Instructor: Mohamed Ali
The aim of the course is to introduce to the beginning student of African history to the peoples, cultures and civilizations of Africa from the earliest times to the modern era. The first half is devoted to the period prior to European colonization with emphasis on west African states and empires: the second half deals with European colonial rule, resistance to colonization, independence and problems of modernization and nation building.
We are moved and troubled by what we occasionally see on the nightly news, but all too often we lack the context and information to move beneath the surface images to a deeper analysis of the issues involved. Too often our understanding of Africa is shaped more by myths and misconceptions generated by the old movies and the literature of an earlier era than by a sound knowledge of Africa′s past and present.
We will begin by taking some common images we hold about Africa and examining them in the light of African experience. The approach is consistently Africanist, emphasizing African initiatives during the pre-colonial eras as well as the ways Africans have responded to the extraneous development like Islam, Christianity, the Atlantic slave trade and colonialism. We will conclude and examination of the problems of postcolonial Africa in their proper perspective, which presents a positive view of contemporary Africa. The experiences during this time continues to influence the way Africans view themselves ,look at others, and reflect on the future. To enhance our understanding of the forces that have shaped contemporary Africa. To enhance our understanding of ′history in the making′, a brief period at the beginning on each class will be used to review that weeks reports on Africa.