Recent international attention has focused on efforts to preserve Africa's shrinking rain forests, to prevent decertification and food shortages in drought-prone savanna and to eradicate epidemics. But how have Africans themselves historically coped with their environments? This seminar will examine the environmental history of Africa, from the origins of settled agriculture to the present. The course will illuminate how Africans have developed creative strategies to contend with a wide variety of dramatically changing environments. We will address how precolonial Africans adapted to living in various ecological zones, such as the Nile River Valley, the Sahara/Kalahari deserts, the savannas and the equatorial rain forest. We will explore the ecological implications of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and also show how European colonizers dramatically altered African ecosystems and thus their social, economic and political relations. Hence we will examine the transformations of African farming, hunting and gathering, and disease by studying colonial policies and practices concerning agricultural production, forestry, game conservation, malaria and sleeping sickness. Finally we will explore contemporary issues of African environments, including toxic dumping and the conflicts between development and conservation. Format: seminar. Evaluation will be based on class participation, five short essays, and a final research paper. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit 19: (expected: 19). This course is writing intensive. Groups C and D