By engaging with histories of development, quantitative economic history, and histories of labor, this course provides an overview of the methodologies and questions pertaining to the economic history of Africa from the 16^th to the 21^st century. Students will gain skills in archival analysis and data analysis of historical sources in order to understand (1) how economic stratification and accumulation functioned in African states and societies from the 16^th century, (2) how the violence of trans-Atlantic slave trade disrupted African economies, (3) how European conquest and colonialism in the 19th and 20th century imposed new constraints and coerced production models on the continent; (4)  how anti-colonial leaders developed new models for economic independence. Themes of the class will include a critical evaluation of slavery, conquest and capital, colonial violence, development and inequality in African contexts.

This seminar explores the history of gender and sexuality in African contexts from the 19^th to 21^st century. It probes the ways gender and sexuality have shaped and been shaped by historical processes (such as models of statecraft and wealth accumulation, slave trades, colonialism, and the ideals of independence). This course delves into the ways historical figures and societies have lived and expressed gender and sexuality at specific historical periods, at times in order to disrupt power structures. The course first investigates these changes by looking at gender and sexuality in African states of the 19^th century, notably through the examples of the Sokoto caliphate and Igbo city states. It then analyzes the ways that colonial conquest and consolidation of European colonial rule affected norms and laws around gender and sexuality in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Finally, the course focuses on the debates about gender and sexuality in the postcolonial period and contemporary legacies.