African History Commons^™

Postkoloniale Solidarität: Alltagsleben Von Ddr-Bürgern In Mosambik, 1979-1990, Katrin Bahr

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation examines the everyday life and work of development workers[1] and their families sent by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to Mozambique between 1979 and 1990. I investigate the issues of state and individual solidarity and the interactions of Germans and Mozambicans within the development projects. Since the GDR did not see itself as a colonial power or an heir to Germany's colonial past, it acquitted itself of the charge of being an exploitative imperialist in its foreign policy. From its perspective, it stood side by side in “solidarity” (Solidarität) with its “brother states” (Bruderstaaten) …

Every Step A Novel: Historical Circumstances And Somali American Identity, Haden Griggs

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project is designed to help high school students learn about the experiences, history and identity of Somali men who came to Utah as refugees. It is organized around the oral histories of eight Somali men who live in the Salt Lake City area. They were collected by Haden Griggs in the latter half of 2019. Transcripts and audio recordings for all the interviews are available here.

A paper, analyzing the historical circumstances and variations on Somali identity, is included here for scholarly or instructor use. This project also includes a digital exhibit tracing recent Somali history and contextualizing the …

Practicing Pan-Africanism: West Indians And Governance In Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana., Nicholas C. Mcleod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After gaining independence from England, Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, was transparent in his embrace of the entire African diaspora and actively recruited a number of Pan-African West Indian intellectual-activists, who mentored and advised him as a student in London, to help build Ghana as a Pan-Africanist state. Among these West Indian intellectual-activists were George Padmore, W. Arthur Lewis, T. Ras Makonnen, and Jan Carew. For these West Indians the appeal of Ghana was neither symbolic nor ceremonial, but rather an opportunity to achieve the ultimate objective of the Pan-African movement, a free and self-governed African continent. In …

Kofifi/Covfefe: How The Costumes Of "Sophiatown" Bring 1950s South Africa To Western Massachusetts In 2020, Emma Hollows

Masters Theses

This thesis paper reflects upon the costume design process taken by Emma Hollows to produce a realist production of the Junction Avenue Theatre Company’s musical Sophiatown at the Augusta Savage Gallery at the University of Massachusetts in May 2020. Sophiatown follows a household forcibly removed from their homes by the Native Resettlement Act of 1954 amid apartheid in South Africa. The paper discusses her attempts as a costume designer to strike a balance between replicating history and making artistic changes for theatre, while always striving to create believable characters.

“The Community For Educational Experiments”: The Alliance Israélite Universelle, Gender, And Jewish Education In Casablanca, Morocco 1886-1906, Selene Allain-Kovacs

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Alliance Israelite Universelle (AIU) opened boys’ and girls’ schools in Casablanca, Morocco, introducing ideas of European-inflected modernity and secular education to the local Jewish community. Letters and reports from the founding directors provide insight into the problems, social and practical, they encountered and reveal the ways in which both Moroccan and European gender norms affected this “educational experiment.”

A Cultural History Of Black Musicians In Renaissance Europe, 1500-1700, Jamar Taylor

University Honors Theses

This research project concerning Black Africans in Renaissance Europe is predicated on including Africans into a global history they have largely been excluded from, even though there is ample evidence that proves their cultural influence, in this case, with music. Culture is inextricably linked to the politics of the time. European societies were highly hierarchical, so nothing was approved without the blessing of the elites. In almost every strata of the social hierarchy, music is an important component, from military exhibitions to court and formal events to informal social gatherings. In some European societies, musicians were employed as government officials. …

Time Machine Research And Approach, Tarek Bouraque

Theses and Dissertations

Time Machine is a hybrid documentary that explores the logics of enslavement, colonialism, eurocentrism and their interconnectedness in our globalized world. Mustapha Azemmouri, born in 1502, undertakes a journey to the 21st century to recount his own story of enslavement and exploration, and reflects on a collective puzzle of 500 years of hidden history.

Agency, Identity, And Authority In Rwanda: 1950s Political Rhetoric As A Bridge To Post-Colonial Genocide, Amanda E. Rollinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the Rwandan genocide, Hutu targeted Tutsi and allies. Interpreting this complex event requires examining the late 1950s. Analyzing Tutsi and Hutu in central Rwanda in 1957 improves understanding of political and social context preceding the genocide. This study rejects that the genocide occurred as an inevitable event. Instead, it layers domestic actors with international groups: the White Fathers missionaries; the United Nations; Belgium; and the United States. Analyzing each group and synthesizing their interactions elevates Rwanda’s history from the falsehood of ancient adversaries to a complex, modern narrative. Studying Rwandan rhetoric and responses to it provides an opportunity to …

