The Modern World, Volume 1: Civilizations of Africa
Africa is a vast continent. The United States could easily fit into the Sahara, and there would still be room on the continent for China, India, New Zealand, Argentina, and half of Europe. It is a place of great ethnic and linguistic diversity. The land is home to several thousand different ethnic groups, and more than 800 languages are spoken there, including Arabic, native languages such as Swahili, Zulu, and Hausa, and European languages such as English, French, Portuguese. Africa’s history is as complicated and varied as its geography and people. Two of the world’s first great civilizations—the Egyptian and the Kush—arose in Africa thousands of years ago.
Students will discover the ancient markets of Africa by exploring Zanzibar, the ancient Swahili commercial hub off the coast of Tanzania that helped feed the West’s demand for ivory and spices, and investigating the bustling port town of Lamu, an island off the Kenyan coast. Then it’s off to Djenne in the heart of Mali, where, in this historic center of business, politics and art, merchants and their customers continue to exchange goods and opinions.
Between 1894 and 1905 the question of the Chinese Empire's future development, its survival even, was the most pressing overseas problem facing the Great Powers. The frantic 'scramble for Africa' and the often more intense drama of the 'Eastern Question' notwithstanding, it was the 'China Question' that had the most profound implications for the Powers.
Out of Africa is a memoir by Isak Dinesen, a nom de plume used by the Danish author Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke. The book, first published in 1937, recounts events of the seventeen years when Blixen made her home in Kenya, then British East Africa. The book is a lyrical meditation on Blixen’s life on her coffee plantation, as well as a tribute to some of the people who touched her life there. It is also a vivid snapshot of African colonial life in the last decades of the British Empire. Blixen wrote the book in English and then translated it into Danish.
“When talking about personal success, I like to ask four questions. Why? Why not? Why not you? Why not now?” Why not acquire the means to travel first class through life, to see the Mona Lisa first hand, to swim the crystal waters of the Bahamas, to sample the food in Paris or Africa? Why not do it all? There’s really nothing like a view from the top.
