professor
Mamadou Diouf

Would highly recommend this class! No prior knowledge of African history is required. Professor Diouf is brilliant and unbelievably knowledgable. The subject matter is interesting and wide-ranging. Professor Diouf often integrates historical examples from other regions of the world into his lectures, based on the students' interests. While his lectures can at times be hard to follow, you will be exposed to a fascinating array of concepts, theories, and bodies of knowledge. Lots of great food for thought. The class is heavily historiography focused. Professor Diouf is primarily interested in getting his students to think about how histories are constructed. He forces you to think critically about the material you are learning and also material you have learned in other history/mesaas courses. Best of all - he is incredibly kind and approachable!

Professor Diouf is the head of the African Institute at SIPA and he is really intelligent. So intelligent, in fact, that he is slightly intimidating. Our class was supposed to be a discussion, but he is so knowledgeable that it would sometimes turn into a lecture. I originally signed up for this class and was planning to drop it because I didn't actually need to take it, but because of the lecture on the first day knew that I HAD to take it because he was just so interesting and organized that I knew it would be unbeatable. And it was. Our readings were really relevant, and he did a good job of getting across an idea of a history of an entire continent of people. One slight problem was the scope of the class because it sometimes got confusing (obviously, it's a class on a whole continent), but he is also available during office hours and by appointment to go over issues. He sometimes seems uninterested in the quieter or less educated students, but once you break through his barriers he really is a nice man.