I Hear You Now, I See You Then, Quinn Hunter

Art + Design Masters Theses

In the research driven project I Hear You Now, I See You Then, I refer to the contemporary and historical erasure of the labor of African American women using research gathered from the southern plantation economy to create an art installation. The objects in this installation are primarily made with artificial hair integrations and utilizing labor intensive methods that are similar to those used to install the hair on the Black body. The objects I make reference the luxury items in the domestic spaces of historic plantation sites that have been re-branded to be used in the wedding /tourism industry. …

Ethiopian Art: Christian Narratives From The Kebra Nagast, Morgan Ellsworth

Theses and Dissertations

King Ezana declared Christianity as Ethiopia’s state religion in 330 C.E. Ethiopia was the first country to mint a coin with the symbol of a cross. The Christian religion was established as a political move to strengthen economic ties with the Mediterranean world. Christianity has been used to keep Ethiopia independent. The Ethiopian artworks discussed here depict themes based on Christian narratives with multiple groupings of similar motifs and identical religious iconography. The Ethiopian art market still creates these motifs today to spread a repeated political message of the country’s pride, history, and represent their rulers’ legitimacy. I explore these …

An Actor's Process In Bridging The Gap Between First-Generation And Multi-Generational African-American Identities., Mutiyat Ade-Salu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reflects my process assimilating into the role of Chelle in the production of Detroit '67 at the University of Louisville. Although there have been instances of actors crossing lines of gender, nationality, race, and even sexuality, to perform roles in contemporary theatre, discussion about generational differences is almost non-existent. Through historical research, first-hand interviews, and conventional acting methods, I explore the world of my role, searching for spirituality, authenticity, and identity. Additionally, I explain my use of The WAY Method ®, a process I began creating in 2014 to help actors be clear with who they are before …

Carceral Extractivism, Livelihood Strategies, And “Acting Right” In The U.S. South, Edward L. Bullock

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Mass incarceration and its effects are well documented and carceral privatization is hotly contested on moral and economic grounds. This dissertation examines the local effects of carceral privatization in the U.S. south in historical context. Tallulah is a small, rural predominately African American town in northeastern Louisiana that endures high rates of poverty, unemployment, and low educational attainment. It also hosts four private prisons operated by LaSalle Corrections, LLC. Two primary and overlapping questions guide the research. 1) How has an history of carceral entrepreneurship and mass incarceration impacted the way persons and communities create livelihoods and imagine futures, and …

Inkatha, Propaganda, And Violence In Kwazulu-Natal In The 1980s And 90s, Michael Macinnes

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

The 1980s and 1990s marked the beginning of the end of Apartheid in South Africa but before the first fully democratic election in 1994, the KwaZulu-Natal region was being torn apart by a low level civil war. This conflict was not the black majority fighting against white minority, but part of so-called black on black violence. One side was the African National Congress (ANC) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) and on the other was Inkatha, secretly backed by the Apartheid state. Originally a Zulu nationalist liberation movement aligned with the ANC, Inkatha separated with the ANC over issues of …

Black Historical Erasure: A Critical Comparative Analysis In Rosewood And Ocoee, Christelle Ram

Honors Program Theses

This thesis provides a comparative analysis of Black Historical Erasure in both the cases of Ocoee and Rosewood. Ocoee and Rosewood were both cites of racially motivated programs that led to the exodus of entire African American communities- in both cases however, the events were erased. Utilizing various post-modern texts, this project ultimately analyzes erasure as a force that upholds ideologies of white supremacy. Utilizing the theories of Antonio Gramsci and Karl Marx, this thesis analysis the modus operandi of violence that resulted in erasure as well as the repercussions of erasure. This thesis ultimately indicates that in Rosewood and …

I Hope My Black Skin Don't Dirt This White Tuxedo, Luis A. Vasquez La Roche

Theses and Dissertations

I Hope My Black Skin Don't Dirt This White Tuxedo is a series of works--sculpture, installations, and performances--that explore themes of shame, failure, commodity, ephemerality, ritual, resilience, erasure, race, and death. The research and interest in these themes stem from a page of the Trinidad and Tobago Slave Registry. I use the research that surrounds this document to highlight different moments in history, in my personal life, and to imagine near futures.

The Manliness To Defend Themselves: Race And Civilian/Indigenous Warfare In New Mexico, 1598-1898, Ian Anson Lee

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

"The Manliness to Defend Themselves: Race and Civilian/Indigenous Warfare in New Mexico, 1598-1898," explores three-hundred years of warfare between the civilian population and Native peoples in New Mexico. For centuries the regimes of New Spain and Mexico had utilized New Mexican civilians to battle independent Indians. A culture of warfare had subsequently emerged among the civilian population. As the United States proclaimed sovereignty over New Mexico, military officials attempted to put an end to the practice of warfare by civilians, yet would be hard-pressed to do so. The ideas of Anglo American officials concerning race and citizenship conflicted with the …

“Communism May Be The Only Alternative If America Walks Away”: The Reagan Administration And The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act Of 1986, Abby Townend

