The African World Histories Classroom

What might a global history class look like if constructed from the perspectives of Africans past and present? Building on the work of African and Africanist scholars, historians, and knowers of the past, this paper suggests some possible themes and pathways of a global world history that focuses on African worldviews and histories. In so doing, it questions the morality and ethical aims of world history as well as the notions of “world” and “history” inherent in current practices in teaching the global past in the United States.  It grapples with both problems and opportunities inherent in the universalization of History, and suggests pathways for a deeper conversation on the globalization of world history.