STEM and Power in Africa

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: STEM. The preceding acronym is a buzzword often heard in all sorts of spaces from family living rooms to corridors of power all over the world. It is mostly associated with objectivity, progress, complexity, growth, development, intelligence, prosperity and stability i.e., the sorts of concepts that society generally associates with these disciplines. However, STEM fields are human fields and are not immune from subjectivity and other human flaws that bedevil every human endeavour. In this course, we study the interaction between STEM and power in Africa during a period spanning centuries: pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial. The course integrates Africa into broader developments of and discourses on STEM fields while examining the continent’s contributions to these fields, and critically, how fields we now think of as STEM have interacted with African societies over time to shape their politics, economies and cultures in general. It is an academic exercise in STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, during which students will explore the research scholars of the humanities and social sciences have conducted using a variety of models and methods to study STEM-related histories in Africa. The goal is to enable students to think critically about how science and technology have forged and continue to influence policy-making, implementation and therefore, how STEM fields have been a source of power for African societies or have been used to wield power in Africa during the period under examination.