HIS 433 Religion & Politics in Eastern Africa
This course uses local histories and contemporary scholarship to explore the religious, political and intellectual history of eastern Africa. It provisions four modules, with each illuminating a distinct aspect of how communities have used religion to complicate centralizing politics (precolonial kingdoms, literacy and dissent, gender, postcolonial state). Using eastern Africa as our context, this course is designed to equip students to engage in rewarding, analytic field research. Through cultural immersion and modular learning, students critically engage with local communities, acquiring the necessary historical and anthropological skills to critically explore Africa's sophisticated social and moral landscapes.