History 314: Colonial Moment in Africa

The colonial era was a brief period (c. 1885-1990) in Africa’s long and complex past, but it is the era that defines the continent’s major historical periods. In examining the colonial period, we will seek to complicate our notions of resistance and complicity, looking at how Africans negotiated their lives, constantly trying to preserve what mattered most while adapting to the realities of life under imperial rule. For Europeans, Africa was often as much a fantasy as a reality, a playground built on shifting sands of fear and control. Europeans were not omnipotent conquerors, but rather interlopers who had to cajole and reach deals with Africans to achieve results (which were sometimes not what they had intended). Of particular concern is what people thought and learned about each other and how they used what they knew to create policies and regulate interactions. We will investigate theories of colonial rule, the reactions of Africans to imperialism, sites of interaction including the household and the bedroom, and the end of the colonial era. Reading assignments, discussion, a research paper and its presentation to the class are required. Offered every other year.