Credit: 3 or 4 hours

From early primates to the present day, this course explores the deep past of North Africa. We will study the various waves of migrant populations and colonial powers that have shaped this region (Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Europeans) as well as the indigenous Amazigh peoples of the Maghreb and Sahara. Using archaeology, history, music, film, and environmental data, this course surveys the cultural contexts of North Africa that have made it a geopolitical focal point from antiquity through today, from the Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome to the Tunisian Jasmine Revolution that sparked the regional upheavals known as the Arab Spring.