HISTORY AND INSTITUTIONS OF AFRICA

Course objectives

The course - provides the student with knowledge and understanding of the methodological and critical-problematic aspects of the Discipline as well as application issues; proposes area and sectoral perspectives in which research projects relating to the Discipline are active or can be activated; shows the variability of the fields of interest within which disciplinary skills can be applied (descriptor 1); - develops the student's autonomous ability to relate what has been learned with other SSDs: historical, literary, artistic, cultural, economic, political, historical-religious disciplines, etc. (descriptor 2); - enables the student to use the acquired knowledge and the specific learned language in view of the so-called "transversal skills" (autonomy of judgment, communication skills, descriptors 3-5).

Channel 1
GIACOMO MACOLA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The History of Africa from 1700 to the present This survey course is meant to introduce students to the key dynamics of sub-Saharan African history during the past three centuries. The module covers three different but closely related chronological periods: the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. In their study of the pre-colonial period, students will familiarize themselves with the changing nature of African internal slavery before and after Abolition and the nineteenth-century reconstruction of political authority in the face of economic and military challenges. The colonial period forms the second section of the course. Here, students will gain an understanding of the modalities of the colonial conquest, African resistance, the creation and operations of colonial economies and the socio-cultural transformations brought about by European rule. The study of the colonial period will end with an analysis of African nationalisms and decolonisation. In the final part of the course, students will develop an understanding of the challenges faced by independent African nations. The nature of the post-colonial African state will be explored alongside such topical issues as the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the Rwandan Genocide, the Great Lakes Crisis and the African AIDS epidemic.
Prerequisites
Not applicable
Books
---
Frequency
Optional, but recommended
Exam mode
---
Bibliography
---
Lesson mode
---
GIACOMO MACOLA Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
The History of Africa from 1700 to the present This survey course is meant to introduce students to the key dynamics of sub-Saharan African history during the past three centuries. The module covers three different but closely related chronological periods: the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial eras. In their study of the pre-colonial period, students will familiarize themselves with the changing nature of African internal slavery before and after Abolition and the nineteenth-century reconstruction of political authority in the face of economic and military challenges. The colonial period forms the second section of the course. Here, students will gain an understanding of the modalities of the colonial conquest, African resistance, the creation and operations of colonial economies and the socio-cultural transformations brought about by European rule. The study of the colonial period will end with an analysis of African nationalisms and decolonisation. In the final part of the course, students will develop an understanding of the challenges faced by independent African nations. The nature of the post-colonial African state will be explored alongside such topical issues as the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the Rwandan Genocide, the Great Lakes Crisis and the African AIDS epidemic.
Prerequisites
Not applicable
Books
---
Frequency
Optional, but recommended
Exam mode
---
Bibliography
---
Lesson mode
---
  • Lesson code1023729
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseCultures and Religions
  • CurriculumCurriculum unico
  • Year1st year
  • Semester2nd semester
  • SSDSPS/13
  • CFU6