AFRO3013: Cities and States in Ancient Africa

In this course, students will learn about the nexus between society and the environment, the underlining environmental issues that transformed ancient cities, and the implications they have on the contemporary ecological problems Africa is facing. The continent is endowed with a hugely diverse environment, ranging from desert to equatorial rainforest, as well as diverse cultures. Africa's various natural and cultural environments have played a part in shaping human activities, including agriculture, trade, and technology—which in turn have shaped the nature of the cities and states that have emerged across the continent. Technological innovations such as irrigation have allowed complex societies to develop and grow in an otherwise inhospitable desert climate with limited natural resources. Although the prevalence of animal diseases and all-year-round rainfall restricted surplus agricultural production by affecting the use of animals as a source of draft power and cultivation of cereal crops, advances in technology, including ironwork and adoption of the tropical rainforest crops, facilitated the transformation of the physical environment and emergence of cities and states in the rainforest. The course examines how the nature of early agriculture, the environment, and technology shaped the history of African societies to equip learners with a better understanding of the contemporary social and environmental challenges. It assesses the dynamism in the relation between African societies and the environment over time.

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