African Civilizations (255-1-20)
Instructors
Akin Ogundiran
Meeting Info
University Hall 101: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
The course surveys the history of governance in ancient Africa from the advent of agricultural societies about 8,000 years ago to Africa's classic age of 400-1400 CE. Students will learn how ancestral Africans organized themselves, conceptualized governance, and negotiated power through knowledge networks, technological innovations, and contestation of gender roles. The class will explore different methods and sources for investigating and writing Africa's deep-time history of governance, from archaeology, ethnography, and visual arts to literary texts, oral traditions, and material culture. Students will be asked to identify and critique these different methods and sources to develop and improve skills in evidence-based research.
Learning Objectives
(1) Develop skills in interdisciplinary historical thinking and analysis, using the principles of change, continuity, causality, context, complexity, and contingency to investigate African cultures, sociopolitical organization, and ideas of belonging. (2) • Use insights from Africa's deep-time historical process to understand some aspects of the contemporary world; (3) • Learn how scholars use non-documentary sources to develop historical narratives about the past and begin to develop skills for evaluating those narratives. (4) • Demonstrate understanding of complexity theories for analyzing culture, power, interpersonal relationships, and group/inter-group dynamics. (5) • Familiarity with the historical origins of the place of Africa in contemporary global structures of power relations.
Class Notes
History Major Concentration(s): Africa/Middle East
History Minor Concentration(s): Africa
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Social and Behavioral Science Foundational Discipl
Historical Studies Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Only History majors and minors can currently enroll in this class.
Associated Classes
DIS - TBA: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - TBA: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
DIS - TBA: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM