Course Syllabus
History 10B: Africa Since 1800
Spring 2018
Instructor William H. Worger
Teaching Assistants:
Michael Dean mikefzdean@ucla.edu
Lori De Lucia lori.delucia@gmail.com
David Spielman dawit7@ucla.edu
Madina Thiam mthiam@ucla.edu
Amber Withers abison12@ucla.edu
Maia Woolner maiawoolner@ucla.edu
Hughlin Boyd hughlinboydr@gmail.com
Introduction
10B focuses on the history of sub-Saharan Africa (that is, Africa below the southern margins of the Sahara desert) from around 1800 to the present. The course takes a thematic approach since it would be impossible to provide comprehensive coverage to a continent which is the second most populous in the world and which consists of 54 sovereign countries. The aim of the course is to engage you in learning about some of the major developments that have taken place in sub-Saharan Africa during the past two centuries, and especially to get you to think and evaluate the ways in which historical change has an impact on contemporary society.
In engaging in the study of Africa you will learn how to understand the wide variety of ways in which people interact over time, how they organize their diverse societies, particularly economically and politically, and how all these societies, despite widely held assumptions and stereotypes to the contrary, constantly change over time. You will also learn how to carry out research utilizing the extraordinary resources that we have at UCLA and throughout all campuses of the UC system, in the form of specialist librarians, extensive hard copy collections, and almost limitless online sources; how to carry out that research in a focused and effective manner; and how to use your original research to argue a point of view in an authoritative and professional way.
Course goals
In this class I would like you to be able to learn about and acquire a combination of ideas, information and skills. In particular I would like you to:
- Develop an interpretative understanding of economic, political, cultural and social change in African societies during the past two centuries, with attention paid especially to the diversity of societies on the continent.
- Be able to identify general processes of change over time throughout the continent as a result of such processes as imperialism, conquest, colonialism, anti-colonialism, independence, economic dependence, authoritarianism and democracy.
- Be able to present a coherent analysis of an historical issue from Africa in a way that relates to contemporary American concerns/interests/engagement with Africa especially as expressed/found in the news media.
- Be able to evaluate the ways in which historians identify and use evidence.
- Be able to evaluate the ways in which historians write and research a convincing historical essay/paper/article.
- Understand fully the scholarly apparatus used by historians – primary and secondary sources, footnoting/citation, bibliographies, “Chicago style” – all the items that are expected of academic scholarship.
GE and Diversity credit
Completion of History 10B enables you to fulfill two of the requirements for graduation from UCLA, first that you demonstrate an understanding of the foundations of the cultures and societies in which we all live and second that you gain some understanding of diversity. Here are summaries of the two requirements that this class fulfills:
GE credit, Foundations of Culture and Society
Courses in this area introduce students to the ways in which humans organize, structure, rationalize, and govern their diverse societies and cultures over time. The courses focus on a particular historical question, societal problem, or topic of political and economic concern in an effort to demonstrate how issues are objectified for study, how data is collected and analyzed, and how new understandings of social phenomena are achieved and evaluated.
Diversity Credit
The College diversity requirement is intended to help students better understand the perspectives of others whose histories, experiences, cultures, and social conditions may differ from their own.
Frames of difference include but are not limited to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, age, language, nationality, citizenship status, and place of origin. Diversity courses are designed to provide students with the analytical skills needed to develop critical and reflective perspectives on difference within both domestic and global spheres, and to prepare them to function, thrive, and provide leadership in multicultural, multiethnic, transnational, and interconnected global societies.
Students in the College satisfy the diversity requirement by completing one course from a faculty-approved list of diversity courses. The course must be taken for a letter grade, and passed with a grade of C or better (a grade of C- is not acceptable). The course may also satisfy a general education (GE), major or minor, or elective course requirement.
Workload
History 10B is taught during Spring 2018 as an online class. What that means in practice is that you will do a significant amount of work reading required texts (including online documents) viewing films, viewing taped lectures by Professor Worger, and participating in online activities, especially via PIAZZA. You will meet online in real time via ZOOM for a weekly 50-minute discussion section with a teaching assistant who is familiar with the teaching of African history.
Tasks
During the quarter you will complete a number of different tasks, all asking you to utilize different scholarly skills and to learn how to present your ideas in an effective fashion. These tasks will include a weekly in-class multiple choice test assessing your understanding of the required materials that you will have read or viewed the previous week, weekly regular blog postings and online conversations, and bi-weekly (approximately) written assignments evaluating news media, describing fieldwork resources on the UCLA campus, a 1,000 word essay using original sources, a popular history project, a map assignment, and a final take home exam in the form of an essay which you will submit online in 11th week. All your work will be submitted online through CANVAS with clear and strict deadlines established.
