GEOG 3660 - Geography of Africa: Contextualizing Social and Political Instability

This course is designed to help students understand Africa's human geography as it has been shaped by local conditions within countries and also by international processes. The theoretical foundation of this course is built using core concepts of human geography, including the 'politics of place,' 'territoriality,' and 'scale,' among others. Throughout the semester students in this class will apply these conceptual frameworks to a host of contemporary African issues. Some obstacles facing African populations are well known an include corruption and poor governance, climate change effects on the environment, rapid urbanization, pervasive unemployment, malaria and HIV/AIDS health crises, and political violence and terrorism. our goal in this class will be to understand the origins and perennial character of these problems.