History 257 - EARLY AFRICAN HISTORY TO 1800

This course provides a general, introductory survey of African history to 1800. The goal of the course is to provide students with a framework for understanding the political, social and economic history of Africa prior to colonial rule and for appreciating the strategies African peoples employed as they made sense of, accommodated themselves to, and confronted their changing landscapes. Key subjects addressed in the course will include African agricultural development, the introduction of monotheistic religions on the continent, African trade in the Indian Ocean, and the effects of the Atlantic slave trade on West and Central Africa.