Instructor: Thomas Prasch
Office: HC 311 B
Office hours: MW 2:30-5, T-Th 11-12 or by appointment
Phone: (785) 231-1010 est. 1892
E-mail: zzprasch@washburn.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Subsaharan Africa will be the central focus of the course, though North Africa will occasionally figure in the picture (especially in terms of the spread of Islam and the dynamics of imperialism and decolonization). The course will open with general background for the period prior to 1700 before considering the basic developments in African history since 1700: the impact of intensified slave trading, the increased European presence in West and South Africa, more active and competitive missionary activity (by both Islamic and Christian missions), and the further development of trade networks both within Equatorial Africa and from the East African coast through the Indian Ocean zone in the eighteenth century; full-scale European imperialism and its consequences in the nineteenth century; the development of nationalist ideologies and independence movements in the early twentieth century; decolonization and the structure of newly independent African states since World War II in African states; and the contemporary crisis of the state in much of Africa. Because a fundamental part of history teaching at Washburn is preparing students to do history, lectures and text materials will be supplemented by primary sources.
 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: The main text for the course is Phyllis M. Martin and Patrick O'Meara, Africa (3d edition). In addition, all students are required to read George B. N. Ayittey, Africa in Chaos, which will be the focus of a critical paper (see below). Students will also be required to read three primary source selections through the course of the semester, from choices indicated on the syllabus or choices of their own approved by the professor.

The three tests will each have an in-class and take-home component, worth 100 points each. The in-class tests, focused on text and lecture material, will include short identification questions (worth 20 points) and one longer essay question (worth 80 points), drawn from a study guide provided in advance. The take-home portion of the test will be 3-5 page essays focused on the primary sources and will be due the class following the in-class exam (except in the case of the final take-home paper, due the last day of class). Primary sources will be on reserve in the library, and questions for the take-home test will be handed out in class in advance. There will be a review session before each test.

Students will also be required to prepare a 7-10 page paper that provides a critical evaluation of Ayittey's Africa in Chaos, due on May 3. This paper will summarize and evaluate Ayittey's arguments, and the paper should include references to text and lecture material and at least some outside research. A hand-out will provide more specific guidelines. The paper will be worth 200 points. The final grade will be an average of the three tests (both in-class and take-home components) and the paper. Active class participation will be taken into account as a positive factor in borderline cases, at the discretion of the professor.

Students who are having difficulties with either the reading or writing demands of the class should avail themselves of assistance from departmental tutors or from the English Department's Writing Center (Morgan 257). Students having trouble with the material should also meet with the professor during scheduled office hours (or by appointment).

Students with disabilities may identify themselves voluntarily to the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (SSWDO) to request accommodations. The office is responsible for assisting in arranging accommodations and for identifying resources on campus. New requests for accommodations should be submitted two months or more prior to the date services should begin; however, check with the SSWDO office as soon as a need may arise. The SSWDO office is at Morgan Hall 150; their phone number is (785)231-1010 ext. 1629. Students may also voluntarily identify themselves to the instructor to discuss accommodations.

Class attendance is not required. Students should be aware, however, that lecture material will not duplicate text readings, and students will be responsible for lecture material on tests. And, obviously, routine absence will prevent active class participation. Students who miss scheduled tests or due dates for take-home test portions will be required to provide valid excuses for their absence.
 

GRADUATE COMPONENT: MLS students taking the course for graduate credit (as HI 570) will be graded according to a higher standard on each test. They will also be expected to write a full, article-length research paper (20 pp. minimum), incorporating both primary sources and secondary material, on a subject of their choice.

TENTATIVE READING AND LECTURE SCHEDULE

Section I: The Crucible of Africa's Modernity: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Colonialism
January 19: Introduction
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 1
January 21: Mapping Africa
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 2
January 24: Background: The Pre-Modern History of Africa
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 4
January 26: Background continued
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 5
January 28: Europe and Africa before 1900
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 6
January 31: The Impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
February 2: Abolition and the Shifting Terms of Contact
February 4: New Imperialism: Theoretical Approaches
Reading: Marting & O'Meara, chapter 7
February 7: New Imperialism: Figures and Patterns
February 9: The Scramble for Africa
February 11: NO CLASS
February 14: Special Case: South Africa and Rhodesia
February 16: Review session
February 18: FIRST IN-CLASS TEST
FIRST TAKE-HOME TEST (due February 21): Read one of the following: Richard Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa (selections); Roland and Caroline Oliver, eds., Africa in the Days of Exploration (selections); H. M. Stanley, How I Found Livingstone or In Darkest Africa (selections); Josephine Butler, Native Races and the War [i.e. Boer War]; Caretta, Unchained Voices (selections); Oloudah Equiano, Interesting Narrative; Williams, From the South African Past (selections). Specific assignments and take-home questions to be detailed later.

Section II: Toward an Independent Africa
February 21: Pan-Africanism and African Nationalism
February 23: Decolonization
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 8
February 25: Decolonization in the Settler States
February 28: Legacies of Imperialism
March 1: African Social Organization
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 9
March 3: African Economic Structures
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 10
March 6: From Ritual to Tourist Trade: African Art
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 12
March 8: The Making of World Beat: African Music
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 13
March 10: Popular Culture and the Urban Context
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 14
March 13: The Literature of Independence
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 15
March 15: Social Change in Independent Africa
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 16
March 17: Legal Traditions
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 17
March 20-25: Spring Break
March 27:Independent Politics
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 18
March 29: Review session
March 31: SECOND IN-CLASS TEST
SECOND TAKE-HOME TEST (due April 3): Read one of the following: Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana: An Autobiography; Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart or No Longer at Ease; Wole Soyinka, Ake; Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Petals of Blood; Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions; Stanlake Samkange, On Trial for My Country; J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians.

Section III: The Crisis of the State in Contemporary Africa
April 3: Patterns of Conflict in Contemporary Africa
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 19
April 5: Underdevelopment in Contemporary Africa
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 20
April 7: Case Study: Uganda
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 1
April 10: Case Study: Nigeria
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 2
April 12: Case Study: Somalia
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 3
April 14: Case Study: Sudan
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 4
April 17: Case Study: Liberia
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 5
April 19: Case Study: Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 6
April 21: Film hopefully: Ousmene Sembene, Black Girl
April 24: Case Study: Angola
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 7
April 26: Case Study: Rwanda/Burundi
Readying: Ayittey, chapter 8
April 28: Case Study: Zaire, now Congo
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 9
May 1: War in Central Africa
Reading: Ayittey, chapter 10
May 3: The Case of South Africa
Reading: Martin & O'Meara, chapter 21
NOTE: PAPERS ON AYITTEY DUE
May 5: Review session
FINAL TAKE-HOME TEST (due May 5): Read one of the following: Wole Soyinka, Open Sore of a Continent (selections); Nadine Gordimer, House Gun; Nelson Mandela Speaks (selections); J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace; Granta special issue on Africa.
FINAL EXAMINATION: MAY 12, 9:00 a.m.