Instructor: Elizabeth Thornberry
thornb@stanford.edu
Office Hours: Monday 1-3
TA: Yan Slobodkin
yans@stanford.edu
History 145B: Africa in the 20th Century
This course will introduce students to the major themes of African history during the colonial
and postcolonial eras. We will ask questions such as:
How and why did European states colonize almost all of Africa in a few decades?
How did the experience of colonialism transform African understandings of ethnicity, culture,
gender, and nation?
What were the limits of state power in colonial Africa?
Why have so many Africans converted to both Christianity and Islam in the past
century?
Why have African cities grown so rapidly since 1950, with what effects?
How have African states and populations related to the rest of the world since decolonization?
We will work together to answer these questions through lectures and the discussion of a variety
of primary and secondary source readings.
Class Meetings: The class meets three times per week: twice as a lecture, on Mondays and
Wednesdays, and once for a discussion section. We will meet in the Friday timeslot for a review
session before the final exam, and as needed to make up work during the semester. Class participation is encouraged at all meetings, and it is expected during discussion sessions. You should
come to section having done the reading and having thought about how it relates to the subjects
we have been covering in lecture during the week.
Assignments: Every student must pass a map quiz in order to pass the class. During the second
class meeting, I will distribute a map of Africa with a list of places that you should be able to
identify. The quiz will be given the next Monday. Students who get less than 70% of the terms
correct must retake the quiz until they pass - I will give the quiz after each susequent class until
everyone has passed.
There will be two exams in this course, as well as a final paper. The first exam will be a takehome exam in consisting of three essay questions. I will post the questions on Coursework at
noon on Saturday of week 5. Exams will be due before the first class of week 6. You may
submit them either through the dropbox in Coursework or by bringing a hard copy to class. You
may consult readings for the class while preparing your answers, but the questions will require
integration of a wide number of topics, so do not count on being able to do the relevant reading
after you have received the exam! Expect to spend about 3 hours per question writing your
answers.
The final exam will be administered during the exam period allotted by the Registrar. It will be
three hours, and will consist of identifications, short answer questions, and one essay. I will be
handing out sheets with possible identification subjects during each lecture--these are also very
useful for spelling unfamiliar names in your notes! We will schedule a review session for those
who wish to come during the week before for the exam.
The final paper will be due the Monday after our last class, submitted through the dropbox in
Coursework or by leaving a hard copy in your TA’s mailbox in the History department before 4
pm. The paper must be based on analysis of primary source material. In week 7, you will turn in
a one-paragraph description of your paper topic. We will discuss the guidelines for this paper in
more depth later in the class.
Students are responsible for understanding and complying with the Stanford Honor Code. For
more details, please see http://judicialaffairs.stanford.edu. Students with disabilities should
contact the Office of Accessible Education immediately; that office will then provide you with
the appropriate documentation to bring to me, so that I can make any necessary and appropriate
accommodations.
Grading: Grades will be based on a the midterm exam due in week 6 (20%), final exam (30%),
final paper (5% for initial statement of topic, 30% for final draft) and participation in section
(15%). More information on the standards for grading exams and papers will be distributed in
class when we discuss the assignments. Participation includes attendance, evidence of having
fully prepared for the day’s class, and willingness to contribute your ideas to the class discussion.
Life happens, so everyone is credited with one free absence from section—no excuses necessary.
After that, you can expect your class participation grade to drop by 10% for each absence.
Exceptions to this policy will be made only in the case of serious & documented extenuating
circumstances. If you find speaking up during discussions difficult, please come to office hours
with me or your TA as soon as possible so that we can discuss strategies to help you work on this
important skill.
Required Texts:
Amadou Hampete Ba, The Fortunes of Wangrin (ISBN: 9780253212269)
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions (ISBN : 9781580051347)
Fred Cooper, Africa Since 1940 (ISBN : 9780521776004)
David Lan, Guns & Rain (ISBN : 9780520055896)
James Ferguson, Expectations of Modernity (ISBN : 9780520217027)
Mahmoud Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers (ISBN : 9780691102801)
Chris Abani, Graceland (ISBN: 9780312423117)
Note one change to the syllabus since books were ordered: David Robinson’s “Muslim Societies
in African History” is no longer a required text.
