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 the University of Oxford. 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.

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. Reconstructing the African past mostly from sources located in Africa, she has since spent several years conducting research in Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

Schmidt has published from all three of her major research projects: One is her investigation of violence and memory in Zimbabwe; the second is a case study of ethnicity, masculinity, and power in south-western Tanzania; and the third project examines the colonial encounter through the lens of sexual crime in the German colonial period in German East Africa (today Tanzania). She has co-edited two books, and in addition to book chapters and smaller publications, she has published in journals such as 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 the University of Oxford. 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. 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. Reconstructing the African past mostly from sources located in Africa, she has since spent several years conducting research in Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Schmidt has published from all three of her major research projects: One is her investigation of violence and memory in Zimbabwe; the second is a case study of ethnicity, masculinity, and power in south-western Tanzania; and the third project examines the colonial encounter through the lens of sexual crime in the German colonial period in German East Africa (today Tanzania). She has co-edited two books, and in addition to book chapters and smaller publications, she has published in journals such as 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