Course Syllabus

Instructor: Prof. S. Smallwood (ses9@uw.edu)

211 Mary Gates Hall

Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm, or by appointment.

Course Grader: Alexandra Ritsatos (aritsat@uw.edu)

Course Description:

This course will introduce you to the history of Africa across most of the second millennium of the Common Era—we will cover roughly 900 years from about c. 1000 CE to the end of the 1800s CE. The period encompasses the rise and decline of powerful kingdoms and city-states as well as the proliferation of less hierarchical chiefdoms and “stateless” societies. Another major theme of Africa’s history in this period is engagement with global trade networks that carried things, people, and ideas across the Sahara Desert and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Our period ends with the encroachment of European colonial rule throughout the continent at the close of the nineteenth century. Many of the modern myths about Africa and Africans emerged in this period, and one of our major goals will be to challenge lingering notions that Africa and its peoples are static and unchanging, primitive and simple, and best understood in terms of racial difference.

Where To Find Important Course Materials

• You can find the full syllabus and course calendar here and information on religious accommodation and other policies here.
• Lecture slides are posted here at the end of each week.
• Primary sources and other materials used in class are posted here each week.