History of Africa, C. 1400-1870

Catalog description

Africa has often been described by Westerners as a continent cut off from the rest of the world. In this history of Africa prior to European colonization, we will challenge the perception of Africa as an isolated continent, by exploring its varied interactions with the world around it. During this course, we will evaluate Africa's role in world trading systems and its engagement with the world religions of Islam and Christianity. In so doing, we will focus our attention on the multiple dynamic systems of trade, government, and religion that existed within Africa. We will attempt to understand the interaction between Africa and the world, not only through the eyes of the outsiders who arrived, but especially through the eyes of the Africans who hosted them. We will also learn about Africans' changing interactions with one another inside the continent during this new era of extraversion.