COURSE OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

• Describe pre-colonial African states and societies
• Analyze the relationship between Africans and Europeans
• Understand the origins, nature, growth, and effects of the Atlantic slave trade
• Evaluate the causes and effects of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade

OER COURSE NARRATIVE

In addition to the course objectives outlined above, the OER / ZTC learning materials will include a compilation of resources that will analyze the historical development of one or more non-U.S. societies (Africa) and the significance of one or more recent major movements that have shaped that society. Other topics will include Trade and Commerce in Africa from 1500 – present, African History and Culture before the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, Africa’s relationship to the diaspora including both continental Africans living in the diaspora and people of African Descent in the Americas. The OER that students will be involved in will be an additional assignment on 1619 – 2019. This period in history, which is absent from most higher education curriculum recognizes 400 years of the beginning of the Trans – Atlantic slavery in the Americas and 400 years later marking the “Year of Return”. The need to conduct additional research and bring into lime light the many contributions of Africa, Africans and People of African Descent during these period as well as the many trails and travails of the afore mentioned people around the world in the 21st century 400 years after the first set of Africans arrived in Jamestown, VA is of utmost importance in world history.

The other rationale behind designating this course as an OER / ZTC is that most current course textbooks are very expensive for many students to afford leaving them to miss turning assignments in, not come to class or participate in class discussions. The instructor will supplement all course requirements with the following OER / ZTC learning resources below which will also be posted on each week’s discussion folder on Black Board. The learning resources are provided FREE of charge to students to enhance their learning and will include a list of selected readings from journals, periodicals, links from history web resources and specific documents such as the “HR Bill 40 – The African Americans Bill” on reparations, restorative justice and human rights. Additional resources on African History and Diaspora Studies as they relate specifically to the Trans – Atlantic Slave trade and its current day continuous systematic racism and its traumatic effects in the lives of black peoples around the world which are usually not richly elaborated in many textbooks or in the curriculum when the history of Africa or people of African descent is being discussed.

Photo credit: photo taken by Prof. Remi Alapo during the annual Tribute to the Ancestors of the Middle Passage commemoration event on Coney Island June 2018.

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