EURAF Anglo: The Programme Less Taken

Every Tuesday afternoon, 21 students gather together in a small room at the top of the K building for Africa and the World: A Historical Introduction South of the Sahara. The stand-alone lecture, a key part of the Africa minor first-semester curriculum, is being taught in English for the first time this year as a result of the creation of the minor’s new English-language track. While the French-language track has existed at the Reims campus since 2015, the ten-year anniversary of the minor marks the introduction of Sciences Po’s smallest and newest programme.

The programme is structured quite similarly to the French track, with students taking three lecture courses with corresponding discussion sessions, as well as one standalone lecture – the aforementioned Africa and the World. However, that doesn’t mean that the two tracks are being taught the same content: the French track’s lectures focus on Africa, including learning about political systems in African countries to reading African sociologists.

In contrast, the students in the English track attend the same lectures as the students in the North America minor. As of week 10, no African countries nor African sociologists have been studied in lecture courses, which many students in the programme noted being disappointed with. One of them, Vincent Tsekrekos, remarked, ‘we often feel more like EURAM students than EURAF’.

The two history courses of the first semester, The Long European Nineteenth Century and Africa and the World, and their content are common to both tracks. The former, as its name suggests, focuses on 19th-century European history and the transformation it represented. The latter provides a broad summary of the history of the Sub-Saharan African, a region that many students in the programme have never studied before.

Consequently, the format of the course is somewhat challenging, with one student describing it as ‘just 2 hours of dumping, like, information and history and stats on you’. They noted that this makes it ‘really, really hard to retain [information] and … pay attention in class’.

Outside of the lecture courses, the English track students also have only one ‘triplette’ section: 18. The Political Institutions (PI) and Sociology discussion sessions are both taught by the course TAs, Dr. Nefeli Lefkopoulou and Thalia Creac’h, respectively. The students benefit from their instructors’ experience, with one student remarking, ‘we can ask them specific things and they’ll know specifics about … teaching style or methodology’. The instructors’ frequent contact with the lecturers also allows students to provide feedback on lectures and receive quick responses on questions.

Students chose to apply for the Africa minor rather than the North America one for a variety of reasons. Nihla Somani, a Canadian student in the Dual Degree with the University of British Columbia, was motivated by familial ties to the region and a desire to work there at some point. Liem Guan and Vincent both recognised the growing importance of the region on a global scale, as well as the advantage that specialising in it could bring to their future careers.

As a result, many students seemed disappointed with the programme’s limited opportunities to actually learn about Africa. However, students reported that Hamza Bensouda, the Academic Program Manager for the Africa minor, has indicated that future semesters will have courses with a greater focus on the region.

The programme’s small scale has proved to have both strengths and limitations. Nihla stated that the group is fairly close and noted that seeing another English track student on campus feels special. Vincent reported that the small size gives a greater sense of community yet with all the benefits of a larger program.

However, the small size also causes a sense of social isolation for some: it is distinct from the North America minor, yet not integrated with the French track. Many students noted that while the latter can be explained by the language barrier between the two programs, they were disappointed that nothing has been done to bring them together; for example, one student wished for joint activities during integration week.

Looking toward the future, the students have been promised changes from campus leadership, namely greater integration with French track students and more courses focused on Africa. With the program set to double in size next year, it will be interesting to observe its growth and improvement.