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AFRICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES (L90)  (Dept. Info)Arts & Sciences  (Policies)SP2021

L90 AFAS 442Engineering Authority: Design, Architecture, and Power in Africa3.0 Units
Description:Do water meters have politics? Can architects manufacture consent for political repression or engage in activism? What happens when designed systems fail? Design is everywhere. It is in the water you drink; it is in the built material and digital spaces you hang out in; and it is in the chair you are sitting in. And yet, perhaps because of its ubiquity, design receives very little attention from scholars in the humanities, and less from African studies. In this course, we will examine a number of case studies from minor architectures and ruins in Monrovia to hydraulic engineering in Johannesburg and iconic architecture in Casablanca to DIY market spaces in Nairobi and insurgent public space making in Kinshasa. We will explore the ways that designers, architects, and technocrats engineer authority and how (sometimes) urban residents take it apart. One potential definition (among many other potential definitions) of design could be: the practices that humans employ to arrange, engineer, plan and fashion their material, digital, and social environments. But designs are also artifacts-masterplans, prototypes, and brands-that occupy social lives independent of their assigned functions. Design is often about aspirations for a better world, finding technological and aesthetic solutions to social problems. Yet the products of design, from zoning codes and service delivery networks to iconic built structures, seem to always invite failures, disruptions, hackings, and ruination. A central argument in this course is that understanding design is also key to understanding power, inequality, and insurgency in Africa. We will draw our texts and case studies from places that are normally left off the map of design studies-African cities and towns-and explore the applicability of these theories to St. Louis.
Attributes:A&S IQSSCArchSSCArtCPSC, SSC, VCBUBAENS
Instruction Type:Hybrid Grade Options:CP Fees:
Course Type:HomeSame As:L48 4420Frequency:None / History
SecDays       TimeBuilding / RoomInstructorFinal ExamSeatsEnrollWaits
01---R---4:00P-6:20PSeigle / L003 ShearerNo Final16120
Desc:In person, remote synchronous
REG-DelayStart: 1/25/2021   End: 5/13/2021
Actions:BooksSyllabus
Syllabi are provided to students to support their course planning; refer to the syllabus for constraints on use.
Label

Home/Ident

A course may be either a “Home” course or an “Ident” course.

A “Home” course is a course that is created, maintained and “owned” by one academic department (aka the “Home” department). The “Home” department is primarily responsible for the decision making and logistical support for the course and instructor.

An “Ident” course is the exact same course as the “Home” (i.e. same instructor, same class time, etc), but is simply being offered to students through another department for purposes of registering under a different department and course number.

Students should, whenever possible, register for their courses under the department number toward which they intend to count the course. For example, an AFAS major should register for the course "Africa: Peoples and Cultures" under its Ident number, L90 306B, whereas an Anthropology major should register for the same course under its Home number, L48 306B.

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P=Pass/Fail
A=Audit
U=Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory
S=Special Audit
Q=ME Q (Medical School)

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