Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

This course explores the history of African civilizations in each of five geographic regions: Northern, Eastern, Western, Central and Southern. It will focus on topics and issues that were important to the various African civilizations and explore how they interacted with each other; it also encompasses information about the activities of famous as well as ordinary people as they lived their daily lives within the larger framework of cultural and historical realities.

After successful completion of HST 284 students will be able to:

· Use critical thinking to analyze and evaluate aspects of African civilizations: peoples, societies and nations, in discrete geographic
areas and different time periods
· Recognize the historical impact of different groups (e.g. Bantus, Arabs, Europeans, Asians) and beliefs (e.g. Traditional, Christian,
Muslim) in order to appreciate and evaluate the current diversity of societies in modern Africa.
· Communicate effectively in analytical, fact based discussions regarding issues in the history of the continent of Africa.
· Identify culturally-grounded practices, values and beliefs, explain how they influenced the actions of African societies from ancient times
to the modern era and the extent of their impact today.

The SAC expects that instructors will assess student learning throughout the term using a variety of methods. The SAC encourages instructors to consider the following in determining the achievement of course outcomes:

• Analyze primary and secondary sources of information
• Individual or team oral dialogues
• Investigative papers that analyze historical topics or issues
• Assess how civilizations have changed over time
• Participation in, and contribution to, all large and small group discussions and activities
• Quizzes, exams, response papers, and exercises
• Evaluate different interpretations of past events and develop their own
• Associate past events to contemporary times

Course Content Themes

• State formation: the rise and development of political entities
• The role of women
• Cultural continuity and change
• Acculturation
• Political and economic progress
• Developments in literature, art and music
• Conflict and cooperation
• Religions and philosophies
• Leadership

Concepts

• Revolution
• Religious pluralism (belief systems)
• Self-understanding (world views)
• The Diaspora
• Pan Africanism
• Leadership and statecraft
• Colonialism and imperialism
• Historical interpretation
• Resistance

Issues

• Domestic and commercial slavery
• Ethnicity, gender and socio-economic class
• Inter- and intra-ethnic cooperation and conflicts
• Impact of Christianity and Islam
• State-building and empire building
• Cultural evolution
• Colonialism and its impact
• Negritude and other aspects of cultural pride
• The symbiotic relationship between Europe and Africa

Competencies and Skills

• Critical and creative thinking
• Evaluate interpretations of historical events
• Effective communication orally and in writing
• Analyze the causal relationship between two or more historical events
• Connect past and present events
• Problem posing
• Work collaboratively with others
• Clearly articulate thoughts in discussions and other activities
• Close reading of primary and secondary sources
• Select what is important from a large body of material