HIST 10B
History of Africa, 1800 to Present
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Not open for credit to students with credit for course 10BH or 10BW. Survey of social, economic, and political developments in Africa since 1800, with focus on slave trade, imperialism and colonialism, and nationalism and independence. Attention to different ideologies (nationalism, socialism, apartheid), rural/urban tensions, changing role of women. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - If you are trying to get a history GE and this class doesn't genuinely interest you, don't take this class. The course material for this class in itself was really fascinating. However, the professor made it extremely confusing. Most people in the class had never learned anything about the history of Africa, yet she operated as though we had a baseline knowledge that most people did not. The structure of her lectures weren't very coherent. She would jump across time periods and countries, making it difficult for us to understand the bigger picture historical contextualization of the continent. This class is also a lot of work. She assigns many busy work assignments for us to complete and there are quizzes every week. The midterm and final are essay based questions, but focus more on a book we read in class than content surrounding the history of Africa. The professor was in general pretty annoying, assigning us 2 hour long documentaries/assignments late, not allowing phones, and making participation mandatory (the grading for participation was really strict).
Spring 2025 - If you are trying to get a history GE and this class doesn't genuinely interest you, don't take this class. The course material for this class in itself was really fascinating. However, the professor made it extremely confusing. Most people in the class had never learned anything about the history of Africa, yet she operated as though we had a baseline knowledge that most people did not. The structure of her lectures weren't very coherent. She would jump across time periods and countries, making it difficult for us to understand the bigger picture historical contextualization of the continent. This class is also a lot of work. She assigns many busy work assignments for us to complete and there are quizzes every week. The midterm and final are essay based questions, but focus more on a book we read in class than content surrounding the history of Africa. The professor was in general pretty annoying, assigning us 2 hour long documentaries/assignments late, not allowing phones, and making participation mandatory (the grading for participation was really strict).
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Most Helpful Review
Prof. Lydon was the worst teacher I have ever had at UCLA. Though the class itself is not that difficult(I'm a science major and I did well without too much effort), it is painful in the extreme to sit through. She refuses to post her slides, though people asked her to do so throughout the quarter, and yet she speaks quickly and goes through the slides ridiculously quickly. She won't tell you this, but she wants you to focus on what she is saying rather than what's on the slides so if you really want to learn bring a recorder and learn to type very fast. We had 2 papers 6-7 pages each, they were not that bad, and the midterm was just memorization - she gives you a large list of people/issues to know and tests you on that. The map part of the test was not too bad either, just memorize all African countries and major areas. The annoying thing is that she speaks in random African languages that no one knows except two or three students and plays really awful music (I listen to some African artists and they're really good - Lydon just tries to find the worst and oddest music she can to play in class). Do NOT contradict her, she will say stupid things like "Africa is at the center of the world because of the Big Bang" (which almost made me walk out - she is completely science illiterate!) but if you talk to her politely after class she will bite your head off for having an opinion and not taking her word as the 'ultimate truth'. If you can stand the pain, take her for a GE. Oh, have Reem as your TA, she's wonderful.
Prof. Lydon was the worst teacher I have ever had at UCLA. Though the class itself is not that difficult(I'm a science major and I did well without too much effort), it is painful in the extreme to sit through. She refuses to post her slides, though people asked her to do so throughout the quarter, and yet she speaks quickly and goes through the slides ridiculously quickly. She won't tell you this, but she wants you to focus on what she is saying rather than what's on the slides so if you really want to learn bring a recorder and learn to type very fast. We had 2 papers 6-7 pages each, they were not that bad, and the midterm was just memorization - she gives you a large list of people/issues to know and tests you on that. The map part of the test was not too bad either, just memorize all African countries and major areas. The annoying thing is that she speaks in random African languages that no one knows except two or three students and plays really awful music (I listen to some African artists and they're really good - Lydon just tries to find the worst and oddest music she can to play in class). Do NOT contradict her, she will say stupid things like "Africa is at the center of the world because of the Big Bang" (which almost made me walk out - she is completely science illiterate!) but if you talk to her politely after class she will bite your head off for having an opinion and not taking her word as the 'ultimate truth'. If you can stand the pain, take her for a GE. Oh, have Reem as your TA, she's wonderful.
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