African Environmental Histories
In this seminar we will explore the complex histories of human-environmental interaction on the African continent. Through a variety of interdisciplinary readings – incorporating anthropology, geography, ecology, and cultural and literary studies – we will grapple with the diverse interpretive and methodological challenges of interpreting Africans’ linked social and environmental histories. We will start with a look at how scholars have begun to unravel dominant historical understandings of African pre-colonial ecologies, economies, and cultures. We will then explore how colonial relations shaped conflicts over environmental control and rural ecological change in the 19th and 20th centuries and the legacies of such dynamics in the post-colonial era. Additional readings will touch on such topics as gender relations, rural social networks, landscape memories, and the contested histories of conservation and development interventions. (Counts for HSMT credit) 3 hrs. sem.