRATION, AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY" VLPA IF OUR ROOTS SPAN MULTIPLE COUNTRIES, CULTURES AND CONTEXTS, HOW DO WE DEFINE HOME, BELONGING, OR EVEN OURSELVES? HOW MIGHT WE WRITE-OUR-WAY THROUGH DIFFERENT KINDS OF DIFFERENCES? LET'S EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS BY DIVING DEEP INTO THE LITERATURE, POLITICS AND AESTHETICS OF ONE OF AFRICA'S MOST CELEBRATED WRITERS: M.G. VASSANJI. VASSANJI'S WORK SPANS GENERATIONS AND CONTINENTS, AND TAKES US TO KENYA, TANZANIA, THE UK, INDIA, ZANZIBAR, PAKISTAN, SOUTH AFRICA, CANADA, AND THE US. AS ONE OF THE FOREMOST POSTCOLONIAL AUTHORS FROM AFRICA, HIS CHARACTERS HELP US THINK ABOUT MIGRATION, IDENTITY, AND BELONGING FROM NEW (AND SOMETIMES HEARTBREAKING) ANGLES. **NO PREREQUISITES REQUIRED; JUST A WILLINGNESS TO EXPLORE THE COURSE ISSUED WITH OPENNESS AND CURIOSITY.**