PAST388

Discusses writing systems across time as they developed on the African continent. Spanning a history of five millennia, the understanding of script in Africa is complex and convoluted. Focuses on the relevance of writing systems for our understanding of African culture and history by critically assessing controversial ideas such as the superiority of the alphabet, the functional impetus for script development and its role in state formation, the need for standardization, the presence of literacy, and the link of script design and target language. There are no prerequisites, allowing students with different cultural and disciplinary backgrounds to contribute to the classroom.