UB (University of Botswana)

I’m auditing two graduate history evening classes at the University of Botswana, one on precolonial southern African historiography, the other an intro to African economic history. I’ve been reading and writing papers on nineteenth-century ordinances related to slavery and labor, debates on the closing of the frontier, growth of state systems, origins/demise of native people, impacts of debt and globalization, with ecological history and medical history sprinkled liberally throughout. (So yes, you know I’m happy!) I’ve never really studied African history formally, so it’s been great to think about some of these issues from a totally different perspective. It keeps me busy and helps fill what can otherwise be pretty empty evenings in Gaborone.