Subject Area African History

This subject area deals with endogenous developments of African societies as well as with the multiple relationships Africa maintains with Europe, the Americas and Asia. These relationships were established by the trade in goods, the mobility of people and the exchange of ideas across the oceans and they are considered a distinctive feature of the increasingly imperialistic modern times.

Under the proceeding objective to understand Africa with its global interactions and with regard to its diaspora groups, African History is committed to the Centre for Atlantic and Global Studies and its interdisciplinary master programme Atlantic Studies in History, Culture and Society. Intramurally it is connected to the research initiative TRUST.

Research and teaching cooperations with African Universities and research institutes (Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa) and with the University of Lincoln, Nebraska offer various opportunities for study visit and internships, research and bilateral exchange of lecturers.

Since 2013, Prof. Dr. Reinwald supervises and coordinates the interdisciplinary support initiative Knowledge for Tomorrow. Post-doctoral Fellowships in the Humanities in Sub-Saharan and North Africa, which is funded by the VolkswagenStiftung. This initiative supports promotes high-ranking humanists and social scientists on their way to a professorship and supports them in building international partnerships and academic networks. Furthermore, this project contributes to the education of young scientists and to the capacity building at African universities.