21H.165 | Spring 2019 | Undergraduate

Modern African History

Calendar

SES# TOPICS DUE DATES
1

Introduction: Representations of Africa and of Africans

Country assignments take place today.

 
Part I: An Overview of Africa before the 19th Century
2 The Slave Trade and West Africa to 19th Century  Map quiz (pass / fail) 
3

Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa to 19th Century

What were the major developments in your country in the 19th Century? Where did you get your information?

 
Part II: Colonial Conquest in 19th Century
4 19th Century and Colonial Conquest Take-home exam essay #1 due
Part III: The Workings of Colonialism
5

An Overview of Colonial Rule

Did colonialism create tribes? If so, how? If possible give an example from “your” country.

 
6

Forced Labor and Taxation

Please take note of some of the colonial atrocities in “your” country.

 
7

Capitalism and Segregation in South Africa

How did the African National Congress’s goals and assumptions contrast with those of Hendrik Verwoerd and the other supporters of apartheid? Did “your” country have a system similar to apartheid? Why or why not?

 
Part IV: Africans’ Everyday Response to Colonialism
8 Gender and Earlier Forms of Resistance: Aba Riots in Nigeria  
9

Cultural Resistance: Female Circumcision Controversies in Kenya

Were there any cultural clashes between the colonizers and the Africans in “your” country?

 
10

Leisure in Colonial Africa: Football and Flicks in Zanzibar and Zambia

What are some of the ways in which Africans in “yourcountry spent their leisure time?

Take-home exam essay #2 due
Part V: Decolonization
11 Everyday Family Life in Rural Africa: An Example from Western Kenya  
12 The Winning of Independence  
13 Theories of Decolonization  
14

Guerilla Warfare and Decolonization: The Case of Mau Mau

Did your country experience any violence during decolonization?

 
15 The “End” of Apartheid  
Part VI: Africa since Independence
16

Africa since Independence: Aid?

Was structural adjustment good for Ghana, or for other African countries? Why or why not? What was your country’s experience with structural adjustment?

 
17 Crises in the 1990s: The Rwandan Genocide  
18

Crises in the 1990s: AIDS

Please be prepared to talk about “your” country’s experience with HIV/AIDS.

 
Part VII: African Entrepreneurship and China’s Involvement in Africa
19 Nollywood Take–home exam essay #3 due
20

Matatus in Kenya

Please be prepared to talk about some of the large-scale indigenous entrepreneurship activities in “your” country.

 
21

China in Africa

Please be prepared to talk about some of the activities China is involved in with regard to “your” country.

 
Part VIII: The Afterlives of 21H.165: Modern African History
22 Brief presentations of your final papers  
23 Brief presentations of your final papers Final paper due 

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Spring 2019
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