Introduction to Topics in History (292-0-20)
Topic
African Histories of Science
Instructors
Helen Tilley
847/467-3014
Harris Hall - Room 335
Helen Tilley studies African colonial and postcolonial history with a particular focus on medical, racial, environmental, and anthropological themes. She is finishing a book on the history of traditional medicine and its relationship to African decolonization, global governance, and ethnoscientific research during the Cold War.
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L05: Tues, Thurs 3:30PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
This interdisciplinary seminar explores several kinds of scientific ingenuity and technical know-how that have developed in the African continent across the centuries. You'll learn a little about metallurgy and sculpture, music and therapeutics, landscapes and foodways, architecture and urban aesthetics, mapping and cosmologies, human origins and genesis stories, algorithms and games, and economic systems and trans-Saharan trade. We'll do a range of exercises that help you place case studies in their widest context, geographical, linguistic, sociocultural, and temporal. We'll discuss what it means to make and create useful arts, to know and manage environments, and to cultivate well-being. We'll also examine different yardsticks that have been used to measure - and often denigrate - African accomplishments. Finally, we'll look at classic texts in the history of science to see how, if at all, African places and peoples were included and what was omitted.
Learning Objectives
1. Develop historical reasoning skills. 2. Place case studies across several centuries in context. 3. Learn some basics of African history. 4. Practice doing object histories. 5. Learn to critique textbooks.
Evaluation Method
A short history of a museum object or instrument; weekly paragraphs on readings; a group multimedia project; contributions to seminar.
Class Notes
History Major Concentration(s): Africa/Middle East, Global
History Minor Concentration(s): Africa, Science and Technology
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Only History majors and minors can currently enroll in this class.