Last modified: 31 May 2022 13:30
This course explores the history of West Africa from the reign of Mansa Musa in the Mali Empire (c.1312-c.1337) to the British annexation of the Kingdom of Benin in 1897. Its key topics include the rise and fall of African states, cross-cultural exchange between Africans and Europeans, religion and Islamic revolutions, the trans-Atlantic and trans-Saharan slave trades (and their profound impact on African societies), and the steady encroachment of European colonialists upon West African societies.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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West Africa is a culturally, politically, and environmentally diverse region with a traceable history over millennia. This course explores the region’s history from the rise and fall of the Sahelian empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay in early and medieval West Africa to the nineteenth-century age of imperialism. We will explore political innovation, the invention and evolution of empire, the rise of Islam, the role of women in shaping political power, regional integration into trans-Saharan and trans-Atlantic trading networks, and the advent of colonial rule and the missionary encounter.
Throughout the course, we will explore West African history through diverse mediums including written texts, oral traditions, art, and the West African collections of the University of Aberdeen Museums & Special Collections. Students will gain a familiarity with analysing early written sources for West African history as well as artworks and sacred objects from West African societies. The course will also broach questions of restitution of West African cultural objects in Western museum collections.
Assessment will include a primary source analysis, an object analysis of one collections item from the University Museums, seminar participation, and a take-home exam.
| Description | Value |
|---|---|
| Possible transportation costs for Museum collections items. Cost TBD. | 0.0000 |
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 20 | Feedback Weeks | 24 | |
| Feedback |
10 days to complete (online) Feedback will be in the form of email notification of marks with comments. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to analyse and critically engage with both European written sources and non-archival sources, situating them in terms of context, genre and argument. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to identify and analyse West African objects in museum collections with reference to secondary literature on West African societies. |
| Factual | Analyse | Understand the chronology of West African history from c.1312-1897 and key themes including state formation, cross-cultural exchange, Islamic revolutions, slavery, and colonialism. |
| Reflection | Analyse | Understand the historical context of current debates regarding cultural restitution and the repatriation of West African objects from Western museum collections. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 | Feedback Weeks | ||
| Feedback |
Feedback will be in the form of email notification of marks with comments; general remarks on class and on MyAberdeen. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to analyse and critically engage with both European written sources and non-archival sources, situating them in terms of context, genre and argument. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to identify and analyse West African objects in museum collections with reference to secondary literature on West African societies. |
| Factual | Analyse | Understand the chronology of West African history from c.1312-1897 and key themes including state formation, cross-cultural exchange, Islamic revolutions, slavery, and colonialism. |
| Reflection | Analyse | Understand the historical context of current debates regarding cultural restitution and the repatriation of West African objects from Western museum collections. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 13 | Feedback Weeks | 15 | |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be in the form of email notification of marks with comments; general remarks in class and on MyAberdeen; and via one, individual face-to-face meeting with each student with feedback on the exercise (and more generally). |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to analyse and critically engage with both European written sources and non-archival sources, situating them in terms of context, genre and argument. |
| Factual | Analyse | Understand the chronology of West African history from c.1312-1897 and key themes including state formation, cross-cultural exchange, Islamic revolutions, slavery, and colonialism. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 17 | Feedback Weeks | 19 | |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be in the form of email notification of marks with comments; general remarks on class and on MyAberdeen; and via one, individual face-to-face meeting with each student with feedback on the exercise (and more generally). |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to identify and analyse West African objects in museum collections with reference to secondary literature on West African societies. |
| Factual | Analyse | Understand the chronology of West African history from c.1312-1897 and key themes including state formation, cross-cultural exchange, Islamic revolutions, slavery, and colonialism. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | Feedback Weeks | |||
| Feedback |
10 days to complete (online) Feedback will be in the form of email notification of marks with comments. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Reflection | Analyse | Understand the historical context of current debates regarding cultural restitution and the repatriation of West African objects from Western museum collections. |
| Factual | Analyse | Understand the chronology of West African history from c.1312-1897 and key themes including state formation, cross-cultural exchange, Islamic revolutions, slavery, and colonialism. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to analyse and critically engage with both European written sources and non-archival sources, situating them in terms of context, genre and argument. |
| Conceptual | Evaluate | Be able to identify and analyse West African objects in museum collections with reference to secondary literature on West African societies. |
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