Welcome to H-AfrTeach, a network whose mission is to provide a stimulating forum for considering the possibilities and problems involved in teaching about Africa. It is intended for a wide audience, encompassing educators, students and others with an interest in teaching about Africa at all educational levels.
The network has been fairly inactive since its transition to the Commons, but we're in the process of reviving it! In the next few weeks, we hope to launch syllabus and assignment collections, followed by textbook reviews from instructors in the field (for more, please see our new editor introduction).
If you have any materials you'd like to contribute--sample syllabi, successful assignments, discussions of useful texts and documents, or other resources--please feel free to post a discussion or email the editors at editorial-afrteach@mail.h-net.msu.edu. If you are interested taking a more active role, see our call for editors here.
I would like to suggest that my book, *African Women: Early History to the 21st Century* (Indiana University Press, 2017) be assigned or recommended (sorry for the self-promotion, it is necessary but uncomfortable!). The books you list (and most general histories of Africa) are very limited in their inclusion of women's history. Iliffe, for instance, even in the updated 2017 edition, has only about a dozen references to women in a 300-page book.
I like the Khapoya book for for a general introduction, especially for adult ed. I like the idea of a specialized African history text and the idea of an Africa in world context book. For niche users, both the _African History: A Very Short Introduction_ and _African Politics: A Very Short Introduction_ are very handy (and inexpensive). Maps are critical, cf, www.afriterra.org.
Brooks Goddard
I really like Robert Harms' Africa in Global History. I've used it for two semesters and I've really liked it.
Toja Okoh (Loyola University, Maryland)
I've been very happy with Shillington in both introductory undergrad courses and more recently Adult Education courses. He has updated it several times, most recently as the third edition of 2012.
Robert E. Smith
Hi Everyone,
I am looking for suggestions of the best textbook to use for a 200 level Africa survey course. Any suggestions? Have you used any of these and what do the students tend to think of them?
Iliffe, Africans
