HIST 350: T and Th 12:30-1:45
AD28, Fall 2004
Prof. Jan Bender Shetler, Goshen College
The study of African History from ancient times to the present with an emphasis on topical studies of land and food, slavery and social reciprocity, and transformations in political authority. The course encourages historical analysis for the purpose of responding positively to pessimistic predictions of Africa’s future and appreciating Africa’s strengths.
2. Guiding Questions
Social History of Labor
2. Guiding Questions
Exams (75 + 75 + 100) 250 points
Papers (2 x 100) 200 points
Map Quiz 10
500 total
Reading questions if necessary 50 points
Reading responses should be no longer than one page, a short paragraph for each question. If people are not preparing the questions and responding in class I will begin requiring you to post them to me two hours before class and I will give points to those who do so, penalty for those who do not. If the discussions go well we will only do this occasionally. You will be expected to hand in reading questions on the days we have discussion groups.
John Sutton, A Thousand Years of East Africa (BIEA, 1990).
Greg Maddox, James Giblin and Isaria Kimambo, Custodians of the Land: Ecoogy and Culture in the History of Tanzania (Ohio U. Press, 1996).
Jan Bender Shetler, Telling Our Own Stories: Local Histories from the Mara Region, Tanzania (Leiden: Brill, 2003).
James Searing, West African Slavery and Atlantic Commerce: The Senegal RiverValley, 1700-1860 (Cambridge, 1993).
David Lann, Guns and Rain: Guerrillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe (U of California Press, 1985)
Other Readings on Reserve in the Good Library and on E-Reserves on-line
You will need to do some investigation into other sources in order to write your papers.
For information on how to read and write for history see the Bowdoin College website, Reading, Writing and Researching History: A Guide for College Students. http://academic.bowdoin.edu/history/WritingGuides/
African Visions of the Past in the Present: Using Primary Sources for African History
This paper provides an opportunity for you to act as a historian in using primary sources to form your own analysis of a particular issue. You will use the written and oral texts in Telling our own Stories: Local Histories from South Mara, Tanzania as the basis for an exploration of a particular issue in African history from the perspective of South Mara history and historians. How do they see and talk about this issue differently from other histories? What does that say both about the particular history of this area and also about the context in which they tell these stories today? Some possible topics to explore include but are not limited to:
Gender Relations
Political Authority
The Colonial Government
Frontier Relations between Hunters, Herders and Farmers
Economic Subsistence Patterns
Relations between Ethnic Groups
Ritual Relationships to the Land
Social Integration of Strangers
Modernization and Development
Spiritual and Religious Beliefs
Kinship and Clans
Wealth and Power
Each paper will contain three parts
Papers should follow the rubric for thesis style history papers posted on Blackboard
Please use Turbian style footnote or endnote references.
The Problem of Political Legitimacy in Africa Today: An African Centered Vision
This paper presents an opportunity to apply many of the African centered concepts we have covered in this class to the problem of political leadership in Africa today. Choose one African political leader since independence and learn something about his life and the times in which he lived. Then try to see how he gained political legitimacy or, in some cases, how he lost political legitimacy. Can you find African concepts or symbols of political legitimacy in the reports about his life? How much was his leadership dependent upon outside legitimacy or force? What was the outcome of his leadership? What does this say about the hope for good leadership in Africa today?
For this paper you must demonstrate that you understand the importance of recognizing the profound problems of leadership in Africa today, both the internal and external causes of those problems, and how an African centered perspective might bring further understanding. In order to do this you have to demonstrate the internal logic of the problem and how it connects to older African cultural, social or economic patterns. It is not enough to declare the problem a result of victimization by outside forces nor to declare the irrationality of African systems. You must choose one leader in one country to analyze. You must demonstrate mastery over the concepts we have covered throughout the semester by citing readings and discussions from class. If you have another idea come see me first.
Papers should follow the rubric for thesis style history papers posted on Blackboard
Please use Turbian style footnote or endnote references.
