African History Pre-1800

Catalog description

In addition to a general ignorance about Africa, African history suffers from a problem of foreshortening: what people do know comes largely from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is often entangled with adaptation to European influence and colonization. This foreshortening conceals a dynamism that extends deep into the African past, as well as the continent’s history of pre-modern engagements with Asia. This course will explore African history from its earliest times until 1800, drawing on the most up-to-date archaeological and linguistic data. It will explore the emergence of the first cities, states, and complex societies on the continent, and explore the impact of migration and cultural encounter both within Africa and across the worlds of the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Prerequisite: AFST 101, 225 or 235. Offered fall only.