Literary Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam: A Mirror of Tanzanian Socialism

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Periodical article

Title:	Literary Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam: A Mirror of Tanzanian Socialism
Author:	Sicherman, Carol
Year:	1997
Periodical:	Ufahamu
Volume:	25
Issue:	1
Pages:	107-129
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Tanzania
Subjects:	socialism literary education ujamaa Education and Oral Traditions Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports) Politics and Government
Abstract:	While socialist idealists at the University College of Dar es Salaam, created in 1961, were a small minority, they dominated the Department of Literature. The author traces the department's history, which mirrors the rise and decline of Tanzanian socialism. Topics covered include student debates in the 1960s on education in a socialist context and the College's 'crisis of relevance', the need to 'justify' the Literature Department, building the syllabus, changes in the curriculum in the late 1960s to make it both more African and more widely international, activities during the height of departmental socialist fervour in 1974-1975, the ideas of Grant Kamenju, appointed Special Lecturer in 1966, and the attempt to develop a coherent relationship between secondary and university literature syllabi in the early 1970s. Notes, ref.