The
second semester of Change and Tradition (CC209) shifts gears as
students leave the eastern world to explore the west. In the spring,
we explore Revolutionary Europe, beginning with the French Revolution
of 1789 and continuing to the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. From
the successes and tribulations of Europe to the emergence of independent
nations in West Africa, in the latter part of the semester students
take a close look at the path Nigeria has taken as it was transformed
from a British colony in the early twentieth century to the nation
it has become today.
Revolutionary
Europe
Focusing
on human rights and European unity, students will examine the social,
political, and geographic upheavals that marked this 200 year span
and the resulting European paradigm. Texts studied may include:
- Fathers
and Sons by Ivan Turgenev or
Anton Chekhov's The
Cherry Orchard (as determined by your professor)
- The
Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
- Survival
in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
- Revolutionary Europe 1789
- 1989: Liberty, Equality, Solidarity by David Mason
- The Change and Tradition
reader
Colonial
Nigeria
In
their final C&T unit, students will examine the experience
of the Nigerian people before, during, and after British colonial
rule, and assess Nigerian achievements and travails since gaining
independence. Texts studied may include:
- Things
Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- Death
and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka
- Nigeria: Change and Tradition
in an African State by Bill Neher
- Graceland by Chris Abani
- Contemporary Readings From Nigeria
For
relevant information about these texts, or about European and
West African civilization in general, follow the links below.
Revolutionary
Europe Links | West African and Nigerian
Links
|
