The African
Continent:
Arrivals, Departures, and Interactions, 1600-1900
Core 4: Topics in the Modern World
Fall 2002
MW 1:30-3:10
Instructor: Julian M. Murchison
Room: SH 269
Office: SH 346
Office Hours: MW 3:30-4:30 and Tuesday 2:00-4:00, or by appointment
Email: murchjm@millsaps.edu
Phone: Ext. 1437
Contents:
Course Description
Required Texts
Course Objectives
Course Requirements & Grading Policy
Class Policies
Schedule
Full-fledged European colonialism in sub-Saharan Africa began at the end of the nineteenth century. The experiences of colonialism on the African continent during the relatively short period prior to the emergence of independent African states were highly influential in shaping contemporary economic, political, and cultural realities on the continent today. However, contemporary Africa is not understandable simply as a product of, or reaction to, European colonialism. In this course, we will primarily examine the period prior to the advent of official, state-sponsored European colonialism, with a specific focus on how the activities and events in this period created historical legacies that continue to affect various aspects of life on the African continent and elsewhere in the world.
Our examination of this period will be structured around a comparison of three areas on the African continent B (1) East Africa, (2) West Africa, and (3) Southern Africa. We will investigate the histories of societies and cultures in these areas, with a specific focus on how economic relationships affected the historical trajectories of different societies and cultures. In each case, the primary economic relationships between Africans and foreigners could be considered to be based on extraction of natural resources B e.g., ivory, gold, and human beings. We will consider how different individuals and groups responded to these economic relationships on different parts of the continent.
This course has a decidedly historical focus. However, this focus does not imply that we will necessarily be considering history in a linear manner or that we will perceive history to be simply an objective set of Afacts.@ We will begin the course with a novel, Heart of Darkness, that provides an example of a particular European author=s perception of the African continent at the beginning of the twentieth century, the end of our primary period of focus in this course. Then we will move to consider each of our geographical areas of focus in turn. For each area, we will read academic, historical analyses, and a relevant novel or play. As the course progresses, we will be building a knowledge basis for doing creative and analytical historical comparisons. Ultimately, each of you will produce a final project that creatively analyzes a specific comparative case.
Active scholarly interaction among all members of the class will be an integral part of the class. This interaction will involve discussion and peer review throughout the semester.
1) Joseph Conrad. Heart
of Darkness with The Congo Diary. 1995. Penguin: New York.
2) Chapurukha M. Kusimba. The Rise and Fall of Swahili States. 1999. Altamira: Walnut Creek, California.
3) Iris Berger and E. Frances White. Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: Restoring Women to History. 1999. Indiana University Press: Bloomington.
4) Basil Davidson. The African Slave Trade. 1980. Back Bay Books: Boston.
5) J.D. Omer-Cooper. History of Southern Africa. 1994 (2nd edition). Heinemann: Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
6) Buchi Emecheta. The Slave Girl: a novel. 1980. George Braziller Publishers.
7) Peter Abrahams. Mine Boy. 1970. Collier Books: New York.
Reserve Readings:
Ebrahim N. Hussein. Kinjeketile. 1970. Oxford University Press: Dar es Salaam.
This course is part of the Core Curriculum and, as such, is part of the process of honing skills key to analytical and critical thinking. In this course, you will employ and develop the following Liberal Arts abilities:
1) Reasoning B Academic and scholarly endeavor is predicated on well-reasoned and well-informed critique and analysis. All activities in this class, from reading to class discussion to writing assignments, will necessarily depend on and continue to develop your reasoning abilities. You will be asked and expected to develop your own analyses and arguments through complex reasoning as well as to evaluate and to critique the analyses and arguments of others.
2) Communication B Engagement with ideas depends on communication in various forms. You must be able to communicate your own ideas and analyses to others and to respond to the work of your peers and others. In this course, communication will primarily take the form of class discussion and various written assignments. Peer-review and instructor=s comments will help to cultivate communication skills. You will learn to work toward communicating the depth and complexity of your thought in a straightforward, understandable, and thought-provoking manner.
3) Quantitative Thinking B Throughout the course, we will discuss when and how numbers and statistics are useful for critical analysis and when and how we can usefully consider an individual or group to be representative of a larger whole. Class assignments will also require you to engage with information technologies as research tools and as avenues for scholarly exchange of ideas.
4) Historical Consciousness B Whether you are considering Kiswahili as a pan-African language, post-Apartheid Arace@ relations in South Africa, or the nation-state of Liberia, contemporary questions and issues have important ties to events and processes during the historical period under consideration in this class. You will be encouraged and prompted to think about how contemporary realities can be traced into the past and also to consider how a knowledge of the past might help us to resolve contemporary problems.
5) Aesthetic Judgement B By reading novels and other fictional literature, you will engage issues of aesthetics, both in the sense of how a creative work stands on its own and how it fits into a larger historical puzzle. You will also be expected to do your own creative work, including the final project.
6) Global and Multi-Cultural Awareness B Technologies and economies mean that the world today is interconnected on many levels. However, we, in the United States, are often under-informed and unappreciative of the complex and rich histories and cultures of other areas of the world. With its focus on a particular topic and a specific time period, this course introduces you to the history of Africa and the tremendous variety of experiences, cultures, and histories on this vast continent.
