Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Course Overview

This course surveys the history of 19^th- and 20^th-century sub-Saharan Africa. The first section of the course focuses on the European conquest of Africa and the dynamics of colonial rule—especially its socio-economic and cultural consequences. The second section looks at how the rising tide of African nationalism, in the form of labor strikes and guerrilla wars, ushered out colonialism. The third section examines the postcolonial states, focusing on the politics of development, recent civil wars in countries like Rwanda and Liberia, and the AIDS epidemic. The last section surveys the history of entrepreneurship in the post-colonial period and China’s recent involvement in Africa.

21H.165 is an introductory course, and requires no prior knowledge of African history. The course is structured around discussions and you are expected to contribute to the discussion.

Objectives

This course will offer you:

• A basic narrative of sub-Saharan African history from 19^th century to the present.
• Detailed knowledge of the histories of select African countries (a country will be assigned to you at the beginning of the semester).
• An understanding of the framework in which sub-Saharan Africa has interacted with the rest of the world through the last century.
• A way to approach contemporary issues in African culture, politics, and society through a historical lens.
• Experience in interpreting sources, formulating historical analyses, and writing well-substantiated expositions of your own.

Student Responsibilities

Please come to class meetings having done the readings listed for that day on the syllabus, and with a copy of the readings with you. We will refer to the readings during our class discussions.

The main textbooks for the class are:

Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. 3^rd ed. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. ISBN: 9780230308473. 

Worger, William H., Nancy L. Clark, and Edward A. Alpers. Africa and the West: A Documentary History, Volume Two: From Colonialism to Independence, 1875 to the Present. 2^nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 9780195373134. [Preview with Google Books]

In addition, we will read articles and book chapters that are available from other souces. These can be found in the Readings section.

Because Africa is a continent of great diversity I will ask you to explore the history of one specific country in greater depth. During our first class meeting, I will randomly assign you one of the following countries to follow throughout the semester: Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Sudan, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Often assignments will include conducting independent research on your country, comparing it to general trends highlighted in class, and reporting on your country during our class meetings. The final writing assignment might also relate to your assigned country.

Writing is essential. Here is roughly speaking how I will evaluate ALL your writing assignments (including the take-home exam essays):

• Focus (does the writing deal with the problem or question?)
• Evidence (does it support its position with adequate information?)
• Coherence (does the argument make sense logically?)
• Scope (does it deal with all aspects of the question?)

Writing Help

MIT’s Writing and Communication Center offers MIT students free one-on-one advice on all types of academic, creative, and professional writing and about all aspects of oral presentations. The center’s website also lists online resources for writers on topics like “Understanding an Assignment” and “Avoiding Plagiarism.”

Plagiarism

Academic Integrity at MIT: A Handbook for Students defines plagiarism in the following manner: 

“Plagiarism occurs when you use another’s words, ideas, assertions, data, or figures and do not acknowledge that you have done so.

If you use the words, ideas, or phrasing of another person or from published material, you must

• Use quotation marks around the words and cite the source, or
• Paraphrase or summarize acceptably and cite the source.

If you use charts, graphs, data sets, or numerical information obtained from another person or from published material, you must also cite the source.

You must always acknowledge your sources by citing them. In this way, you have the right to use another’s creative output by giving that person credit for the work s/he has done.” For more details, see Academic Integrity at MIT: A Handbook for Students.

Grading

For detail on the activities above, see the Assignments section.