Global Historical Studies

As part of its core curriculum, Butler University requires students to take two Global Historical Studies courses.  Now, as an Americanist by training, I wish that part of the core was a required U.S. History class as well, but still, I've enjoyed teaching GHS courses every now and again, as it gives me a chance to think about U.S. History in a global context, as well as read up and lecture on things that I might not otherwise get to do in much detail or depth.

One of the GHS classes has a unit on Colonial (and post-Colonial) Nigeria.  In a blog-based nutshell, here are the basics:  Nigeria is a "created" country (by the British during the nineteenth century scramble for Africa), with three main ethnic/tribal/linguistic groups (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba) and many other smaller ones.  Independence in the 1960s produced not just a new nation, but also unleashed some of the best literature on the impact (both actual and literary) that colonization had on people (see for example, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart).  It has extremes of poverty and wealth, driven in large part by past government corruption and instability, and the fact that Nigeria is resource rich (including oil).  Since independence, it has seen one full fledged civil war, and several military coups.  However, there was hope by the twenty-first century that some stability had arrived.  That stability, however, has become imperiled by the rise of ethnic/religious violence and terrorism.

For those who follow the news in even in just a passing (or social media fueled way), Nigeria has been making headlines for the past several weeks, and not in a good way.  From terrorist attacks, to kidnappings, to the "hash tag diplomacy" of #bringbackourgirls and possible American military intervention, Nigeria has been thrust into the news feeds and minds of millions of people around the globe.  If you need a bit of background on recent events, including Boko Haram (the Islamic terrorist group that has abducted several hundred Christian girls), you can read more here.  Depending on the report, roughly half of all Nigerian identify as Christian, half are Muslim--the vast majority of which do not adhere to radical beliefs, and the remainder follow largely animistic religions.  It is, in some respects, ground zero for a place where religious, political, cultural, and ethnic identities converge and matter in very real ways.  It is both heartbreaking to watch and fascinating to study.

All that being said, I am glad that a decision was made when GHS was created at Butler to utilize Nigeria as a place for our students to study and learn about.  I hope my former students recognize in the headlines of today the lessons we covered in the past.  And I hope as well that they join me in praying for the safe return of those kidnapped school girls and an end to the violence in Nigeria.