In Autumn 2012 I taught a course on the anthropology of Africa, the goal of which was to come to an understanding of how anthropologists study and write about the complexity of contemporary Africa and how this is different from conventional representations of Africa and Africans in, for example, National Geographic Magazine. The main assignment was a research project in which students examined one thematic issue in Africa. The final papers were edited for a special issue of the National Anthropological Magazine (NAM) dedicated to Africa.