Week One
March 28: Historical Change in Twentieth Century Africa: an overview
March 30: African History to 1884: a very very brief summary
Section this week will meet in one group on Friday at 11:00 in the lecture room.
Readings for section:
John Iliffe, Africans: The History of a Continent, Chapters 7-8 (Coursework)
Map quiz on Monday, April 4!
Week Two
April 4: Guns, Drugs, and the Bible: Colonizing Africa from 1884-1914
April 6: Resistance, Collaboration, Accommodation: African Responses to Colonialism
Readings for section:
A. Adu Boahen, “Africa and the Colonial Challenge” in UNESCO History of Africa, Vol VII
(Coursework)
Jeffry Herbst, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control, Chapter 3 (Coursework)
John and Jean Comaroff, Of Revelation and Revolution, Chapter 4,
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/stanford/docDetail.action?docID=10286144
Week Three
April 11: Colonialism and the Environment
April 12: Indirect Rule and Customary Law
Readings for section:
Martin Chanock, Law, Custom, and Social Order--excerpts (Coursework)
Frederick Lugard, The Dual Mandate in Tropical Africa--excerpts (Coursework)
Amadou Hampete Bâ, The Fortunes of Wangrin.
Week Four
April 18: The Africanization of Islam and the Islamization of Africa
April 20: From Christian Missions to African Churches
Readings for section:
Robin Horton, “African Conversion,” Africa 41:2 (April 1972), 55-72.
Humphry Fisher, “Conversion Reconsidered: Some Historical Aspects of Religious Conversion
in Black Africa,” Africa 43:1 (Jan 1973).
JDY Peel, “The Pastor and the Babalawo: The Interaction of Religions in Nineteenth Century
Yorubaland,” Africa 60:3 (1990).
Week Five
April 25: Gender, Sexuality, and Reproduction
April 27: Urbanization and Changing Forms of Labor
Readings for section:
Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions.
Lisa Lindsay, “Shunting Between Masculine Ideals: Nigerian Railwaymen in the Colonial Era,”
in Andrea Cornwall, ed., Readings in Gender in Africa (Coursework)
Fred Cooper, On the African Waterfront--excerpts (Coursework)
Midterm Exam Posted on Coursework April 30, Due in Class May 2.
Week Six
May 2: African Experiences of the World Wars
May 4: The Rise of the Developmental State
Readings for section:
Fred Cooper, Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present, chapters 1-4
Myron Echenburg, The Tirrailleurs Senegalais in French West Africa, chapters 3, 6-7 (Coursework)
One paragraph statement of topic for final research paper due in Section.
Week Seven
May 9: Nationalist Movements and Liberation Struggles
May 11: Decolonization and its Aftermath
Readings for section:
Terrence Ranger, “Connexions between Primary Resistance and Modern Mass Nationalism in
East and Central Africa,” Journal of African History 9:3 (1968)
David Lan, Guns and Rain: Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe.
Fred Cooper, Africa since 1940, chapters 5-8
Week Eight
May 16: South Africa: From Afrikaner Nationalism to ANC Rule
May 18: Military Leaders and Single-Party States
Readings for section:
Charles Van Onselen, The Seed is Mine - excerpts on Coursework.
Week Nine
May 23: Structural Adjustment and the Politics of Poverty
May 25: Globalization, AIDS, and Cultural History since 1980
Readings for section:
James Campbell, Expectations of Modernity
Chris Abani, Graceland
Week Ten
May 30: Memorial Day, No class
June 1: Conflict, Genocide, and Democracy
Reading for June 1 meeting (we will discuss this during our regularly scheduled lecture): Mahmoud Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers
Final Paper due Monday, June 6