Midterm Review Sheet/Study Guide
ANTH 313/Understanding Contemporary Africa
Spring 2011/ Dr. Roberts

The exam will consist of multiple choice, true-false, matching questions, and one or two essays.
Please bring a #2 pencil.Thanks.

Images of Africa

Readings: Gordon & Gordon Chapter 1; Online: Michira: Images of Africa in the Western Media
Video(s): T Shirt Travels

  • What does James Michira say about images of Africa in the Western media and how does this accord with the portrayal of life in Zambia as depicted in the video “T Shirt Travels”?

Geography & Climates

Readings: Gordon & Gordon Chapter 2 (Neff: A Geographic Preface).
Video(s): Africa: geography and climate.

  • How does Africa compare with the U.S. and the rest of the world in terms of total landmass?
  • What is the nature of the landmass that comprises the African continent (hint: my remarks in lecture and Neff’s chapter on geography) and what implications does this have?
  • What is the ITCZ and why is it so important for a proper understanding of African geography?
  • Approximately how much of Africa lies within the tropics? What are the implications of this?
  • What role does disease play in distribution of human and livestock populations in Africa?
  • What role did colonialism play in defining contemporary African political geography?
  • In my lecture remarks I spoke of economic islands in Africa. Why? What factors did I identify as being responsible in producing these islands?

PrehistoryPrecolonialHistory

Readings: Gordon & Gordon Chap. 3 (O’Toole: The Historical Context, pp. 23-41).
Video(s): Gates: The Swahili Coast.

  • What were the 3 major developments in early human evolution and why were they important?
  • What were some of the other major steps taken later in the course of human evolution?
  • What generalization can be made about the nature of technological change throughout the Paleolithic? (AKA Stone Age)
  • What was entailed in the Neolithic in Africa? What were the implications of these changes in Africa and elsewhere?
  • What was involved in the Bantu Expansion? Where did it occur and when?
  • What does O’Toole say about political patterns of the past? Specifically, why does he distinguish between stateless and state societies?
  • Be familiar with some of the early African kingdoms/empires? When did they exist? Where were they? What role did trade have in the development of these centralized political systems?

Slave trade, colonialism, liberation

Readings: Gordon & Gordon Chap. 3 (O’Toole: The Historical Context, pp. 41-54);Online:Nyerere:Freedom&Unity
Video(s): Africa: States of Independence.

  • Based upon O’Toole’s chapter (pp. 41-43) and my remarks in class, befamiliar with the reasons behind the African slave trade, the reasons for its demise, and the impacts on African societies and cultures.
  • What was “legitimate” trade?
  • What was the “Scramble for Africa”?
  • What was the nature of colonial rulein Africa?
  • Why was World War II so important in the beginning of the end of colonialism in Africa?
  • What does Julius Nyerere call for in Freedom and Unity?

Making a Living

Readings: Online: African Economies: Food Production
Video(s): Davidson: Mastering a Continent

  • How do most Africansmake a living today? What other kinds of activities do Africans engage in to survive (identified in the online reading)?
  • Be familiar with some of the differences(identified in the online reading) between “subsistence” and commercial farming.
  • What kinds of crops are grown in different parts of Africa?
  • What role does tradeplay in African economies? How/why did I distinguish between market and marketplace?
  • Be familiar with the 3 ethnographic case studies in Davidson’s video Mastering a Continent

Kinship and Family

Readings: Gordon and Gordon Chapter (Shanklin: Family and Kinship); Online:Globalization and the African kinship network system: will it sustain?; Family, Kinship, and Domestic GroupingsVideo(s): Mazrui: A legacy of Lifestyles.

  • What kinds of descent principles tend to be found in Africa and how do they compare with ours?
  • What kinds of marriage practices exist in Africa? How are they both similar to and different from ours?
  • How do African families compare with ours in the west? Is this changing? If so, how?

Religion in Africa

Readings: Gordon and Gordon Chapter 11 (Moyo: Religion in Africa); online: Summary of African Systems of Thought
Video: WitchcaftAmong the Azande

  • What does Moyo say about traditional African religions? Christianity? Islam?
  • In my lecture remarks I tried to point out some general characteristics of traditional African religions. What were they? What about witchcraft?
  • Anthropologist Ivan Karp claims that Africans don't necessarily think the same way that westerners do. Be aware of some of the most significant differences that I discussed in class.