Syllabus: African History to 1800
John Aerni-FlessnerThis course attempts the impossible! We will study the history of a continent from well before recorded history to 1800! We will not, of course, be covering "everything," but will be looking at the major themes in African History during these time periods in an attempt to understand the histories of peoples and places on the continent. We will examine geographic regions like Egypt and West Africa, as well as thematic topics such as food production, the development of iron, the spread of languages, Islam in Africa, and start of the slave trade to illuminate the early history of this vast and diverse continent. In this class, we will also explore how history is created, drawing on historical documents as well as insights from other academic disciplines.
