Blog
What the Griot Said: Teaching Medieval West Africa
A collection of all recent posts about medieval West Africa and a list of resources for teaching.
“Each is the child of his mother”: Historical Imagination and Gender in Medieval West Africa
A discussion of the challenges of teaching gender in medieval West Africa and how we can use historical imagination to help students understand different perspectives.
“In Conformity to Mecca”: Islam and Medieval West Africa, c.1000 - c.1600
A discussion of how to teach arrival of Islam in medieval West Africa.
Monthly Digest: November 2022
Monthly digest for November 2022
Mapping Medieval West African States
A discussion of how to teach the different borders of the medieval West African empires (Ghana/Wagadu, Mali, Songhay)
“Many Kings and Many Mansas”: Teaching the Politics of the Mali and Songhay Empires, c.1200 - 1591
A discussion of how to teach the political structures of the Mali and Songhay Empires.
“The World Knew Happiness”: West Africa and the Afroeurasian Economy, c.1200 - c.1600
A discussion of the economy of medieval West Africa and its role in the Afroeurasian economy
“Men of the Spoken Word”: Teaching West Africa, c.1200 - c.1600
A discussion of the challenges of teaching medieval West Africa in world history courses and how to use voice of the griots as a way to explore multiple perspectives/
A Visual History of the Ottoman Empire
Six snapshots of the Ottoman Empire to show how it evolved over 600 years.
“We Understand the Railway’s Advantages”: Ottoman Railroads and Modernization in 1900
A discussion of teaching the Ottoman Empire around 1900 using Sirkeci railway station in Istanbul.