Admission requirements
This course is meant for BA students in African Studies and History. However, students who are interested in Africa may join the course. The course takes place in Leiden.
Description
This course provides a general introduction to the history of Africa from ancient times to post-independence Africa (independence from colonialism). In its most general terms, this course seeks to familiarise students with African history and interactions between the African continent and the rest of the world.
At the end of this course, students will have a good grasp of the general chronology of the history of Africa. They will have a broad understanding of both the history of African societies and that of the transnational dynamics that shaped the region.
At a methodological and theoretical level, this course encourages students to question received wisdom on Africa (by peers, political interests, and media in Europe).
As per its title, the course offers a basic outline to a rich and vast millenary history. However, quality and not quantity is the imperative driving objective of this course, which is aimed at giving students the capacity to become independent thinkers.
Issues covered will be among others:
Africa geography and early human migrations;
Ancient African civilizations;
The rise of monotheistic religions in Africa;
Slavery and the slave trade;
Colonialism and African resistance;
Decolonization and independence;
Post-Cold War Africa.
Course objectives
General learning objectives
The student has:
acquired knowledge and understanding of history, its processes, structure, actors, factors, and events, and has familiarised him-/herself with an academic understanding of African history from antiquity to contemporary times;
acquired a basic understanding of the theories and methodological approaches relevant to African history;
acquired knowledge and understanding of the concepts and conceptual structures relevant to the study of history from an African perspective at multiple spatial levels: local, national, regional, but also transnational and from a comparative, international, and global perspective;
developed skills to organize and process a large amount of information
developed analytical and critical skills vis-à-vis academic and scientific literature.
Learning objectives, specifically for the specialization
The specialization African Studies centres on issues of Africa’s place in a globalised world with challenges and opportunities from an African perspective. A general objective of this course is therefore to understand African history beyond eurocentrism, that is the attitude of exalting European and more generally western civilisation over that of other areas of the world.
To deconstruct African history is another aim of this course. Indeed, understanding how Africa interacted historically with the rest of the world reveals also how eurocentrism but also imperialism took place.
Imperialist attempts to deny the history of others in order to conquer constitutes the political basis of exploitation. The study of African history and civilisations since ancient times allows for a reclaiming of African history from an African perspective.
African history functions as a cementing subject within the programme’s other subjects. Issues of gender, rights, migration, current politics, development, culture and literature can hardly be understood outside the historical perspective.
Learning objectives, pertaining to this specific lecture course
Students acquire:
basic knowledge of the history of Africa and are able to place Africa and African history in a global perspective;
an ability to think of Africa in terms of its own history, in which Africans are not only unwilling victims of outside forces;
an ability to interpret contemporary developments in Africa;
a capacity to place Africa in world history;
an ability to critically question and eventually to counter conventional assumptions and canons of African History.
Timetable
The timetables are avalable through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures.
Interaction is welcome and therefore students are required to read the study material in advance before each lecture.
Assessment method
Assessment
In-class written mid-term exam on the material from lecture one to lecture six (block 1 of the semester);
In-class written final exam on the material from lecture seven to lecture twelve (block 2 of the semester)
Both exams may consist of open-ended questions and/or multiple-choice questions.
Weighing
Mid-term exam: 50% of the total grade.
Final exam: 50% of the total grade.
The course grade is the average of the mid-term exam grade and the final exam grade.
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following: The end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of midterm and final exams whose average needs to be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
In case of an insufficient course final grade, students can take a resit exam.
The resit exam covers the entire course material (block 1 + block 2 = from lecture one to lecture twelve), regardless of a student passing either the mid-term exam or the final exam.
The resit exam consists in an oral examination with questions (posed by a committee of lecturers) and answers (given by the student).
Inspection and feedback
A student can request a review of her/his own exam within 30 days after publication of the exam results.
Reading list
The following are the two main textbooks used for this course:
Robert O. Collins and James D. Burns, A history of Sub-Saharan Africa [Second Edition] Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014 (also available online at LU Library);
Phillip Naylor, North Africa: A History from Antiquity to the Present [Revised Edition] Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015 (also available online at LU Library).
Students are encouraged to buy paper versions of these books (also available second hand), for it is proven it is easier and more effective to read on paper than in front of a screen. However, these books are also available online for free via the LU Library.
Parts of the textbooks will not be included, and additional reading material will be also circulated. For these reasons, it is essential that students familiarise with the course syllabus.
Registration
Enrolment through My Studymap (Login | Universiteit Leiden) is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Registration À la carte education, Contract teaching and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of Contract teaching (with taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Reuvensplaats
Remarks
None.