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

“That New Africa Is Ready To Fight Its Own Battles": Kwame Nkrumah, The United States, And The Quest For A Modern Ghana, 1957-1966, Godwin Gyimah

Masters Theses

This project examines the United States-Ghana relationship and how the relationship transformed Ghana, 1957-1966. African leaders such as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah had declared: "That new Africa is ready to fight its own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his affairs." Despite the non-alignment philosophy, Ghana was not neutral regarding the West and East blocs rivalry. The thesis argues that it was through the United States' government and private firms' contributions that Ghana was able to achieve the mark of a modern nation through industrialization, universal education, and the expansion of international trade economy. …

Killing Within Communities: What Causes Collective Violence, How We Remember It, And Why It Matters, Laleh Ahmad

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to understand motivations for collective violence beyond the traditional explanations of ethnic hatred or racism. Often, historical scholarship focuses on ethnic hatred and racism, and elaborates on the processes by which those notions and hatreds came to be. Scholarship in the political science realm often gets past the hatred hypothesis but does not explore historical myths and legacy formation as they contribute to past and current violence. This thesis employs a case study approach to understand collective violence that is global and takes multiple cultures and religions into account. The case studies were chosen thematically, and each …

Fruit Of The Spirit: An Investigation Of How French Colonialism Trans-Nationally Created The Creolized Black Dance In New Orleans, Called Secondline, Through The Lens Of An Original Treme Babydoll., Micah Theodore

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

(Re)Reading Fanon: Tracing Revolutionary Negotiations Within The Algerian Colonial Dialectic, Nina Zietlow

Scripps Senior Theses

A critical rereading of Fanon within the Algerian colonial context.

Mau Mau Blasters: The Homemade Guns Of The Mau Mau Uprising, James Stoddard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-

The Mau Mau Uprising was a violent anticolonial struggle that took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960. During the Uprising, firearms were extremely difficult for Mau Mau fighters to obtain. The few precision weapons they could acquire came from raided government armories or those found on the battlefield. In order to make up the difference, the Mau Mau leadership turned to resources that were more readily available and relied on the ingenuity of their supporters. The result was a series of homemade firearms manufactured by Mau Mau fighters and sympathizers. This thesis argues that homemade guns were a unique …

Trickle Down Nationalism: Interactions Between Liberal Nationalism And Colonialism In The Raj And Nigeria, Aaryaman Sheoran

CMC Senior Theses

The combination of nationalism and colonialism has remained understudied in academia, despite the important interaction between the two phenomena. European ideas bled over into their colonial empires and began to fill the power vacuum created by colonial enterprises. This study analyzes the impact of British colonialism on the development of national identity in British India and Nigeria.

British influences included large scale economic disruption, cultural reform through ‘westernizing’ the population and abolishing local customs, and creating a new set of institutions to replace traditional power centers. Inevitably, these factors created a nationalist surge across both the Raj and Nigeria, as …

The State And War On Poverty: British Welfare Development And Its Legacies For Malawi, 1930s-1983, Gift Wasambo Kayira

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This dissertation documents the struggles and dilemmas that the Malawian state endured as it attempted to achieve its developmental goals from the 1930s to 1983. It contributes to histories of development by focusing on the interventions both the colonial and postcolonial states made to improve the living standards of African rural communities, the ideas which shaped state programs, and the behavior of the state which such interventions reveal. Scholars typically argue that state policy in Malawi was necessarily destructive and limited the economic progress of the local communities. The state deliberately pursued land, market, and other agricultural policies that constrained …

Growing More Than Coffee: Global Narratives And National Reconciliation Within The Rwandan Coffee Industry, Katie Grandelli

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to understand the Rwandan coffee industry following the genocide of 1994. The two major questions that are asked of the Rwandan coffee industry are the roles that it plays in reconciliation efforts and in global perception. The data examined in this thesis ranges from the marketing strategies of internationally popular coffee brands to an interview at a local coffee shop that specializes in Rwandan coffee products. This research engages in discussions of consumable goods as economic stimulants in post-conflict situations and indicators of neoliberal buying behavior on the part of consumers. Final analysis within this thesis suggests …

Traders And Troublemakers: Sovereignty In Southern Morocco At The End Of The 19th Century, Joseph Campbell Hilleary

Honors Projects

This thesis explores changes in and challenges to Moroccan political authority in the region of the Sous during the late nineteenth century. It attempts to show how the phenomenon of British informal empire created a crisis over Moroccan sovereignty that caused the sultan to both materially and discursively change the way he wielded power in southern Morocco. It further connects these changes and the narrative contestation that accompanied them to the construction of the Bilad al-Siba/Bilad al-Makhzan dichotomy found in Western academic literature on Morocco starting in the colonial period. It begins with an examination of letters between Sultan Hassan …