Topics in pension mathematics; funding methods for pension plans. (Offered in alternate years)

This course will cover current topics relevant to industry participants. Topics may include advanced modeling, pricing for different lines of business, financial conditions, regulatory impacts and current developments. Students will develop an understanding of key topics driving the industry today and some of the framework of reference used by actuarial practitioners for charting a course in areas of uncertainties.

(Offered in alternate years)

Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Case study approach to current issues in life insurance, pension consulting and casualty actuarial practice. The focus of the course will be on communication and presentation. This course is Pass/Fail. Not eligible for Credit/No Credit.  The course is open to students in the specialist program in actuarial science. Students in the major program in actuarial science can enrol into the course with permission of the department.

Case studies using leading actuarial application AXIS. Examine key types of insurance products and their pricing and valuation. Review representative developments in insurance regulations in US, Europe and Canada. Other topics include a brief introduction of the use of AI in life insurance.

Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. Persons wishing to take this course must have the permission of the Undergraduate Secretary and of the prospective supervisor. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. Persons wishing to take this course must have the permission of the Undergraduate Secretary and of the prospective supervisor. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. Persons wishing to take this course must have the permission of the Undergraduate Secretary and of the prospective supervisor. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Independent study under the direction of a faculty member. Persons wishing to take this course must have the permission of the Undergraduate Secretary and of the prospective supervisor. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A multi-disciplinary study of Africa, emphasizing critical inquiry and analysis of Africa, the cradle of humanity and the most diverse and second largest continent in the world. Topics that will be explored include: pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary African history, cultures, economies, geographies, Africa’s place in the world, politics, religions, spirituality, art, literature, music, race, resistance, gender, sexuality, futurism, environment, Afrofuturism, anticolonial worldmaking, and Pan-Africanism. The course provides a unique opportunity to learn from the African Studies faculty representing diverse geographical and disciplinary backgrounds who will share their cutting-edge research and unique experiences, reading and writing practices.

Africa in Toronto offers students the unique opportunity to trace, map and document sites and encounters with “Africa” in Toronto across diverse social, political, economic, linguistic and cultural communities in the GTA.

What are the diasporic lives of diverse African communities in the GTA? How does Toronto become home for them? Students will get the chance to learn about, reflect on and reimagine global Africa in the GTA by exploring topics such as placemaking, community-building, the politics of belonging, organizing and activism, economic hubs, artistic creation and expressive cultures, foodways and the epic battle over jollof rice. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

A critical examination of Africa as a living space rather than merely a site of intellectual speculation and study. Uses scholarly and popular literature to explore the issues that engage the attention of ordinary Africans, ranging from the dramatic to the seemingly trivial, as they struggle to fashion meaningful lives in fast-changing societies. Topics include urban transition and city life; economic, political and cultural impacts of globalization; new religious movements and changing conceptions of selfhood; new African diasporas in the West; dynamics of gender relations, kinships and identities; and the politics of liberalization. Materials studied will include print and electronic news media and other mass media resources from Africa and across the world.

Examines the language situation in Africa and the extent to which freedom and linguistic human rights are enabled, granted, nurtured, achieved or protected by post-colonial African states. Using linguistic diversity in Africa as a backdrop, presents, discusses and assesses language policies that were adopted by post-colonial African states, particularly in education, and the implications that these policies have for the rights, freedom and empowerment of citizens of African states. Changes and evolving trends in language use and language planning are also discussed.

Focuses on the art and politics of storytelling across the continent. Students will engage with various kinds of narrative genres from great African novels to short stories, folktales, popular African films from Nollywood and other industries, as well as more recent forms of storytelling from social media. Topics of discussion will include globalization, colonialism, post-coloniality, neo-imperialism, environmental justice, ecocriticism, artistic expression and African identities. This novel course offers a combination of a wide range of literary and non-literary narrative genres as well as a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to textual analysis from decolonial theories to ecocriticism, postcolonial environmentalisms, narrative theory, as well as more traditional methods of literary criticism and analysis.

