79-731 Topics in the History of the African Diaspora
12 units, Carnegie Mellon University
This course examines a series of topics in the development of the African Diaspora and connections between West and West Central Africa, New World societies, and other global societies of Africandescent. In addition to acquainting students with the historiography of the African Diaspora, the course will seek to answer the following questions how do we define the African Diaspora What role do Africans, AfricanAmericans, slavery, the transAtlantic slave trade, and voluntary migration play in its evolution Does continuity or discontinuity characterize the cultures that African descended people have created in the New World What similarities and differences exist between the historical experiences of Africandescended people in different parts of the world What methodological challenges are inherent in researching and writing the history of people of African descent and others around the world that have not left a plethora of traditional historical sources Most importantly, Topics in the History of the African Diaspora seeks to encourage students, whether their major fields are in US, African American, or European history, to develop the comparative and global dimensions of these fields for research and teaching purposes. The course material is by nature comparative and thematic. Each week, the required readings feature studies on a particular theme located in different subregions within in the African Diaspora. However, the course is intentionally designed to have a significant number of US readings, particularly to serve the needs of graduate students studying 20th century US and African American history. It is my hope that these selections will assist students to prepare for their qualifying exams, to teach comparative courses, possibly even to undertake primary research.This course is limited to doctoral students in the department of history, except by written permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: none listed
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