1) Attendance and Participation (20%) You are required to attend class and to participate in class discussions and activities. Each of you is allowed two unexcused absences before your attendance and participation grade begins to suffer. Tardiness is disruptive for the entire class and will negatively affect your attendance and participation grade.
In a public folder set up for this class, I will provide review questions concerning each set of readings. You should come to class ready to answer and discuss these questions. If you are able to answer these questions insightfully based on the reading material, you will be prepared to participate in class. Every three weeks you will submit to me via email a self evaluation of your class participation. I should receive your self evaluations by 5:00 p.m. on the date due. These periodic evaluations will prompt you to reflect on your participation in class and assist me in determining your participation grade at the end of the semester.
2) Map Quiz (5%) To begin talking about Africa and its history, we all need some geographical familiarity with the continent. For this quiz, you will be required to fill in a blank map with the names of the current countries and their capitals.
3) Short Analytical Papers (25%) These short analytical papers are designed to get you to engage critically with the readings, lectures, and other materials on a regular basis. These papers should be 900-1,200 words in length. I will provide you with a list of topics for these papers. There are four short paper assignments over the course of the semester. I will drop the lowest of these four grades and average the other three in calculating your final grade for the class.
These papers will be graded primarily with respect to original, analytical, and critical thought. (N.B. These papers should not be book reports or summaries. We will have all read and engaged with the same materials and do not need it summarized). Papers will also be graded for grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. In Week 3 we will devote an entire class period to an in-class paper writing workshop. During this workshop, we will develop ideas about what makes a paper a good paper and create our own grading criteria for these papers.
4) Film Critique Assignment (5%) B During Week 8, we will be watching the film Amistad in class. Following the screening of the film, each of you will be required to do a computer search for a critique/analysis of the film. You will bring a copy of the critique to class, along with a one page summary, explaining the basis for the critique/analysis, whether or not you support the author=s point of view, and why.
5) Final Project (30%) The final project will involve a creative synthesis of the materials covered in class as well as outside materials. For this project, each of you will write about a hypothetical encounter between representatives of two geographically and/or historically distinct groups relevant to the topic of the course. For instance, you might choose to write about an interaction between a East African Aslave@ and a West African slave trader or between an East African trader and a southern African mineworker. You may choose for one side of this interaction to include a representative of a contemporary group of people. The possible combinations are many, and you are encouraged to be creative. I also encourage you to be creative in choosing the format for this project. You may choose to present this final project in the form of letters, diary/journal entries, a journalistic feature story, a play/drama, a short story, or a variety of other formats. You will have to begin thinking about this final project early in the semester. You will be required to submit a short proposal, which you will share with the instructor as well as a group of peers and will receive useful comments on your project at this stage. You will then be required to submit a first draft of the final project. The instructor will provide detailed comments, and you will be paired as peer reviewers to read and to comment on first drafts. The final draft will be significantly revised taking these comments into consideration. You must turn in your final draft along with the first draft with the instructor and peer reviewer=s comments. The final project should be approximately 1,750-2,500 words in length. It should be accompanied by a one-page statement explaining why you chose this particular interaction to present and justifying the project=s overall tenor in light of material covered in the course. You may consult with me about submitting this final paper for inclusion in your writing portfolio.
6) Peer Review (5%) Your comments and suggestions on your peer-review partner=s first draft of the final project will be graded for appropriateness and thoroughness and account for 5% of your final grade.
7) Final Exam (10%) The final exam will consist of a single in-class essay about Mine Boy. I will provide you with a list of questions from which you will choose one to answer in essay form. The questions will ask you to examine the novel in light of previous readings and discussions in this class. Make sure you bring your copy of Mine Boy with you to the final exam.
The Writing Center is offering a workshop entitled AEssay Exams (What makes an essay a good essay?)@on Tuesday, November 5 at 5 p.m. in the Writing Center. This workshop will help you prepare for the final exam in this class.
The dates provided on this syllabus for the submission of assignments are deadlines. You should submit all assignments by the beginning of the class meeting on the date due. You should also keep a hard copy of all assignments and save them on disk for your own records. Late submissions will only be accepted at the discretion of the instructor and, if accepted, will be penalized half of a letter grade (5%) for each day late. If legitimate, unavoidable circumstances require you to seek an extension, make sure you consult with me about an extension as early as possible before the deadline. No work will be accepted after the final exam date.
If you miss class, for whatever reason (i.e., excused or unexcused, including due to late registration), you are responsible for making up any work. Talk to me and fellow students to find out what was covered, get notes, etc. You will not be allowed to make up an exam without a medical excuse or other information that makes it clear you had a valid reason for missing class on that day.
You are responsible for doing all of the reading on time. Read ahead if you can. If a reading assignment is listed for a particular day, that reading assignment should be completed prior to the class meeting on that day. In order for reading to be useful, you must comprehend and engage with the material. Therefore, reading involves more than simply passing your eyes over the text; it involves taking notes and thinking critically about the words on the page. Reading will provide the basis for class discussion and examination of key anthropological topics. You should come to class prepared to answer and discuss the review questions for that day=s readings.
