Heike Schmidt

Assistant Professor of History

Heike I Schmidt earned her MA (1990) in history and sociology at the University of Hannover (Germany) and her D.Phil (1996) in modern history at Oxford University. She joined the FSU faculty in the fall of 2005. A specialist in African history in the fields of gender history, social history, and historical anthropology, her research interests focus on gender, violence, memory, power, and colonialism in nineteenth and twentieth century Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

Dr Schmidt first became interested in Africa when she spent a year in Southern Africa, studying at the University of Zimbabwe. That turned out to be a transformative experience. Before, she had prepared to write her MA thesis in Soviet history which involved learning Russian, but once she discovered her passion for researching the African past, she changed field. She never looked back. Since she has spent several years conducting research in Zimbabwe, and nine months in Tanzania.

Dr Schmidt is currently writing a book, “When There Is War:” Landscapes of Violence in Eastern Zimbabwe, 1850s to 1990s, on rural, gendered experiences and memories of violence during the guerrilla wars of the 1970s and 1980s. Her second book will investigate sexual crime in German East Africa (today Tanzania). Her most recent publications include articles and chapters on same sex desire and on the Maji Maji War, masculinity and ethnicity in German East Africa, and also on the future of African history. Dr Schmidt published a co-edited volume titled African Modernities: Entangled Meanings in Current Debate (James Currey and Heineman, 2002) and a series of articles and chapters on violence and memory in Zimbabwe and topics such as gender in African history and world history. In addition to book chapters, she has published or has articles in print with the History and Environment, History in Africa, International Journal of African Historical Studies, Journal of History of Sexuality, Journal of Southern African Studies, and Sociologus.

Courses:

Undergraduate

Africa Before Colonialism
Africa Since 1870
Violence in Africa
Senior Seminar: Colonialism and After – Africa

Graduate

Africa Before Colonialism
Africa Since 1870
Violence in Africa
Gender in Africa
Nationalism in Africa

				Department of History >> Faculty & Staff >> Faculty in Alphabetical Order >> Heike Schmidt
				Heike Schmidt Assistant Professor of History Heike I Schmidt earned her MA (1990) in history and sociology at the University of Hannover (Germany) and her D.Phil (1996) in modern history at Oxford University. She joined the FSU faculty in the fall of 2005. A specialist in African history in the fields of gender history, social history, and historical anthropology, her research interests focus on gender, violence, memory, power, and colonialism in nineteenth and twentieth century Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Dr Schmidt first became interested in Africa when she spent a year in Southern Africa, studying at the University of Zimbabwe. That turned out to be a transformative experience. Before, she had prepared to write her MA thesis in Soviet history which involved learning Russian, but once she discovered her passion for researching the African past, she changed field. She never looked back. Since she has spent several years conducting research in Zimbabwe, and nine months in Tanzania. Dr Schmidt is currently writing a book, “When There Is War:” Landscapes of Violence in Eastern Zimbabwe, 1850s to 1990s, on rural, gendered experiences and memories of violence during the guerrilla wars of the 1970s and 1980s. Her second book will investigate sexual crime in German East Africa (today Tanzania). Her most recent publications include articles and chapters on same sex desire and on the Maji Maji War, masculinity and ethnicity in German East Africa, and also on the future of African history. Dr Schmidt published a co-edited volume titled African Modernities: Entangled Meanings in Current Debate (James Currey and Heineman, 2002) and a series of articles and chapters on violence and memory in Zimbabwe and topics such as gender in African history and world history. In addition to book chapters, she has published or has articles in print with the History and Environment, History in Africa, International Journal of African Historical Studies, Journal of History of Sexuality, Journal of Southern African Studies, and Sociologus. Courses: Undergraduate Africa Before Colonialism Africa Since 1870 Violence in Africa Senior Seminar: Colonialism and After – Africa Graduate Africa Before Colonialism Africa Since 1870 Violence in Africa Gender in Africa Nationalism in Africa