HIST 325
AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS
HIST 325. African Civilizations. (C)
Three hours lecture (3).
Prerequisites: Three hours of history at 100 level.
Examines Africa's social, cultural and economic institutions as they have evolved and changed through the ages. Topics include man's evolution in Africa, state formation, the slave trade, early European contacts and colonialism.
The course is treated as an upper-level survey since most students take the course with little detailed or intimate knowledge of the region. Given the size and diversity of the continent, a thorough treatment of the whole region can not be achieved in a one-semester course. Careful use of case-studies is employed to reflect larger issues. All of the following topics are dealt with although with differing degrees of emphasis.
The basic methodology of the course is lecture, but students are given ample opportunity to ask/answer questions in class. Student-teacher interaction is encouraged. In addition slides and videotapes are employed to provide the student with a visual impression of the region and its historical problems. Constant reference to maps is made. Students are provided with excerpts from primary documents to evaluate and analyze and may be asked to write short assessments of their findings. Students will work during the semester individually and in groups on a variety of projects. These may include an in-depth study of one ancient African civilization or modern nation-state. The student may be responsible for giving an oral presentation or writing a final report. Reading for the course varies but encompasses a common core of materials, which may be historical, biographical or literary in content, as well as individualized selections.
1). Students will be able to discuss and analyze basic historical background of the continent.
2). Students will be able, through a case study and from a visual introduction to the continent, to move away from the basic stereotypic & monolithic perceptions of the region, permitting them to appreciate its ethnic, cultural, & linguistic diversity.
3). Students will be able to form their own conclusions about the region's problems and potential and to better assess and analyze news-reporting about the region from the perspective of an individualized case study.
4). Students will be able to understand from the perspective of another culture how that culture views the world around it and why it has made the historical choices it has, based upon an in-depth study of one such culture.
Assessment of student performance is based generally upon two take home exams that are graded rigorously upon both content and style. In addition students are graded on a map quiz and on periodic short writing assignments involving assessment of visual or documentary materials. Students are also graded on both their oral and written presentations as related to their case-study civilization or country.
The course draws students from a wide variety of disciplines.
Date Action Reviewed by
January 2005 Reviewed and Approved by Charles McClellan