Module Specifications
Academic Year 2026 - 2027
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Description Before the Berlin Conference of 1884/1885, European powers held small shares of African land, mainly coastal trading posts. There were thriving African empires like Dahomey, Ashante, or the Sokoto Caliphate. Only 30 years later, these empires were gone and European countries, mainly France, the UK, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Germany controlled the vast majority of the African continent. This module explores the history of the European colonization of Africa. It discusses the African empires and other polities before 1885 and their emerging relationship to colonial powers, ranging from armed resistance to cooperation. It investigates European ideas about "effective occupation" and private property that gave Europeans a permission structure for colonization. It explores differences between European approaches to colonization. And it will discuss the lengthy process from League of Nations mandates and United Nations Trust Territories to decolonization, also focusing on the emergence of anti-colonial movements and anti-colonial thought. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Learning Outcomes 1. Understand the major types of African polities before European colonization and their responses to European powers 2. Identify major trends in the history of colonialism 3. Interrogate the legal, economic, political, and ideological contexts in which European colonialism emerged 4. Assess the impact of gender and European social class structures upon colonial ideas 5. Demonstrate an ability to analyse a range of primary sources like newspaper articles, diaries, travel reports, political declarations, legal texts and colonial law 6. Demonstrate ability to independently develop an essay topic and make coherent arguments about a specific aspect of the history of European colonialism in Africa, using a coherent referencing system | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml
Indicative Content and Learning Activities
|
Indicative Reading List | Books: None Articles: None
Other Resources | None
|
| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||