And in both the interracial struggle against racism gave rise to some of the most important people and events in their histories. At the same time, the differences between the two countries cannot be ignored. Course materials include music, movies and videos, as well as biographies, autobiographies, and current scholarship. In exceptional circumstances and with the permission of a faculty member any student may undertake a rigorous program of independent study designed to explore a subject not currently being taught or to expand upon regular offerings. Independent Study projects may not be used to replace regularly scheduled classes.
Enrollment is open to majors or non-majors.
We will begin this course by exploring various ways of understanding familial and gender relations, as both Africans themselves and social scientists have imagined them. We will then focus on how African men, women and families have participated in, influenced, and been transformed by various processes in African history, including slavery, migration, urbanization, colonial rule, legal change and the development of the postcolonial state. Family and gender history incorporates the analytical questions and tools of history, anthropology, political economy, and sociology. Students can expect to read at least one book a week for the course. Most Americans are familiar with slavery only as it developed in the Old South in the decades before the Civil War.