HST 151 - African Independence & Liberation

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR: Meet general academic requirements HU and DE.
This course will introduce students to histories of anti-colonial movements and processes of decolonization across the African continent, as well as debates about the significance of political independence. A central question of the course will be: to what extent was decolonization in Africa truly realized? European countries continued to exert significant political and economic power in African countries after independence, and African communities have continued to grapple with the global inequities colonialism produced. With close attention to primary sources and African narratives, this course will explore how African intellectuals, artists, political figures, and everyday people shaped the formation of independent African nations-states, debated the meaning of independence from colonial rule, and continued to struggle for liberation in all facets of society. Examining this topic through a variety of angles including politics, economics, gender, and language, this course will provide students with an interdisciplinary introduction to major themes in modern African history. Rather than treating decolonization as a historical period confined to specific dates, this course will approach it as an intellectual and political movement spanning much of the twentieth century into the present day.