HIST 4701A: Colonialism, Imperialism, and Pan-Africanism
Fall 2021
Instructor: Dr. Mary Owusu
Course Description:
Over the winter of 1885-6, the major powers of Europe met in Berlin to carve up the African continent into colonies and spheres of influence, initiating new and oppressive forms of colonialism and imperialism that would galvanize continental and Diasporic Africans towards a pan-African union. This event, known as the ‘Scramble for Africa,’ is now a turning point in narratives that emphasize a legacy of European exploitation of the continent and African resistance. In this course, students are asked to challenge conventional narratives and conceptualize the experience from an African perspective. What did being colonized mean to Africans? Is pan-Africanism a utopic concept that promises more than it can deliver? Besides exploring the impact of the colonial experience in shaping the structures of modern Africa and the Atlantic World, the course examines different visions of pan-Africanism.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Assess how being colonized impacted different categories of Africans – for example women.
- Trace the struggle of historians to better grasp the state of “being colonized” and the task of “colonizing” as we develop a more distant and balanced view of the colonial era.
- Demonstrate effective grasp of imperialism and its effects on Africans.
- Identify key paradigms in Pan-Africanism.
Course Schedule
- Creating Colonial States
- Women and the Colonial Order
- The Colonial Order and Gender Troubles
- Assessing Colonial Rule
- Resistance, Rebellion, and Independence
- European Imperialism and its Effects on African societies: Literary Works
- European Imperialism and its Effects on African societies: Economic
- European Imperialism and its Effects on African societies: Political
- European Imperialism and its Effects on African societies: Legal
- African Americans and Decolonization in Africa
- Pan-Africanism: Contested Views
- Pan-Africanism and Communism
Evaluation
Eight Weekly Précis: 40% [each worth 5%]
Mid-term Essay: 15% [Date to be determined]
Final Examination: 20% [Date to be determined]
In- Class participation: 10%
Group Work: 15% [Group Presentation]