Grading
Your grade for the class will be based on a cumulative score for the work which you submit online. If you do not submit work by the set deadline you will not earn points for that piece of work. Therefore it is to your benefit to get work completed in a timely fashion. You will also be able to keep a clear record of your score throughout the quarter and get a good idea of the grade that you will earn for the class.
| Piazza posting (weekly deadline 11pm Sundays, except week 1) | 10 |
| Quizzes (weekly deadline 11pm Thursdays) | 20 |
| News story assignment (deadline 11pm Saturday week 2) | 5 |
| Fieldwork assignment (deadline 11pm Saturday week 4) | 5 |
| First essay assignment 1,000 words (deadline 11pm Saturday week 6) | 10 |
| Popular culture assignment (deadline 11pm Saturday week 8) | 5 |
| Map assignment (deadline 11pm Saturday week 9) | 10 |
| Section/Discussion (WEEKLY) Attendance and participation | 20 |
| Take home final essay 1,500 words (deadline TBD week 11) | 15 |
| TOTAL POINTS | 100 |
Grading scale
A+ 95-100
A 90-94
A- 85-89
B+ 80-84
B 75-79
B- 70-74
C+ 65-69
C 60-64
C- 55-59
D 50-54
F 0-49
Required texts
Required texts listed in order of use. Please note that other than the Worger & Clark, and Boahen texts, all the other titles are instantly available in electronic versions from Amazon. All the books are available in the ASUCLA bookstore, and can also be ordered as new or second hand copies via ASUCLA or directly from such online retailers as Amazon.com and Bookseller.com. You can compare the prices of any in-print and many out-of-print books at both Bookseller.com and at isbn.nu.
Make sure you obtain your own copies of all the required texts as soon as possible. The weekly quizzes require that you have done all the required reading. If you have not completed the weekly readings, then your grade will suffer. In order to provide some lead time, the required readings for weeks 1 and 2 ONLY are posted online in pdf format.
William Worger and Nancy Clark, Africa and the West (paperback edition ONLY), volumes 1 & 2, available from the ASUCLA bookstore
Adu Boahen, African Perspectives on Colonialism (1989), available from the ASUCLA bookstore
Ngũgĩ wa Thiongo, Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir (2011), available from the ASUCLA bookstore, kindle edition available from Amazon
Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (2016), available from the ASUCLA bookstore, kindle and audible editions available from Amazon
Multiple copies of all the books are on two-hour reserve in Powell Library.
Course organization
One of the big differences between a face-to-face class and this online class is that there will be continuous interaction between yourself, your classmates, the instructor and the teaching assistants. You will be expected to interact regularly with the instructor, TAs, and your peers in weekly assignments, participation exercises and discussions. These activities will keep you intellectually engaged with the subject matter and with each other.
The class is organized in learning modules, and each learning module includes different sets of assignments that you will complete independently and interactively with your classmates.
Assignments will be due as follows
Piazza/blog posts are due each Sunday @ 11pm
Quizzes are due each Thursday @ 11pm (no quiz week 1)
News story assignment is due module 2, Saturday @ 11pm
Fieldwork assignment is due module 4, Saturday @ 11pm
Essay one is due module 6, Saturday @ 11pm
Popular culture assignment is due module 8, Saturday @ 11pm
Map assignment is due module 9, Saturday @ 11pm
Final essay/exam is due module 11, TBD @ 11pm
All deadlines are firm. Only medical excuses for late submission will be considered. All assignments will be posted at the beginning of the quarter and you can complete them at any time before the due dates for each. Except, quizzes must be completed in the order in which they are posted and within a 30-minute time frame for each.
Required reading
Each weekly module will have a combination of assigned readings from the textbooks, links to PDFs of primary documents when needed, and links to online documentaries. The required reading has been kept to a manageable length to that you can get it all done. Please complete the readings BEFORE your weekly discussion section (which have been scheduled mid week onward in order to ensure that you have time at the beginning of each week to complete all tasks).
Writing
Writing is an essential skill of historians. You have to be able to write in a clear, concise, and effective manner if you are to communicate your ideas to a wide audience. Since there are a number of writing assignments in this class I would like to draw to your attention to university resources at UCLA where you can get advice and assistance. These offices are staffed by advanced students, who are proficient writers themselves, and who understand well the practices of certain disciplines such as History and the Social Sciences in general. Their aim is to help you in every way possible with your writing. Always feel welcome to call on the staff in these offices and don’t wait until the end of the quarter. Students enrolled at other UCs will find similar offices on each of their campuses.
1. History Writing Center located in A61 Humanities. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 10AM to 6PM and Friday from 10AM to 3PM. The center will open its doors on the Monday of week two. http://www.history.ucla.edu/academics/undergraduate/history-writing-center
2. Undergraduate Writing Center. The Undergraduate Writing Center is a free service for all UCLA students. We provide one-on-one appointments at our 5 locations: A61 Humanities, Social Science Satellite, The History Writing Center, Rieber Hall 115 and Powell 238. http://wp.ucla.edu/wc/
General writing resources.
Thesis Statements [Workshop Powerpoint]
What Is A History Paper? [Workshop Powerpoint]
Steps for Writing a History Paper
Research and citation links
Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition, online)
ESL Resources
Course Summary:
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