HS2O10: The Colonial Experience: Africa, 1879 to 1980

Module code: HS2O10

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Heike Schmidt, email: h.i.schmidt@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Part 2 Options can be either chronological or thematic. Chronological Options will usually take the form of a survey of a particular geographical area or nation over a defined period of one or two centuries. These Options aim to acquaint students with the causes and consequences of continuity and change over the long term in the political, social, economic and cultural systems under study. Thematic Options take key concepts, ideas, or debates in history and study them in a number of different contexts, either geographically or across historical periods. The aim again is to acquaint students with the causes of continuity and change, but this time by a more comparative approach.

This module will:

• Survey the history of British – and also German, Belgian, and French – colonialism with an outlook into its legacy in Africa south of the Sahara from 1879;
• Reflect on how the colonial experience is a concept that needs to be complicated beyond a binary understanding of colonialism as ruler versus ruled by thinking about gender, age, social status, and initiative;
• Consider the rich historiography of Africa and how the debates open broader questions about social and political justice.

The purpose of the module is to develop a sophisticated understanding of social and political justice in relation to colonialism and its legacies in Africa south of the Sahara. Given the nature of the subject, some explicit imagery and language may be found among the course material relating to sexuality and violence.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Have a detailed knowledge of the events through extensive reading in specialised literature
2. Appraise critically the primary sources and historical interpretations of the subject
3. Organise material and articulate arguments effectively in writing
4. Have developed their oral communication skills

Module content

The imposition of colonial rule provided a transformative experience both for the colonized and for the colonizer in large parts of the world. While this is an established fact, the perspective of understanding the world through the brief period of European global political domination at the height of formal empire provides an exceptional challenge to historians and social scientists: how can we think of the world’s colonial past from the 1870s to the late twentieth century without reproducing a Eurocentric, ‘colonial’ point of view? This module examines the broad themes of empire: the imposition of colonial rule, colonial administration, colonial violence, anti-colonial nationalism, decolonization, the gender of empire, and the emergence of the postcolony through the lens of the colonial experience, understood as the encounter between colonizer and colonized. Each week examines one of these themes through primary sources (written, audio or visual) and the relevant historiography by introducing specific case studies. The main questions addressed throughout the semester will be: is there a colonial experience specific to Africa?

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching and learning will be by a variety of methods, which may include:

• Lectures;
• Seminars, which rely on structured group discussion and may also include seminar papers by students, discussion of evidence, team-based exercises, and debates;
• Online exercises, including quizzes and worksheets;
• Discussion boards; and
• Independent study.

Study hours

At least 33 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students may ask for written feedback on an outline of their dissertation plan, up to 2 sides of A4.

Reassessment

Additional costs