Introduction to grammar and basic vocabulary of Swahili. Emphasis on comprehension and oral practice. Reading of selected texts. Relation of the language to its East African cultural context.

An historical examination of Africa as a conceptual category, exploring discourses and representations - both African and non-African - that have produced our understandings of the meanings of Africa and Africanness.

In recent years, popular uprisings have mobilized thousands in over 40 African countries, to demand a radical overhauling of existing economic and political systems. This course asks: What are the catalysts, underlying causes and demands of these protest movements? What can we learn from the grassroots organizing that allowed these movements to gain momentum? How might scholars and activists analyzing the popular uprisings in their countries, allow us to develop new vocabularies and frameworks for understanding popular protests and theories of revolution? Case Studies will include popular uprisings in Sudan, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Djibouti, DRC, Eswatini and Nigeria and reflect on similar movements around the world.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities…. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Novels written in the last forty years by English, French and Portuguese-speaking Africans. Ideological views concerning colonialism and neo-colonialism. Tradition, religious and secular; the use of African symbolism. A small number of historical and sociological texts are recommended as essential background reading. Works not written in English are read in translation. (Offered in alternate years)

This course will track the literary history of African women through their writings. Students will study a variety of texts including memoirs, novels, short stories, creative non-fiction, drama, and poetry produced by African women with an eye to the politics of representation and legibility in these texts. This course will ask, how have African women written about their relationships to colonization, domesticity, citizenship, and national politics? It will also engage questions about the varieties of their experiences with motherhood, knowledge-making, displacement, citizenship, and belonging.

The exploration of a range of African cosmologies, epistemologies, and theologies, as well as specific case studies on justice, the moral order, and gender relations. The influence of these richly diverse traditions is traced as well in the writings of African thinkers in the Diaspora.

Critically explores the role of international organizations such as the World Bank Group, the UN and NGOs in the economic development of Africa.

Explores inter-state relations in Africa, African states’ relations with the West, China, India, Brazil, and international political, economic and financial institutions.

Critically examines scholarly debates on the relationships between African cultures and development in various regions of the continent. Draws on interdisciplinary scholarship and development discourses to enhance students' understanding of African conditions and cultures in the context of development thinking.

Examines the nature of youth languages and cultures in contemporary Africa with a focus on their characteristics and the conditions under which they develop. Also considers similarities and/or differences between youth languages and cultures in different regions of Africa and the general youth condition. Includes urban youth languages such as Sheng, Engsh, Tsotsitaal, etc. and music genres associated with youth such as hip hop, Bongo flava, etc. Discusses challenges and opportunities associated with African youth languages as they relate to questions of identity, national integration, regional integration, and development.

An upper level course. Topics of study vary from year to year.

An upper level course. Topics of study vary from year to year.

Examines the Horn of Africa, its diversity, geopolitics, cultural politics, present conditions and current debates through a critical and comparative lens. Considers social forces in contemporary politics within the region including competing claims, explanations of the underpinnings of the Horn's conflict, and the promise of peace. Draws upon interdisciplinary scholarship, public discourse, texts and media to reflect on the future of the Horn of Africa at this historical moment.

Explores the critical intersections between art, media and politics by analyzing the making and circulation of various indigenous and modern art forms and their use as creative and radical strategies for creative expression, dissent, citizenship, and alternative forms of representation, reimaginings, transcendence and agency in African post-colonial contexts, and interconnected with the African Diaspora.

An interdisciplinary exploration of the histories of nationalist and revolutionary movements, ideologies, and regimes in twentieth and twenty-first century Africa, examining the various ways that Africans imagined, actively shaped, and continue to demand freedom and political modernity. Emphasis will be placed on African history methodology (including oral history) and historiography to encourage students to apply a historical lens to approaching key themes and concepts in African Studies such as nationalism, decolonization, the state, politics, citizenship, labour movements, and pro-democracy movements.

Grammar and syntax. Conversation and written composition. Reading of texts: literary, journalistic. Relation of the language to its East African context.