HIS 137H History and Cultural Heritage in Africa

Students learn about the complex historical and contemporary dimensions of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization program for cultural heritage worldwide. Examines UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with a focus on Africa, particularly Senegal. Far from being static monuments or relics of distant times, these sites represent living landscapes where historical narratives, cultural practices, and political realities intersect. Nominated UNESCO places of heritage in Senegal are approached as a lens to examine the continent's deep and diverse pre-colonial past and its ongoing negotiations with memory, identity, and global recognition.