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Mar 10, 2025
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Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog 2023-2024 [ARCHIVED CATALOG] See drop-down menu above to access other catalogs.
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HIST 402 - Southern African History(3 credits)
Prerequisite: Any two of the following: HIST 111, HIST 112, HIST 131, HIST 132, HIST 221, HIST 222; or consent of instructor
Home to some of the world’s oldest human fossils, southern Africa has been called a “cradle of humankind.” This has also been a deeply contested place in world history. Farmers and herders settled difficult landscapes, giving rise to flourishing, and competing, medieval polities. Early modern European explorers staked their claims on the region’s land and resources, alternately aligning and warring with African leaders. In the 19th century, discoveries of vast mineral reserves heightened global interest in the region, transforming southern African people’s lives. Over the 20th century, Africans fought against colonialism and apartheid, shaping today’s countries of South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. Students gain experience working with diverse primary sources – from archaeological records and oral sources, to African and European textual archives, to music and art – and reading wide-ranging historical scholarship to make sense of this region’s contested past. This course fulfills either an Area 7 (Traditional World) or Area 8 (Modern World) requirement in history. Offered alternate years.
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