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DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
TRENT UNIVERSITY
HIST 2401H/IDST2401H: Modern Africa Before 1880
Fall 2010
Peterborough
Instructor:
Nadine Hunt
Office Location:
Lady Eaton College, S101.7
Email:
[email protected]
Office Hours:
Telephone:
2:00-3:00 pm
705-748-1011 ext. 7349
Course Description:
A survey of the continent’s history from earliest pre-colonial times to the eve of European colonial
conquest, focusing on diversity and change in African societies. Themes include the development of
pre-colonial technology and trade, state formation and Africa’s incorporation in the growing world
economy.
Course Format:
One two-hour lecture and one one-hour seminar weekly
Lecture: Fridays, 9:00-10:50 am
Seminars: Fridays, 12:00-12:50; 1:00-1:50
Course Evaluation:
1. Research Proposal = 10%
2. Book Review = 15%
3. Reflection/Reaction Papers = 10% (2 papers at 5%)
4. Research Paper = 20%
5. Tutorial Participation= 20%
6. Exam = 25%
LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL RECEIVE A PENALTY OF 5% PER DAY. EXCEPTIONS ON
MEDICAL OR PERSONAL GROUNDS WILL BE GRANTED WITH PROPER
DOCUMENTATION.
1. Research Proposal: Students will choose their final research essay based on a weekly reading topic.
Students select a modern African country, writing their essay on the precolonial period (before 1850).
The proposal will comprise a brief description of the topic, research questions to be answered, and a
thesis statement. The bibliography will include at least 10 secondary sources. The proposal is to be 2-3
double-spaced pages with a bibliography of 1-2 pages.
Due date: 8 October 2010
2. Book Review: Students will write a book review on Women’s Authority and Society in Early EastCentral Africa. The book review is to be 1000 words or 4 pages in length (double-spaced). The review
will describe the main arguments of the book, analyse the primary and secondary sources used by the
author, assess the author’s methodology and conclude with a personal assessment of the book.
Guidelines for Book Reviews
1) Intent: What are the major objectives (themes/arguments/ideas) of the book?
2) Sources: What are the sources used: primary and/or secondary?
3) Methodology: a) How do the sources used affect the major themes, arguments, ideas advanced?; b)
What techniques (quantitative history, oral history, etc.) does the author use to bring out the most of
the sources; c) Was this the most appropriate method?
4) Effectiveness: Does the author communicate his/her themes, arguments, and ideas across
successfully?
5) Your Informed/Educated Opinion: Why is your response to this book (i.e., the author’s themes,
arguments, and ideas) positive OR negative?
Due Date: 5 November 2010
3. Reflection/Reaction Papers: To encourage you to reflect on what you are learning in the course, you
are required to turn in a “personal reaction paper” during the semester. Where interesting or
provocative issues are raised, I will read select papers as anonymous in tutorial. Each paper is to be 1
page in length or 300 words.
Due Dates: 22 October and 26 November 2010
4. Research Paper: The essay will be based on the Research Proposal. Students will write a research
paper between 10-12 double-spaced pages (2,000-2,500 words) in length. The essay should aim to be a
finished draft. It must include proper citations, see the Chicago Style Manual.
Due date: 10 December 2010
5. Exam: TBA
University Policies
Academic Integrity:
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic
offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set out
in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself –
unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s Academic
Integrity website to learn more: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
Access to Instruction:
It is Trent University’s intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a disability
and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed in this course,
the student should contact the Disability Services Office (BL Suite 109, 748-1281,
[email protected]) as soon as possible. Complete text can be found under Access to
Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
Please see the Trent University academic calendar for University Diary dates, Academic
Information and Regulations, and University and departmental degree requirements.
Last date to withdraw from Fall term half courses without academic penalty in 2010-11 is
November 12, 2010.
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Required Texts:
Christine Saidi, Women’s Authority and Society in Early East-Central Africa. Rochester: Rochester
University Press, 2010. (Trent University Bookstore)
Graham Connah, Forgotten Africa: An Introduction to its Archaeology (London: Routledge, 2004).
