Admission requirements
Not applicable.
Description
Africa was again in the news a lot in 2019, with quite different messages: a number of African countries are experiencing spectacular explosive economic growth; still others are engaged in a sometimes bloody struggle for more democracy. The continent is seen as a region with a lot of potential, given the demographic developments, urbanization and modernization that are taking place. However, it is also a continent with a long history. Not only is the continent the cradle of mankind and the geologically oldest continent in the world, hosting great civilizations such as ancient Egypt and the Swahili city-states, Africa's history is inextricably linked with that of Europe and the Americas since the early modern period. By studying this past, the present position of the continent in the world will indirectly also be understood.
In this course we put the complexity and diversity of Africa first. We view Africa as part of the world, in which globalizing forces co-determine both the imagination and the realities of African societies. Other connecting themes are technology and power relations. There is no story and no history of Africa.
The lectures are organized per period:
1) The Early History of Africa (Archeology, Origin of Man, Antiquity);
2) The time of the great pre-colonial empires as well as the so-called “stateless societies”;
3) The early colonial period;
4) The post-WWII period, in which the independence of Africa began to take shape;
5) The Independence and beyond 1990-2019, recent developments.
Course Objectives
General Learning Goals
The student is able to organize and process relatively large amounts of information;
The student is able to reflect critically on knowledge and insights from scientific literature.
Learning objectives, specifically for the specialization
- The student has acquired knowledge of the specialization (s) to which the BA lecture belongs; in the specialization General History for the placement of European history after 1500 in a global perspective; in particular in the track History of European Expansion and Globalization; for the emergence of global networks that bring about an increasingly intensive circulation of people, animals, crops, goods and ideas, and the central role of European expansion from about 1500 onwards.
Learning objectives
The student:
Acquires basic knowledge of the history of Africa, and is able to place Africa and African history in a global perspective;
Is able to think of Africa in terms of its own history, in which Africans are not only innocent and unwilling victims of outside forces. Students will be confronted with the creativity of the human mind, in which Africans show their own input and initiative within the history of the world as a whole;
Is able to give a bird's eye view of the history of Africa, and to historically interpret contemporary developments in Africa and in Africa in relation to the world; they can show how developments in present-day Africa often have their origins in the past.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of Instruction
Lecture
Independent literature study
Assessment method
Assessment
All learning objectives of the BA Lecture are tested by means of two partial tests:
Partial test 1: written exam (on the material of the first 6 lectures, including the accompanying literature)
Partial test 2: written exam (covering the entire course material)
Weighting
Test 1: 50%
Test 2: 50%
The final grade for the course is determined by determining the weighted average based on partial grades.
Resit
The resit takes place at one examination moment, at which both partial tests are offered. Three hours have been reserved for the resit so that, if necessary, both tests can be taken.
Reading list
Erik Gilbert & Jonathan Reynolds, * Africa in World History * (3rd edition), Pearson, 2012
Any additional literature will be announced during the semester
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available on the website.
Register Studying à la carte and Contract Education
Registration Studeren à la carte
Registration Contractonderwijs
Contact
For course related questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable.