The African history sub-field of our program focuses on sub-Saharan
Africa from approximately 1500 to the present. Our students are those
whose primary interest is Africa, and others with a secondary interest
in, for example, the trans-Atlantic slave trade and/or European
colonialism, with an eye towards gaining a non-"Western" teaching
competency. The African history curriculum is focused on developing a
critical knowledge of precolonial states and societies; religious
movements that blended existing beliefs with those of Islam and
Christianity; slavery and the trans-Saharan, trans-Atlantic, and Indian
Ocean slave trades; European colonialism and its far-reaching
consequences; anti-colonial resistance and nationalist politics; gender
and sexuality in Africa; pan-Africanism; and the ongoing challenges of
the postcolonial present, particularly focusing on issues pertinent to
understanding development, democratization and globalization. The
program works closely with Africanists affiliated with the African
Studies Committee of the Program in African American and African Studies.
![[ Graduate Program ]](/images/pagetitle-graduate.jpg)
The African history sub-field of our program focuses on sub-Saharan
Africa from approximately 1500 to the present. Our students are those
whose primary interest is Africa, and others with a secondary interest
in, for example, the trans-Atlantic slave trade and/or European
colonialism, with an eye towards gaining a non-"Western" teaching
competency. The African history curriculum is focused on developing a
critical knowledge of precolonial states and societies; religious
movements that blended existing beliefs with those of Islam and
Christianity; slavery and the trans-Saharan, trans-Atlantic, and Indian
Ocean slave trades; European colonialism and its far-reaching
consequences; anti-colonial resistance and nationalist politics; gender
and sexuality in Africa; pan-Africanism; and the ongoing challenges of
the postcolonial present, particularly focusing on issues pertinent to
understanding development, democratization and globalization. The
program works closely with Africanists affiliated with the African
Studies Committee of the Program in African American and African Studies.