Contemporary Africa

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This seminar explores the historiography of 20th-century Africa. It is designed to enable students both to gain a broad overview of the field of contemporary African history and to begin to dig more deeply into particular topics relevant to their own research and intellectual interests. Students from other geographical fields interested in the colonial and postcolonial world, gender, youth, race, ethnicity, labor, nationalism, religion, agrarian history, and the Cold War will find opportunities to explore their thematic interests in comparative context. The class will also delve into African history’s methodological contributions to the larger discipline, including using oral history, critically reading colonial archives, and exploring ideas about tradition and law. For the most part the class is structured thematically. Each week (after the first) will feature a major monograph and a set of recommended readings that relate to one or two of the monograph’s dominant themes. Student final papers may take a comparative approach, putting African historiography in conversation with historiography from their own geographical field. The syllabus will in part be shaped by the interests of the students who enroll in the class. For the syllabus from an earlier iteration of this course, please contact Professor McKittrick.