| CODE | HST2034 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Africa: Milestones in the Continent's History | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | History | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit offers an exploration of African history, focusing on the continent's diverse socio-political structures, cultural developments, economic transformations, and interactions with global forces from antiquity to the contemporary era. Through a combination of lectures and research activities, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of Africa's rich historical tapestry and its impact on the modern world. Students will gain a foundational understanding of Africa's vast geographical landscape, characterised by diverse ecosystems that have shaped its societies over millennia. They will explore the continent's ethnic diversity and linguistic richness, highlighting the intricate cultural mosaic that spans across regions. The study-unit will address key historiographical debates, such as the portrayal of Africa as a “Dark Continent” and the ongoing discourse between external and internal perspectives on African history. It will also examine the sources that historians rely upon to reconstruct Africa’s past, including oral traditions, archaeological findings, and early written records, emphasising how each source contributes to a nuanced understanding of African heritage and historical development. Study-Unit Aims: - To provide students with a thorough understanding of the major historical periods, events, and movements that have shaped Africa; - To develop the ability to critically analyze historical sources and narratives related to African history; - To foster an appreciation for the diverse cultures, languages, and societies within Africa; - To contextualize Africa's history within broader global historical processes and interactions; - To enhance research skills mostly through engagement with secondary sources. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify and describe key historical periods and events in African history; - Analyze and interpret the social, political, and economic factors that have shaped Africa's development, and compare and contrast different African societies and their unique trajectories; - Effectively communicate their historical analyses through written assignments, understand and appreciate the diversity of African cultures and societies, and contextualize Africa's history within broader global processes and interactions; - Develop critical thinking and analytical skills by engaging with complex historical narratives, foster sensitivity towards African societies and histories and assess the impact of historical events on contemporary African societies and global relations; - Gain a comprehensive and critical understanding of African history, and; - Cultivate an appreciation for the continent's diverse and dynamic historical narratives. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Enhance their ability to critically assess historical narratives and sources; - Improve their research skills, including source evaluation and historiographical analysis; - Enhance their written and oral communication skills tailored to academic discourse; - Be able to conduct comparative analyses across different African regions and periods; - Increase their cultural awareness and sensitivity towards African societies and histories. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Ehret, Christopher, The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800, 2nd edn. (Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press, 2002). - Frederick Cooper, Africa since 1940: The Past of the Present (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002). - Gray, Richard, ed., The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 4, from c. 1600 to c. 1790 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1975). - lliffe, John, Africans: The History of a Continent (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007). - Nugent, Paul, Africa Since Independence: A Comparative History, 2nd edn.(London, Palgrave MacMillan, 2012). - Oliver, Roland ed., The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 3, from c. 1050 to c. 1600 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1977). - Parker, John, ed., The Great Kingdoms of Africa (London, Thames and Hudson, 2023). - Parker, John, Reod, Richard, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Modern African History (Oxford, Oxford university Press, 2013). - Reid, Richard, A History of Modern Africa: 1800 to the Present (Oxford, 2009). Supplementary Readings: - Fage, John D. ed., The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 2, from c. 500 BC to AD 1050 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1978). - Falola, Toyin and Steven J. Salm, eds., African History and Culture before 1900, 2nd edn. (Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2019). - Flint, John E., ed., The Cambridge History of Africa, Vol. 5, from c. 1790 to c. 1870 (New York, Cambridge University Press, 1976). - Freund, Bill, The Making of Contemporary Africa: The Development of African Society Since 1800, 3rd edn. (Macmillan Education UK, 2016). - Gomez, Michael A. African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2018). - Hunwick, John, O. Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa'di's Ta'rikh al-Sudan down to 1613 (Leiden, Brill, 2003). - Levtzion, Nehemia, and John F.P. Hopkins, eds., Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History (Princeton, NJ, Markus Wiener Publishers, 2000). - Levtzion, Nehemia, and Randall Pouwels, eds., The History of Islam in Africa (Athens, Ohio University Press, 2000). - Lovejoy Paul, Jihad in West Africa during the Age of Revolutions (Athens, Ohio University Press, 2016). - Lovejoy, Paul. Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa (New York, Cambridge University Press, 2011). - Pearson, Michael N., The Indian Ocean (London, Routledge, 2003). - Robinson, David, Muslim Societies in African History (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004). - Thornton, John, Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400-1800, 2nd edn. (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998). |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Joan Abela (Co-ord.) Simone Azzopardi |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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