Modern African History
This semester you had an opportunity to engage in a modern African human rights challenge. Using your specific research as a foundation, write a 3-5
page essay providing solutions to the Human Rights problem(s) you discovered in your research.
Pretend you are one of the “new” leaders in the country (or countries); you are someone looking to foster positive change, create a list of
recommendations (but in essay form) and support it. Use your research finding and the legacies of colonialism, economic and political structures from
class and the textbook (Toyin Falola African History Vol 4&5) as a foundation. Outline in the body of your paper, 5-7 very specific items you would
address to overcome the issues. Flush out the challenges, opportunities, and recommendations in detail. In your writing use and define 7-10
terms/keywords from the textbook and lecture notes as you write your narrative (i.e. neocolonialism, imperialism, you have to decide how and when to
weave these terms into your paper). Underline these terms in your paper. Cite your definition origin preferable from textbook or lecture notes (or
scholarly articles/books). Organize your ideas. Revise and revise.
In your introduction make sure you describe an overview of your research and the problem (This should come directly from your research paper, i.e.
Human Trafficking in South Africa is a modern challenge because it violates the rights of the captives, pull the information from your research
introduction). Finally, in your conclusion, consider what we have learned about African historiography and address why human rights in Africa is
often ignored, or is it? Explain. What can we do as a society to address this issue? Cite your sources using Chicago style (if you use our textbook,
you can cite something like, Falola, Africa, Vol.#4 or 5, and page number). Use the textbook and class notes when possible to support your work.
Organization, clarity, and content are all important.