History 241 - Beyond Francafrique: Franco-African Encounters in Historical Perspective

This course examines how France and Francophone West Africa have shaped each other throughout the past three centuries. Beginning with the French Atlantic of the eighteenth century, the course traces Franco-African encounters through informal and formal colonial rule, decolonization, and the postcolonial period. It closes by examining current controversies over race, literature and museum rights engendered by this complex history. Students will gain a deep historical understanding of contemporary issues, giving them the capacity to think widely about social divisions, power asymmetries, and debates surrounding identity and belonging that de-center the American experience.