Humanitarianism in Africa: A Critical History

Examines two centuries of foreign interventions in Africa in the name of humanitarian principles, from the abolition of the slave trade to the most recent Ebola crisis in West Africa. Explores humanitarianism and how it informs the understanding of poverty, race, and violence; and who gives and receives aid. Scrutinizes the prejudices about Africans embedded within salvation projects and how these campaigns have been part of the larger dynamics of power that have defined Africa’s position in the world before, during, and after the European colonization of the continent. Reflects upon the practical and morally ethical alternatives in a world still shaped by suffering and injustice.

Related Subjects

Offered Spring 2025

Catalog	Subject	Faculty	Level	HASS	Category
21H.106 24.912 21L.008 21W.741 CMS.150 WGS.190	Black Matters: Introduction to Black Studies T 2-5, E15-335	Michel DeGraff D. Fox Harrell Danielle Wood	Introductory	HASS-H HASS-A	CI-H
21H.165	A Survey of Modern African History TR 9:30-11, 1-273	Kenda Mutongi	Introductory	HASS-H
21H.263 WGS.220	Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa F 10-1, 2-103	Lerna Ekmekcioglu	Seminar	HASS-H
21H.266	South Africa and Apartheid TR 1-2:30, 56-154	Kenda Mutongi	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.284	South Asia, the United States, and MIT: Transformative Connections W 11-1, E51-285	Sana Aiyar	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.289	History Near and Dear: Writing Yourself into History TR 11-12:30, 1-273	Marjoleine Kars	Intermediate	HASS-H	CI-H
21H.358 U 21H.958 G WGS.315 G	Colonialism in South Asia and Africa: Race, Gender, Resistance T 11-1, E51-390	Sana Aiyar	Graduate Seminar	HASS-H
21H.S01	Special Subject: The Laws of War in Global History M 2-5, 2-103	Elena Kempf	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.S05	Special Subject: Modern Germany MW 11-12:30, 2-103	Elena Kempf	Intermediate	HASS-H

Not Offered This Term

Catalog	Subject	Faculty	Level	HASS	Category
21H.001	How to Stage a Revolution	Staff	Introductory	HASS-H	CI-H
21H.009	World History and Its Fault Lines Since 1800	Sana Aiyar Hiromu Nagahara	Introductory	HASS-H	CI-H
21H.144 21G.087	Introduction to Russian Studies	Elizabeth A. Wood Maria Khotimsky	Introductory	HASS-H
21H.156 21G.045	Global Chinese Food: A Historical Overview Not offered regularly; consult department	Staff	Introductory	HASS-H
21H.185 12.386 STS.031	Environment and History Not offered regularly; consult department	Staff	Introductory	HASS-S	CI-H
21H.229	The Black Radical Tradition in America Not offered regularly; consult department	Craig Steven Wilder	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.242 21G.322	Frenchness in and Era of Globalization Not offered regularly; consult department	Catherine Clark	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.253 21G.075	Global Chinese Migration, 1567- Present Not offered regularly; consult department	Emma Teng	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.267	Atlantic Slave Revolts	Marjoleine Kars	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.268	Urban History in Africa	Kenda Mutongi	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.281	MIT and Slavery: Research	Craig Steven Wilder	Intermediate	HASS-H	CI-H
21H.282	MIT and Slavery: Publication Not offered regularly; consult department	Craig Steven Wilder	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.283	The Indigenous History of MIT Not offered regularly; consult department	Staff	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.285 STS.025	Making the Modern World: The Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective	Merritt Roe Smith	Intermediate	HASS-H
21H.357	South Asian Migrations	Sana Aiyar	Seminar	HASS-H
21H.361	Echoes of Slavery: Recovering the Histories of Enslaved People	Marjoleine Kars	Seminar	HASS-H
21H.363 WGS.330	Abortion: Global and Interdisciplinary Perspectives (NEW)		Seminar	HASS-H
21H.365	Minorities and Majorities in the Middle East	Lerna Ekmekcioglu	Seminar	HASS-H
21H.383 U 21H.982 G	Technology and the Global Economy	Anne E. C. McCants	Graduate Seminar	HASS-S
21H.385 11.152	The Ghetto: From Venice to Harlem Not offered regularly; consult department	Craig Steven Wilder	Seminar	HASS-S
21H.388 U 21H.988 G	Global Commodities, American Dreams	Megan A. Black	Graduate Seminar	HASS-H