Course Catalogue

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This course will explore the construction of myths about African peoples, cultures, and histories from the first century BCE to the present day. From the Roman scholar Pliny to the nineteenth-century German philosopher Hegel, images and writings have often depicted Africans as homogenous, underdeveloped, non-literate, isolated, and on the "threshold" of world history. This course critiques such portrayals using primary sources, secondary readings, film, and music, stressing the centrality of Africans in global transformations.

10 x 1-hour lectures and 5 x 2-hour seminars over ten weeks as scheduled in MyCampus. This is one of the Honours options in History and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into History, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

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The standard assessments for this course are:

■ Course essay - 3,000-word essay - 60%

■ Online primary source analysis set exercise - 1,500 words - 30%

■ Oral Contribution - 10%

If required, for instance where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, the following alternatives are available:

■ There is no alternative to the essay or analysis, but flexible deadlines can be offered as reasonable adjustments (students should follow the usual process for extensions)

■ Recorded presentation or written script or ppt with substantial notes as alternative to presentation.

Further reasonable adjustments may be provided where necessary. Students are encouraged to consult with the course convenor.

This course aims to:

■ Engage with the historiographical debates concerning the representation of Africa and Africans in global history;

■ Develop a critical understanding of the ways in which Africans have engaged with and shaped the world;

■ Analyse, synthesize and evaluate primary documents and secondary materials;

■ Consider the role of factors such as race, gender and sexuality in shaping misconceptions about Africa.

■ Assess Black artistic and literary criticism in engaging with representations of Africa.

■ Develop key transferable skills, such as analysis, synthesis and argument.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Display an in-depth knowledge of the historical context of Africa's representation;

■ Illustrate the diversity of Africa's peoples and cultures;

■ Analyse the role of race, gender, and sexuality in shaping misconceptions about Africa;

■ Discuss the contribution of Black artistic and literary criticism in challenging such myths;

■ Critically analyse, synthesize, and evaluate primary documents and secondary materials.