The African Studies Center (ASC) sponsors conferences, lectures, exhibits, film series, and cultural performances throughout the year. These events are designed to foster understanding of Africa among members of the U-M community and the public and to advance the exchange of resources and knowledge between U-M and its partners in Africa.
In addition to our yearly programming, ASC considers funding requests to cosponsor lectures, events, performances, and activities that coincide with the our mission to promote a broad and deep understanding of the region. Request to cosponsor an event»
EIHS Lecture: Little Ice Age and the Oyo Empire: An Unfinished Process of Recovery in West Africa, ca. 1420-1840
Akinwumi Ogundiran (University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
Presented with support from the African Studies Center.
This lecture is presented in hybrid format: in-person in 1014 Tisch Hall and virtual via Zoom webinar (register: https://myumi.ch/M9JPR).
This lecture highlights the crisis and aftermath of the Little Ice Age in West Africa, with emphasis on the ramifications it had for (1) the emergence and decline of the Oyo Empire and (2) the entanglement of the empire and the Bight of Benin in the early modern commercial revolution. The entire history of the Oyo Empire was shaped by the quest to cope with the erratic climatic regime of the Little Ice Age. What were the opportunities and limitations of these coping strategies, what Professor Ogundiran calls the unfinished process of recovery?
Akin Ogundiran is Chancellor’s Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, Anthropology, and History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Professor Ogundiran’s scholarship has focused primarily on the deep-time cultural history of the Yoruba world, Atlantic Africa, and the African Diaspora. His research has been supported by the National Geographic Society, American Institute of Archaeology, and American Philosophical Society, among others. He is also a past fellow of the National Humanities Center. Professor Ogundiran's latest book is The Yoruba: A New History (Indiana University Press, 2020).
This event presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.
This lecture is presented in hybrid format: in-person in 1014 Tisch Hall and virtual via Zoom webinar (register: https://myumi.ch/M9JPR).
This lecture highlights the crisis and aftermath of the Little Ice Age in West Africa, with emphasis on the ramifications it had for (1) the emergence and decline of the Oyo Empire and (2) the entanglement of the empire and the Bight of Benin in the early modern commercial revolution. The entire history of the Oyo Empire was shaped by the quest to cope with the erratic climatic regime of the Little Ice Age. What were the opportunities and limitations of these coping strategies, what Professor Ogundiran calls the unfinished process of recovery?
Akin Ogundiran is Chancellor’s Professor and Professor of Africana Studies, Anthropology, and History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Professor Ogundiran’s scholarship has focused primarily on the deep-time cultural history of the Yoruba world, Atlantic Africa, and the African Diaspora. His research has been supported by the National Geographic Society, American Institute of Archaeology, and American Philosophical Society, among others. He is also a past fellow of the National Humanities Center. Professor Ogundiran's latest book is The Yoruba: A New History (Indiana University Press, 2020).
This event presented by the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies. It is made possible in part by a generous contribution from Kenneth and Frances Aftel Eisenberg.
| Building: | Tisch Hall |
|---|---|
| Event Type: | Lecture / Discussion |
| Tags: | africa, History |
| Source: | Happening @ Michigan from Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, African Studies Center, Medieval and Early Modern Studies (MEMS), Science, Technology & Society, Department of History |
