Ethiopia: Ecology, Knowledge, and Women

Instructor: Dr. Mehretab Assefa

Dates: May 24- June 12

Cost: $4,550 + airfare 

Listing: SOC 248

Units: 1 SLU Unit/3.6 Credits 

Course Description: The course has two objectives. (1)The course demonstrates to students that accepted notions of universalism are based on the false opposition between nature and culture leading to the segregation of economic growth from environmental conservation.  By travelling to Ethiopia Students will appreciate that (a) the pressures of global division of labor, (b) national exigencies of development, and (c) local burdens of subsistence are inherently masculine dynamics pitting society and environmental against each other.

(2) The course introduces students to feminine perspective which makes nature and culture manifestations of reproduction. The feminine principle establishes the natural as inherently social (historical) and the cultural fundamentally environmental (ecological). It brings to light how ecological patterns and historical processes are tied to reproduction.  To that end, students will witness how the extended household arrangements, village community organizations, and regional trade networks are activated in concert to mitigate the conflicting structures of the global economy predicated on endless growth and the national society fixated on permanent stability. They will also unmask the

Students will visit the Ancient Christian Monasteries on the Islands of Lake Tana, and also travel to the medieval Muslim City of Harar so that they appreciate the ecological dimension of regional networks of trade relating agriculturalist Christians and pastoralist Muslims. They will also visit the Dorze community so that they understand the ecological basis of local arrangements of exchange. Most importantly students will visit the Fistula Clinic so that they witness the afflictions on young women perpetuated by the compound forces of modern-patriarchy.