(available online)
Journals (available online)
History in Africa
Journal of African History
Journal of World History
Journal of World Prehistory
Signs: Journal of Women, Culture, and Society
MyLearning: This course uses MyLearning (WebCT)/Blackboard.
Course Schedule:
Sept. 17: Historiography, Archaeology and African History
Graham Connah, Forgotten Africa: An Introduction to its Archaeology, 1-19
Sept. 24: Egypt and Ancient Africa
FILM: The Africans: The Nature of a Continent
Graham Connah, Forgotten Africa: An Introduction to its Archaeology, 57-75
Oct. 1: Demographic Changes and Internal Migrations
Colin Flight, “Trees and Traps: Strategies for the Classification of African Languages and their
Historical Significance,” History in Africa 8 (1981): 43-74
Joseph C. Miller, “The Significance of Drought, Disease and Famine in the Agriculturally Marginal
Zones of West Central Africa,” Journal of African History 23, 1 (1982): 17-61
Oct. 8: Islam and Christianity in Africa
FILM – The Africans: New Gods
Paul E. Lovejoy, “The Role of the Wangara in the Economic Transformation of the Central Sudan in
the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,” Journal of African History 19, 2 (1978): 173-193
RESEARCH PROPOSAL IS DUE IN LECTURE
Oct. 15: Agricultural Systems and the African Environment
F. Marshall and E. Hildebrand, “Cattle before crops: the beginnings of food production in Africa,”
Journal of World Prehistory 16, 2 (2002): 99-143
Stanley B. Alpern, “The European Introduction of Crops into West Africa in Precolonial Times,”
History in Africa 19 (1992): 13-43.
Oct. 22: The Precolonial Economy: African Kingdoms and States
D. N. Beach, “The Mutapa Dynasty: A Comparison of Documentary and Traditional Evidence,”
History in Africa 3 (1976): 1-17
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C. C. Wrigley, “The Problem of the Lwo,” History in Africa 8 (1981): 219-246
Oct. 29 – READING WEEK
Nov. 5: Labour Systems and Slavery in Africa
Martin Klein, “Studying the History of Those Who Would Rather Forget: Oral History and the
Experience of Slavery,” History in Africa 16 (1989): 209-217
Linda M. Heywood, “Slavery and its Transformation in the Kingdom of Kongo: 1491-1800” Journal
of African History 50, 1 (2009), 1-22
BOOK REVIEW IS DUE IN LECTURE
Nov. 12: Women in Precolonial Africa
FILM - Asante Market Women
John K. Thornton, “Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women’s
Political Power,” Journal of African History 47, 3 (2006): 437-460
Nakanyike Musisi, “Women, ‘Elite Polygny,’ and Buganda State Formation,” Signs: Journal of
Women, Culture, and Society 16, 4 (1991): 757-786
Nov. 19: Urban Centres in Pre-colonial Africa
Robin Law, “Trade and Politics behind the Slave Coast: The Lagoon Traffic and the Rise of Lagos,
1500-1800,” Journal of African History 24, 3 (1983): 321-348
Graham Connah, Forgotten Africa: An Introduction to its Archaeology, 101-111 and 125-130
Nov. 26: The African Diaspora in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds
FILM – Trading in Africans: Dutch Outposts in West Africa
Colin A. Palmer, “From Africa to the Americas: Ethnicity in the Early Black Communities of the
Americas,” Journal of World History 6, 2 (1995): 223-237
Richard B. Allen, “The Constant Demand of the French: The Mascarene Slave Trade and the Worlds
of the Indian Ocean and Atlantic during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries” Journal of African
History 49, 1 (2008): 43-72
Dec. 3: Legitimate Commerce and Imperial Africa
George E. Brooks, “Peanuts and Colonialism: Consequences of the Commercialization of Peanuts in
West Africa, 1830-70” Journal of African History 16, 1 (1975): 29-54
Emily L. Osborn, “‘Rubber Fever’, Commerce and French Colonial Rule in Upper Guinée, 18901913” Journal of African History 45, 3 (2004): 445-465
Dec. 10: REVIEW
RESEARCH PAPER IS DUE IN LECTURE
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