Africa
Africa Past & Present Podcast
The podcast could serve as a useful tool for Africa experts to stay up-to-date on scholarship, for professors in other areas to broaden their knowledge of Africa and establish relevant connections, and for students to engage in analysis of “texts” beyond the written word.
Livingstone Online
While the site is primarily dedicated to digitising the famed British explorer’s works, Livingstone Online is far more than a mere repository of primary sources.
A History of the World in 100 Objects
Overall A History of the World in 100 Objects is a great resource to teach world history through visual culture in an accessible and succinct format for both school and college-level classes.
Africae tabula noua
This standard map of Africa came from a popular Atlas in the late sixteenth century.
Digital Archive: International History Declassified
An extensive repository that collects declassified archival records from all over the world, the Wilson Center's Digital Archive: International History Declassified is an essential resource for scholars, educators, and students interested in international history.
Kilwa Map Illustration
This illustration shows the trading city state of Kilwa or Kilwa Kiswani on an island off the Swahili Coast in East Africa (modern Tanzania), which flourished between the 12th and 15th century.
Excerpt from Ibn Battuta's Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-1354
This source comes from the travel book of Ibn Battuta (1304-1369), a Moroccan Berber scholar and explorer.
Long Teaching Module: Trade and Religion in the Indian Ocean Network, 1100-1500
Global trade is a central aspect of the contemporary world, but trade was also important in pre-modern eras.
Short Teaching Module: Christianity and Slavery in the Kingdom of Kongo, 1480s-1520s
Portuguese missionaries brought Christianity to West Africa in the late fifteenth century. They had their greatest success at conversion in the Kingdom of the Kongo, a powerful state that was never conquered in the early modern period.
Crucifix (Nkangi Kiditu)
This 17th-century brass Kongolese crucifix was based on European models, but transformed by the local artisan who made it. In the center is Jesus, but with large hands, flattened feet, and African facial features, including protruding eyes that convey spiritual connection.