AIMS The aims of the course are: ➢ to familiarize students with an interdisciplinary approach to the African past, both pre-colonial and colonial and its relevance to understanding the African present. ➢ to provide a Pan-African narrative, considering a range of cases from across the Sahara and Sub-Sahara. ➢ to develop a critical understanding of Africa’s past across a range of key social and cultural themes. OBJECTIVES On successful completion of this course, a student should have an understanding of: ➢ the diversity and socio-historical context of peoples across Saharan and Sub-Saharan Africa in pre-colonial and contemporary times. ➢ major historical debates concerning issues relevant to (amongst others): environment, politics, ethnicity (and its critique), belief systems, and representations of Africa. ➢ the importance of a sound grasp of Africa’s past for the comprehension of its contemporary contexts. LECTURE LIST 1. Representations of Africa (SCD and HNK) – 02.10 2. Ethnicity and the Politics of Belonging (HNK and KW) – 09.10 3. Climate Change, Ecology and Subsistence (MD) – 16.10 4. Belief and Religion (HNK and SCD) – 23.10 5. Political traditions (SCD and Mike Rowlands) – 30.10 *************** Reading week ******************** 6. Slavery and Rights in Persons (SCD) – 13.11 7. Colonialism and Nationalism (Megan Vaughan and Michael Collins) - 20.11 8. The politics of material culture and Performance (HNK and Deborah Posel) – 27.11 9. Settlement and Urbanism: Pre-Colonial innovations and impacts (SCD) – 04.12 10. Histories of mobility (KW and HNK) – 11.12