Fall 2025
Jacqueline-Bethel Tchouta Mougoué
3.00 credits
Level: Elementary
Breadth: Humanities
African 202, the main seminar in this FIG, explores connections between politics and tourism in Africa, past and present. A key question we will consider is how the history of African tourism reflects larger political trajectories and cultural concerns in the continent and beyond.
We will examine different kinds of tourism: nature tourism (aka safaris), volunteering tourism, political tourism by world leaders, poverty tourism, small-town tourism development in southern Africa, heritage tourism of diaspora Africans, and contemporary African travel bloggers. You will be encouraged to think critically about individuals on the continent and beyond who have differently imagined lived realities and politicized experiences in Africa through varied forms of tourism. To investigate these issues, we will draw on materials and methods from diverse disciplines and sources, including comic strips, graphic novels, animated cartoons, newspapers, films, podcasts, documentaries, Instagram, street art, and scholarly texts. The other courses in the FIG will add valuable context and perspectives to our exploration of these issues and materials.
