History - Africa (HISB)

History - Africa (HISB)

HISB 1140  Freshman Seminar-Africa  (3)  

Freshman seminar. For description, consult the department.

HISB 1290  Semester Abroad  (1-20)  

Semester abroad. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 1300  African Hist To 1800  (3)  

This course examines selected topics in the history of sub-Saharan Africa from antiquity to the period immediately preceding colonial conquest. It provides an overview of historical developments in particular regions, considers the implications of Africa as a unit of analysis, and provides a point of departure for more specialized courses in African history.

HISB 1310  Africa Since 1800  (3)  

This course considers the history of sub-Saharan Africa under colonialism and after: the responses of people to governments very different from those they had previously, changes in African societies, the challenges of the postcolonial period. Topics covered include gender relations, peasant agriculture, wage labor, politics, and development.

HISB 1500  Special Topics  (3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department.

HISB 1890  Service Learning  (0-1)  

Course Limit: 99

HISB 1910  Special Topics  (3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Notes: For special offering, see the Schedule of Classes. Course may be repeated unlimited times for credit.

Course Limit: 99

HISB 1940  Transfer Credit  (3)  

Transfer credit. Consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 2120  History of Western Africa  (3)  

This course is a historical introduction to the themes and events in western and northern Africa from prehistoric times and the peopling of Africa through the advent of Islam; North and West African empires and states in the medieval period; the arrival and departure of European colonial powers; and the re-emergence of independent African states. We will trace topical themes through case studies, exploring the political, cultural, social aspects and the inter-regional dynamics of Saharan Africa.

HISB 2130  History of Southern Africa  (3)  

This course examines southern African history from 1652 to the present. It explores the particular political and cultural patterns which arose in the region as a result of contact and conflict between indigenous African societies and European settler communities.

HISB 2140  History of Eastern Africa  (3)  

This course provides an historical survey of eastern Africa which examines the role of bantu migrations, the rise of state-building in the 17th and 18th centuries and a primary emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. The course highlights the social, cultural and economic dynamics of both African and settler societies as it explores the historical processes of slavery, migrations in the region, the imposition of colonialism, nationalism and the rise of the independent states of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi. We will use primary sources written or created by Africans and others to explore the developments that affected the region in recent history. This course devotes equal time to lecture and discussion.

HISB 2890  Service Learning  (0-3)  

Course Limit: 99

HISB 2910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 3000  Historical Methods:HISB 3250  (1)  

Historical Methods Lab. For description, consult the department.

HISB 3240  Human Rights/Genocide-Africa  (3)  

The notions of human rights" and "genocide" are modern constructions of the twentieth century. What is defined as genocide in the present was simply a good military tactic in previous centuries.  Likewise

HISB 3250  Archiving Africa  (3,4)  

This is an advanced course in historical methods that uses a service-learning component to enhance student understanding of historical materials, archives and how these connect with the larger community. In this course, students will focus in particular on materials related to African history found in New Orleans archives, allowing students to develop an understanding of the historical links between the local community and the continent of Africa. Moreover, students will consider the methodologies used to preserve the various histories of Africa and consider how these methods can be used for other under-represented communities, such as found in New Orleans.

HISB 3890  Service Learning  (0-1)  

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Corequisite(s): HISB 3910.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 3910  Special Topics  (1-4)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 4210  Hist of Development in Africa  (3,4)  

This course explores the concept of "development" as it was brought to Africa by Europeans in the 19th century and how Africans have responded until the 21st century.

HISB 4250  Topics in the History of the Atlantic Slave Trade  (3-4)  

This course will explore the history of the Atlantic slave trade that brought captive Africans as exploitable laborers to North, South, Central America and the Caribbean between the 1500s and the 1800s. This human traffic has long been recognized as foundational for the economic growth of the Americas and Europe, and the making of the modern world. It has also been recognized for its extreme inhumanity, its global reach and its complex effects on the African continent. Course also covers inter-regional slave trafficking within the United States and around Latin America and the Caribbean. The course also addresses this forced migration as a unique process of cultural interaction and cultural change. Sometimes the course will focus more narrowly on specific themes such as the role of gender in shaping Atlantic slave trade history, or the formal and customary and laws and regulations which permitted, regulated and later prohibited this form of human trafficking.

HISB 4890  Service Learning  (0-1)  

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 4910  Special Topics  (1-4)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 5380  Junior Year Abroad  (1-20)  


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 5390  Junior Year Abroad  (1-20)  

Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 6070  Gender in African History  (4)  

This seminar will consider the question of how recent forms of gender theory might be applied to African societies. Readings will include Foucauldian, psychoanalytic, and political theory, as well as historical and ethnographic studies of particular societies.

HISB 6110  Slavery/Emancipation in Africa  (4)  

This course focuses on the legacy of colonialism for key political concepts such as citizenship and freedom. We will consider the construction of categories of difference like race, gender, and ethnicity and look at their changing meaning in the context of colonialism, slave emancipation, and freedom struggles in Africa and elsewhere in the colonial world.

HISB 6910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 6981  Service 20-hours:  (0)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISB 7910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department.