Course Description
Examination of the history of Muslim Africa. The rise and spread of Islam as well as the European conquest and occupation. Examines issues of race, gender, and slavery and requires students to analyze primary sources and historical debates in formal essays.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will read and write substantially more than is
required of undergraduates. Students will write short weekly
essays on primary and secondary sources and discuss them in a
seminar setting, and also write an article-length final essay.
Athena Title
ISLAM IN AFRICA
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
Week One- Introduction to the Course and African History Week Two: African History, Religions and Theory African History and Samuel Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilizations’ Introduction to Islam in Africa: Week Three: The Quran and Shariah Law Introduction to Islam Analyzing the Quran Week Four: The Spread of Islam in Africa Trade and the Early Muslim Expansion in Africa The Kingdom of Ghana Week Five: The Geographers and Islam in Medieval West Africa The Kingdom of Mali Racism and Ibn Khaldun’s Theories of Race Week Six: Mysticism and Gender in Islamic West Africa Mysticism and Sufism in Africa Songhay and the Griots Week Seven: A Griot’s view of Gender and Slavery in Songhay The Griot’s View of Songhay The Fall of Songhay Week Eight: The Cleric’s View of Songhay A Cleric’s View of Songhay A Chronicler’s View: Timbuktu & Songhay Empire Week Nine: Early European Imperialism in Islamic Africa Napoleon and the French Invasion of Egypt Egyptian Resistance and Al-Jabarti’s Chronicle Week Ten: Imperialism and Orientalism The Occupation Collapses Orientalism and Writing History Week Eleven: Sufism, Jihad and the Shadow of the West Debating ‘Jihad’ in West Africa Islam & Social Formation Week Twelve: Islamic Identity on the Eve of European Conquest Introduction to Senegal and Mauritania Islam and Colonialism in Senegal and Mauritania Week Thirteen Fourteen: French Colonialism and Islam in West Africa Accommodation and Islamic Legitimacy The Four Shaykhs of Senegal and Mauritania Week Fourteen: Between Resistance and Collaboration Analyzing Accommodation Islam, ‘Jihad’, and Servility in Yambo Ouologuem’s Bound To Violence Week Fifteen: Islam, Tradition, and Westernization Love and Servility in the Time of Colonialism Colonialism and Collaboration Week Sixteen: Dualities of the Post-Colonial Era Westernization and Double Consciousness
Syllabus