Before taking this class, I wasn't especially interested in African history and just took this class because I had a very limited schedule and was one of the only upper div history classes that fit. This class got me really fascinated by it and I now can't wait to take more African history classes. The class also wasn't too hard - one midterm, a paper and a final which were graded reasonably easily. Professor Alpers is very knowledgable, a great lecturer and also a really nice guy. Highly recommended!