Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies.
Limited places are also open for exchange students. Please note: this course takes place in The Hague.
Description
This course is designed to provide a general introduction to the history of Africa from antiquity to the present.
Issues covered during the course will be:
Understanding African past
The origins of mankind
Food production and the impact of metal
Antiquity in Africa
Christianity and Islam
Societies and statehood in the 19th century
Colonialism conquest and partition
Colonial economies and colonial societies
Atlantic slave trade and slavery
Nationalism and Pan-Africanism
Independence, ideologies, and the Cold War
Neoliberalism and “the rule of markets”
The case of South Africa
Course objectives
In its most general terms, this course seeks to familiarize students with the history of Africa and offer them a historical context for understanding Africa today. This entails that students will have a good grasp of the general chronology of the history of the continent; they will have a broad understanding of both the history of African societies and that of the transnational dynamics that shaped the region. On a methodological level, students will be encouraged to question received wisdom and challenge established knowledge on Africa by critically engaging with the mainstream discourses on Africa.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website
Mode of instruction
One two hour lecture per week; bi-weekly tutorials.
Attending lectures and tutorials is compulsory. If you are not able to attend a lecture or tutorial, please inform the tutor of the course. Being absent without notification can result in a lower grade or exclusion from the final exam or essay.
Course Load
Total course load for this course is 5 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), this equals 140 hours, broken down by:
Hours spent on attending lectures: 2 hours per week x 12 weeks + hours on attending tutorials 2 hours per two weeks x 6: 36 hrs
Time for studying the compulsory literature: 60 hours
Time for completing assignments, preparation classes and exams: 44 hours
Assessment method
Tutorials 30%
Midterm Exam 35%
Final Exam 35%
If the final grade is insufficient (lower than a 6), there is the possibility of retaking the full 70% of the exam material, replacing both the earlier mid- and endterm grades. No resit for the tutorials is possible.
To complete the final mark, please take notice of the following:
the final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrolment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.
Reading list
John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent (2nd edition), Cambridge University Press 2007
Colin McEvedy, The Penguin Atlas of African History (revised edition), Penguin Books 1996
Further readings and audiovisual material will be distributed during the course and uploaded on Blackboard
Ex-gratia (reccomended but not required):
Robert O. Collins (ed.), Documents from the African Past, Markus Wiener Pub. 2001
Walter Rodney, How Europe Unverdeveloped Africa, (several publishers) 1972
Frederick Cooper, Africa in the World: Capitalism, Empire, Nation, Harvard University Press 2014
Adu Boahen, African Perspectives on Colonialism, Diasporic Africa Press 2011
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Contact
Dr. S. Bellucci, email s.bellucci@hum.leidenuniv.nl