Africa

From the first shots of the First World War to the release of African POWs in Germany in 1945, this course will investigate how Europe's need for manpower and resources fettered Africans and at the same time opened up new opportunities for them to affect their interactions with colonialism and themselves. With forced agricultural production, commercial sex work, and young men sent to battlefronts in Africa and Europe, the World Wars changed Africa and Africans in numerous ways. While the course will address traditional aspects of military history, it will also investigate the social, cultural, and political changes that took place as intended and unintended outcomes on the part of European rulers as well as colonized Africans. May be taken for credit the Indigeneity, Race, and Ethnicity Studies major or minor.

Prof. Woodfork, 4 credits, TTh 2:30-3:50 p.m.

-Fulfills Cultural Pluralism and/or Social Sciences distribution, as well as IRES and Global Studies requirements.

-History major: modern history; Revolution/War/Politics; Social Justice

This course will analyze the diversity of experiences of women in Africa, focusing on how religious practices, colonialism, work, and social class have impacted their lives. We will examine how people construct and reinforce notions of gender and how women function in social systems such as the family. We also will study issues concerning reproduction and the control of the bodies of women and girls. The goal is to restore women to the history of Africa, looking at them not as accessories to the historical process, but as veritable actors and agents of change. A research paper and its presentation to the class are required.

Prof. Woodfork, 4 credits, MW 1-2:20 p.m.

-Fulfills Cultural Pluralism and/or Social Sciences distribution and Gender Studies requirements.

-History major: modern history; Social Justice

This survey course studies the history of Africa's modern period from the precursors to formal imperialism to the post-colonial era. We will examine colonial rule, looking at the ways in which European policies affected African political authority, economic systems, generational and gender dynamics, and cultural and ethnic identities as well as diverse African reactions to these changes. The period of political liberation movements and their results will be studied through the lenses of continued ethnic strife and neo-colonialism. The course is designed for first- and second-year students; previous experience in HIST 218 or an equivalent course is desirable, but not required. Assignments include written examinations, short papers, a map quiz, and a group research project and its presentation to the class.

Prof. Woodfork, 4 credits, MWF 11-11:50 a.m.

-Fulfills Cultural Pluralism and/or Social Sciences distribution, as well as IRES and Global Studies requirements.

-History major: modern history; Cultures & Ideas; Empires & Colonialism; Social Justice