This course addresses three key concepts - scholarship, Africa, and learning - through the kinds of ethical, methodological, and theoretical framing that Black thinkers in particular have utilized to question and dismantle colonial knowledge. We will ask such questions as: How can we Africanize our knowledge? Is it ethical to study Africa from the western academy? What methods can we use that are genuine and effective? How can we authentically engage African intellectuals and communities? We will also produce our own contributions to knowledge about Africa using a unique archive being developed by researchers and students at Stanford.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-SI
This course addresses three key concepts - scholarship, Africa, and learning - through the kinds of ethical, methodological, and theoretical framing that Black thinkers in particular have utilized to question and dismantle colonial knowledge. We will ask such questions as: How can we Africanize our knowledge? Is it ethical to study Africa from the western academy? What methods can we use that are genuine and effective? How can we authentically engage African intellectuals and communities? We will also produce our own contributions to knowledge about Africa using a unique archive being developed by researchers and students at Stanford.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.