HIST 106:  AN INTRODUCTION TO THE AFRICAN PAST

 Professor Joe Lunn, Department of Social Sciences - History
Office Hours: T, Th: 11:30-12:00, 3:00-3:30, or by appointment
Room 2119 CX  Telephone:  436-9184;  Home:  (734) 741-4465 

TEXT:  Kevin Shillington, History of Africa.  St. Martin's 

READINGS:

Niane, ed. Sundiata:  A Tale from Old Mali.  Humanities.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Fawcett.
Edwards, ed. The Life of Olaudah Equiano, Longman
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.  Matigari. Heinemann.

 BOOKS ON RESERVE:

Curtin, Feierman, Thompson, and Vansina, African History.
J.D. Fage, A History of Africa.
Colin McEvedy, The Penguin Atlas of African History.

 FILMS:  Yeelen, Mister Jonson, Mapantsula. 

SCHEDULE: 

Week              Topics                                                                              Text      Readings/Films

 9/5                   Introduction:  The Significance of African History

 9/10-12           Historical Methods and the Roots of African Cultures           1-3       Yeelen

 9/17-19           Africa North of the Forest Prior to 1500                               5-7       Niane

 9/24-26            Africa South and East of the Forest prior to 1500                4, 8-10

 10/1-3              The Diffusion of Islam                                                          7, 11

 10/8-10            The Era of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade                                12-15      Edwards, slides

 10/15               MIDTERM EXAMINATION:  IN CLASS

 10/17-22          Abolitionism, "Legitimate Trade", and Muslim Revivals         16-19

 10/24-29          The European Conquest                                                       20-22

 10/31, 11/5       Colonial Rule:  Economic and Political Impact                       23, 24    Achebe

 11/7-12             Colonial Rule:  Social and Cultural Impact                            23, 24     Mister Jonson

 11/14-19           Independence Movements                                                    25-27

 11/21-26           Post-Independence Africa                                                      28         Ngugi

 12/3-5              The Future of Africa (esp. South Africa)                                             Mapantsula

 12/10               FINAL EXAMINATION:  IN CLASS