The three classroom required courses are West African Cultures and Society; West African Performing Arts; and Reproductive Health in West Africa. The excursions include a one-day visit to a well-known Tettey Quarshie Cocoa Farm at Mampong Akwapim, and a Wood Carving Center in Aburi, both in the Eastern Region; two-night trip to Kumasi, the Ashanti Region, where there will be visits to the King’s Palace Museum, and the Ashanti traditional homes at the Bonwire Kente weaving and Adinkra cloth villages. There will also be visits to one of the main hospitals, the Korle-Bu Hospital, and other local hospitals and rural health clinics, all in Accra. Other cultural activities, in addition, include visits to the Center for African Arts and Culture, a Poetry Night Shows, an on-stage Theatrical Show, and a Highlife band music performance, all in Accra.
- You will take these three courses for nine credits, plus a 1-credit introductory Twi language course.
- If you are seeking to count these courses towards a major, minor or certificate requirement, please meet with your respective advisor to discuss the program and what the courses will fulfill for you.
These courses count towards these general education requirements:
- West African Culture and Society: Specific Geographic Region
- West African Performing Arts: The Arts, Specific Geographic Region
The course is intended to provide students with a basic understanding and appreciation of some of the distinctive elements and features of West African cultures and society. Presented from interdisciplinary framework, the course will introduce students to the diversity, dynamism and complexity of the many cultures and societies of West Africa, both past and present. It first provides a brief background of the region by exploring its geological and geographical nature, and the multi-linguistic peoples living in the region. It follows with the nature of West African societies’ social systems and organization; their indigenous political and economic institutions; and their cultural arts and aesthetic. The course further discusses West Africans’ interaction with the world, and the subsequent emergence of slavery and colonization; and the rise of cultural emancipation, nationalism, pan-Africanism that eventually led to decolonization in the region. In addition, since the discipline of Africana Studies sustains comprehensive immersion of African world content to guide effort to study, to define, to critically interpret, to map and to comparatively engage the multi-directional continuum of African experience, the course finally shows, in conclusion, how these West African traditions have historically and culturally become part of the heritage of the Black communities in the Diaspora—Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, African American, and Afro-European traditions
Download AFRCNA 1024 Draft Syllabus.pdf (475.18 KB)The course is designed to introduce students to the nature and characteristic features of West African performance traditional arts that totally cover music, and other art forms such as dance, drama, masquerade, drama and theater, which are combined with music in performance. It seeks to provide students with an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the diversity, dynamism, and complexity of these performing arts in the region, and the role that these arts plays in social, cultural, political, and economic lives of the societies. In a broader context, the course traces the shifting styles, forms, and content of these performing arts in relation to larger social, cultural, political and economic conditions experienced by the people. It analyzes the underlying discourse of artistry as expressed in these art forms, by examining the nature or the characteristic features of the arts, and how they are used with music as social and artistic mediums of communication, or as spontaneous dialogue to dramatize themes drawn from everyday social lives of the people. It shows how the use of these performing arts by the communities, as an avenue of communication, has continued to exist as ‘African cultural memory’ generally among the communities and has subsequently led to cultural self-determination and self-transformation among the societies. The course finally shows, in conclusion, how these West African performing art traditions have historically and culturally formed part of the heritage of the Afro-Diaspora musical traditions, as they are normally expressed through cultural performance
Download MUS 1341 Draft Syllabus.pdf (473.34 KB)Please note that this course is currently under review for approval; therefore, the course title/number is subject to change.
This course provides a basic understanding of reproductive health issues in Africa with an emphasis on ways culture both informs and creates challenges for the successful implementation of reproductive health programs. Some topics explored include different approaches to the study of Reproductive Health —the reproductive health approach, cultural approach, and empowerment approach— as well as adolescent reproductive health, family planning, maternal health, sexually transmitted diseases with a focus on HIV/AIDS, infertility, and new reproductive technology. These topics are considered by investigating current trends and discussing them in the context of family, kinship, marriage, female status, cultural practices, and socioeconomics. Programs and policies to deal with Reproductive Health issues are also discussed. Throughout, students are encouraged to think critically about the influence of social norms on reproductive health.
Syllabus coming soon!
Pitt Study Abroad runs this program in partnership with CIEE, one of the leading study abroad service providers in the world.
Kelsey Sobecki
Hello! I’m Kelsey, Program Manager for Arts & Sciences students. I am a native Pittsburgher and studied abroad in Rome, Italy as an undergraduate at Duquesne University, and received my Master’s degree at University College Dublin in Ireland. I have been in the field of International Education for 10 years, which includes time spent living and working on-site with study abroad students in both Rome and Dublin. I am so excited to support Pitt students in their study abroad journey! Please feel free to reach out to me at kls299@pitt.edu or make an appointment to start planning your global experience!
Dr. E. Kwadwo O. Beeko
Dr. E. Kwadwo O. Beeko is currently a Faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh, and teaching at both the Department of Africana Studies and the Department of Music. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of Pittsburgh (2005), a Master’s degree in Philosophy of Music at the University of Ghana, Legon (2000), a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana (1996), and a Diploma in Music at the National Academy of Music, Winneba, Ghana (1984). Beeko has some long-term experience and a proven success in teaching and motivating students to learn both in class-room setting and outside the class-room that involves research, volunteering work, etc. He also has a personal enthusiasm, humor, and commitment, essential for generating respect and interest, as well as for promoting teamwork, among students. His broad teaching interest has been on African performance aesthetics that deals with music, dance and theater; and the study of African traditions that deals with pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary African history, politics, society, culture, and religion. His research interest has been on Black performance aesthetics, and the creativity, innovation and processes of change that are employed in the peoples’ musical traditions, with particular emphasis on cognitive processes in musical performances. The courses that he is currently teaching at the University of Pittsburgh include Introduction to Africa; Early African Civilization; and African Literature and Society at the Department of Africana Studies; and Music in Africa, and Introduction to World Musicat the Department of Music.
