Addis Ababa University Department of History

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Addis Ababa University Department of History

Addis Ababa University Department of History – Check Below:
The Department of History was established in the then Haile Selassie I University in 1962. Its first chairman was the late Prof. Sven Rubenson, the outstanding Ethiopianist whose Survival of Ethiopian Independence is as near definitive as any historical work can be. The Department became, as it still is, the leading center for Ethiopian history. In its first years, the Department was staffed by foreign teachers and scholars but as Ethiopian graduates returned from Ph.D. studies outside Ethiopia, the Department became, and has remained, mainly Ethiopian in composition.
The Department started out with a three-year BA Program. Courses were divided into Ethiopian, African and World History from ancient times up to post-World War II. A course on Ottoman History was later replaced by a course or courses specifically on Islamic History and Institutions. The Department later added basic courses on History and Historiography and new issues such as women’s history, urban history and diaspora history. Courses in research methods prepared, and still prepare, BA students for the BA thesis, now renamed the BA senior essay. This is the crown of the students’ effort and achievement in the BA program and involves genuine original research on archival materials and with oral informants, often on areas of the country previously neglected in historical research and writing.
From the very early days, there was an intention that Archaeology should become a separate department but until this should become feasible Archaeology became a unit, with courses, in the Department of History. To assist students with job opportunities, the Department secured a name change for its 2008 curriculum to Department of History and Heritage Management. However, after a long gestation period, Archaeology and Heritage Management became a separate department and the Department of History reverted to its original name.
The Department was among the earliest to open an MA Program (1979-80 A.Y) and a Ph.D. program in 1990. Some outstanding MA and Ph.D. theses have been produced and the Department’s graduate program has trained instructors for the History departments of other Ethiopian Universities and for TTCs.
In terms of mission and objectives, the Department has always aimed at giving students a real understanding of the country’s own history in the context of Africa and the world. We train students as teachers for high schools and tertiary level institutions and for other stakeholders. Our aim is also to produce intelligent graduates with verbal, writing and analytical skills and that our graduates should be good citizens.
Courses: Undergraduate Program
The History BA program is composed of five areas of training. They are historiography and historical methodology, Ethiopian history, African history, history of the Middle East and of the Islamic world, and History of the (rest of the) World. The latter is broken down into history of the ancient world, history of Europe, history of the Americas, history of Asia and survey history of global developments since 1945. The distribution of courses among these areas of training reflects greater focus on Ethiopia and Ethiopia’s historical problems, but also historically locates our country in its immediate regional and continental settings as well as in the evolving global order. The focus on Ethiopia can be gauged not just from the number of Ethiopia-specific courses and the diversity of the issues in Ethiopian history that they deal with, but also from the insertion of Ethiopia-related materials in other courses, be it regional, continental or global.
  Admission Requirements: Undergraduate Program
The admission of students into the BA Program is handled by the University.
Admission Requirements: MA, Regular Program
Eligibility for the MA Program in History is as determined by the Addis Ababa University Senate and the School of Graduate Studies. The minimum requirement for eligibility is possession of BA degree in History, withpreference to those who have written a senior essay.
Admission Requirements: MA, Kiremt Program
Applicants to the program are required to:

  • have a BA/BED degree in History
  • Meet the requirements set by the MoE and the Graduate School
  • Pass the entrance exam set by the Department

Admission Requirements: PhD
An applicant is required to have

  •  MA in History from AAU or other Universities. However, the Department reserves the right to withhold admission if it finds the program of study earlier followed by an applicant not a sufficient preparation for the PhD program.
  • MA in a discipline related to History and with a thesis of historical import deemed to be of acceptable standard by the Department Graduate Committee (DGC).
  • A certified knowledge of French, Italian or German. Another foreign language will be accepted as meeting this requirement only if the main language to be employed for the thesis topic selected. In cases where thesis research is to be based largely on oral sources, mastery of the local language (s) necessary for oral data collection could be accepted as having met the language requirement.

As part of the application for admission, the candidate must submit his/her curriculum vitae and a comprehensive statement of purpose. The latter should include: the candidate’s research experience, his/her area of specialization, sponsorship and the reasons for the interest in pursuing the PhD program in History.
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