If you have a question about a topic covered in the readings, class, or elsewhere, please do not hesitate to ask me about it. You are welcome to contact me over email or to come to see me in office hours, but I also encourage you to ask questions in class, where your classmates can benefit from your questions.
As students at Millsaps, you have all pledged to abide by the Millsaps Honor Code. I expect you to meet the high standards of academic honesty embodied in the Honor Code. Academic honesty is vital for our intellectual endeavors. Plagiarism and other forms of cheating are acts of dishonesty. If I find that a student has been academically dishonest, college policies require that I report the case to the academic dean for consideration by the Honor Council. Please take your responsibilities under the Honor Code very seriously. You should always submit your own original work for this class and cite all sources upon which you have drawn in developing papers and other projects. I will be unable to grade your work if you fail to provide proper citations. If you have questions about these issues, please see me. The Writing Center will also offer a very helpful workshop on AIntegrating Sources (Documentation)@ on Thursday, October 10 at 11:30 a.m. I encourage you to attend.
If you are challenged with a learning disability, it is your responsibility to register with Student Services and to inform me of any allowances granted by the college. I will be happy to work with you to make sure that we arrange for the appropriate allowances.
Week 1 (8/27/02-8/30/02): Images and Perceptions of Africa
Tuesday (8/27): Syllabus
Wednesday (8/28): Heart of Darkness, ix-xliv, 9-55
Week 2 (9/2/02-9/4/02): Images and Perceptions (cont.)
Monday (9/2): Heart of Darkness, 55-139
Wednesday (9/4): Heart of Darkness, 144-166
*MAP QUIZ*
Film: AVoices of the Forest@
Week 3 (9/9/02-9/13-02): The Swahili Coast
Monday (9/9): The Rise and Fall of Swahili States, 13-42
Wednesday (9/11): In-class Paper Writing Workshop
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY 5 P.M.
Week 4 (9/16/02-9/20/02): The Swahili Coast (cont.)
Monday (9/16): The Rise and Fall of Swahili States, 43-116
Wednesday (9/18): The Rise and Fall of Swahili States, 117-203
Film: ALeopards of Zanzibar@
*SHORT ANALYTICAL PAPER #1 DUE*
Week 5 (9/23/02-9/27/02): Different Perspectives on African History
Monday (9/23): The African Slave Trade, 175-204
Wednesday (9/25): Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, xxvii-lxi
Week 6 (9/30/02-10/4/02): Historical Changes, Rebellion, and Resistance
Monday (9/30): Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1-36
Wednesday (10/2): Kinjeketile
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY 5:00 P.M.
Week 7 (10/7/02-10/11/02): West Africa and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Monday (10/7): The African Slave Trade, 9-94
Film: AAmistad@
Wednesday (10/9): The African Slave Trade, 9-174
*SHORT ANALYTICAL PAPER #2 DUE*
Week 8 (10/14/02-10/18/02): The Slave Trade and the Roles of Women
Monday (10/14): The African Slave Trade, 205-288
*FILM CRITIQUE ASSIGNMENT DUE*
Wednesday (10/16): Women in Sub-Saharan Africa, 63-101
Week 9 (10/21/02-10/25/02): A Different Form of Slavery?
Monday (10/21) B MIDSEMESTER BREAK!
Wednesday (10/23): The Slave Girl, 9-64
*PROPOSAL FOR FINAL PROJECT
DUE*
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY 5:00 P.M.
Week 10 (10/28/02-11/1/02): A Literary Perspective on the Roles of Women
Monday (10/28): The Slave Girl, 65-124
Wednesday (10/30): The Slave Girl, 125-179
Film: ALove in the Sahel@
*SHORT ANALYTICAL PAPER #3 DUE*
Week 11 (11/4/02-11/8/02): Historical Trajectories in Southern Africa
Monday (11/4): History of Southern Africa, xi-xii, 1-34
Wednesday (11/6): History of Southern Africa, 35-81
Week 12 (11/11/02-11/15/02): Southern Africa (cont.)
Monday (11/11): History of Southern Africa, 82-125
*FIRST DRAFT OF
FINAL PROJECT DUE*
Wednesday (11/13): Peer Review Workshop
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY 5:00 P.M.
Week 13 (11/18/02-11/22/02): Mining and Extraction in Southern Africa
Monday (11/18): History of Southern Africa, 126-157
Wednesday (11/20): Mine Boy, 1-60
*SHORT ANALYTICAL PAPER #4 DUE*
Week 14 (11/25/02-11/29/02): Changes in Economics, Family, and Gender Roles
Monday (11/25): Mine
Boy, 61-128
Wednesday (11/27): Mine Boy, 129-184
Week 15 (12/2/02-12/6/02)
Monday (12/2): Film: ASouthern Treasures@ or AIpi Ntombi@
Wednesday (12/4): Conclusions
*FINAL DRAFT OF FINAL PROJECT DUE*
SELF EVALUATION OF CLASS PARTICIPATION DUE BY 5:00 P.M.
FINAL EXAM B Monday, December 9, 9:00am