History of North Africa

This course highlights the thematic, theoretical, and methodological approaches and contributions in the field of North African studies and underlines the relationship, continuities, and discontinuities between the colonial past and postcolonial realities. Although the course emphasis is upon the modern and contemporary eras, this interdisciplinary course is inspired by the notion of North Africa as a deep historical space “where worlds have always met.” The readings cover Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt but long-standing ties with the eastern Ottoman Empire, the Mediterranean, and Europe as well as other world regions are considered. Theoretically, the course is informed by world history, migration studies, and comparative politics. 

This lesson introduced students to primary sources and guided them in searching the Library of Congress to find and analyze sources.

• Learn how to analyze textual and visual primary sources.
• Learn how to find and understand metadata that accompanies primary source digital objects.
• Learn how to navigate and use the Library of Congress website to find digital collections and other digitized materials.
• Develop skills to critically examine, interpret, and evaluate historical evidence.

In preparation for the lesson, the professor and the librarian evaluated potential collections and selected the Library of Congress' Abdul Hamid II Collection to frame class discussions on digital primary sources. The “Observe, reflect, question” worksheet was used to guide students' analysis of selected primary sources.

Class session 1: Introduction to archives, primary sources, and digital collections

The librarian defined and discussed primary sources, collecting institutions and archives, and the difference between digital collections and digitized materials. The librarian introduced the Library of Congress website and demonstrated how to search its digital collections and digitized materials.  

The class explored the Abdul Hamid II Collection and discussed what makes it a digital collection (“A digital collection consists of digital objects that are selected and organized to facilitate their discovery, access, and use. Objects, metadata, and the user interface together create the user experience of a collection)." The librarian led a discussion on the contextual information in “About this collection.” Students explored the “Collection Items” using the filters on the left side. The librarian emphasized that it can be unclear whether items viewed are singular or are part of a larger collection, and that it is important to determine the highest collection level for the most complete overview.

As a group, the class selected a sample item from the collection to examine and discuss. Students were prompted to ask themselves questions from the “Observe, reflect, question” worksheet from the Library of Congress.

Students explored the surrounding information related to the item (metadata), and discussed the important contextual information conveyed.

Class session 2: Introduction to searching the Library of Congress website

Students were taught how to search the Library of Congress website to find digital primary sources relevant to their research topics:

• Start with broad keywords. Try a region, key figure, event, etc.
•  Read the contextual information and explore related collections and items.  
•  Use filters to refine search and look for the highest collection level.

Both graduate and undergraduate students were required to write a research paper using primary sources (text, images, or other formats) related to their topic.