Professionals in Africa

Catalog description

This course examines the historic lives, contributions, and significance of various professionals in African history, particularly before the 20th century. With case studies and varied primary sources, we explore how various specialists shaped their societies and how being a particular professional, in turn, shaped their identities – as healers, scholars, traders, artists, and hunters to name just a few. Their lives reveal intersections between power, gender, economy, and culture in various African societies and point to new ways of thinking about broader trends of history.