African History 2004
DATE |
TOPIC |
ADVANCED READING |
READING QUESTION |
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Thursday, August 26 |
Introduction: An Africa centered history |
10 Myths about Africa |
What do we know about Africa? |
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Tuesday, August 31 |
Origins: We all came from Africa! |
On Library Reserve: |
Does African History begin in Egypt? |
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Environmental/Economic History: Food and Famine (East Africa) |
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Thursday, September 2 |
Sources in African History: Artifacts and Languages |
Sutton, A Thousand Years, pp. 1-27 |
How can we learn about history before there were written records? |
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Tuesday, September 7 |
Frontier relations between hunters, farmers and herders |
Sutton, A Thousand Years, pp. 28-56 Study for map quiz |
What kind of interactions took place between herders, hunters and farmers on the early frontier? |
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Tuesday |
Extra Session |
Telling our own Stories, pp. 1-32 |
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Thursday, September 9 |
Oral sources for African History |
Telling our own Stories, pp. 245-285. |
Are oral traditions legitimate historical sources? Why? How can they be used by historians? |
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Tuesday, September 14 |
Demography & |
Telling our own Stories, pp. 33-141, English only! |
What are the characteristics of the particular vision of the past in these oral traditions? |
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Tuesday 8:00 pm |
Extra Session |
Telling our own Stories, pp.143-172 |
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Thursday, September 16 |
Topic: Heterarchy |
Sutton, A Thousand Years, pp. 57-101 |
How/why did different forms of political authority develop in early societies? |
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Tuesday, September 21 |
Topic: The Time of Disasters |
Custodians of the Land, pp. 67-151 |
How did East African Societies cope with famine and ecological disaster? |
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Thursday, September 23 |
Topic: Colonial Environmental Control |
Custodians of the Land, pp. 152-236. |
What changes in the relationship of people to their environment took place with colonialism? |
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Tuesday, Sept. 28 |
EXAM |
Study for Exam |
Exam |
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Social History of Labor: Reciprocity, Slavery and Wage Labor (West Africa) |
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Thursday, September 30 |
African Political Economy |
Searing, West African Slavery, Ch 1, pp. 1-26 |
What kind of political and economic systems existed in this region before the Atlantic slave trade? |
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Tuesday, October 5 |
Slavery in Africa |
Searing, West African Slavery, Ch 2, pp. 27-58. |
What was slavery like in Africa before the Atlantic trade? |
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Thursday, October 7 |
The Atlantic Slave Trade |
Write Paper – Telling our Own Stories |
Paper due |
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Tuesday, October 12 |
FALL BREAK |
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Thursday, October 14 |
NO CLASS |
Searing, West African Slavery, Ch 3 pp. 93-128. |
Why did people in West Africa continue to trade slaves? DUE IN DROP-BOX |
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Tuesday, October 19 |
Slave Society |
Searing, West African Slavery, Ch 4 pp. 129-162. |
What role did women play in slavery and the slave trade? |
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Thursday, October 21 |
Islam and Jihad |
Searing, West African Slavery, Ch 5 pp.163-199 |
What is the role of Islam in bringing about political and economic changes in the 19th century? |
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Tuesday, October 26 |
The Transition to Legitimate Commerce and Colonial Labor |
Library Reserve: |
What changes took place in the transition from slave to “free” labor? |
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Thursday, October 28 |
EXAM
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Study for Exam |
Exam |
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Political History: Authority and the State (Southern Africa) |
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Tuesday, November 2 |
Colonial Partition |
Lann, Guns and Rain, pp. 1-71 |
How was Europe able to establish its rule over a continent in such short time? |
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Tuesday 8:00 pm |
Extra Session Film |
Work on Paper |
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Thursday, November 4 |
The Basis of Political Rule |
Lann, Guns and Rain, pp. 72-117 |
What was precolonial political authority based on? |
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Tuesday, November 9 |
Colonial Resistance Movements |
Lann, Guns and Rain, pp. 121-202 |
Why did the peasants trust the guerillas? |
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Tuesday evening 8:00 |
Extra Session |
Work on Paper |
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Thursday, Nov. 11 |
NO CLASS |
Write Paper on Political Legitimacy |
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Tuesday, November 16 |
Nationalism and Decolonization |
Lann, Guns and Rain, pp. 207-215 |
How was Zimbabwe able to gain national independence? |
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Thursday, November 18 |
The Challenges of Independence |
Library Reserve: |
Paper due |
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Tuesday, November 23 |
Ethnic Conflict and Finding Hope |
Library Reserve: |
What is the root cause of ethnic conflict in Africa today? |
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Thursday, Nov. 25 |
THANKSGIVING BREAK |
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Tuesday, Nov. 30 |
FINAL EXAM |
Study for Exam |
Exam |
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Thursday, December 2 |
NO CLASS |