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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | African History in British Universities: Past, Present and Future |
Author: | McCracken, John |
Year: | 1993 |
Periodical: | African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society |
Volume: | 92 |
Issue: | 367 |
Period: | April |
Pages: | 239-253 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Great Britain |
Subjects: | African studies history education history History and Exploration Education and Oral Traditions |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/723498 |
Abstract: | In this Presidential Address delivered at the biennial conference of the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom held at the University of Stirling, 10 September 1992, the author reviews the development of African History in British universities. First was the pioneering decade of the 1950s when a miscellaneous group of male historians, virtually none of whom had any previous experience in Africa, were propelled into what has been described as the academic partition of the continent. With the 1960s came the boom in the international economy, the expansion of British higher education and the not unrelated creation of the network of institutions which continue to dominate much of the character of African History in British universities today. The 1970s developed as an era of consolidation, of Paradise Gained, which was followed by Paradise Lost in the 1980s. The author argues that African History in Britain stands today at a crossroads capable of advancing if it grasps the opportunities available but also in danger of shrinking into insignificance if it fails to adapt. Strengthening links with African universities is one part of the way forward, the other is in ensuring popular involvement. Notes, ref. |