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Jeff Rice

Office: 1908 Sheridan & Harris Hall #323
Phone: 847-491-8914
E-mail: j-rice2northwestern.edu

Jeff Rice is a Weinberg College Adviser and Senior Lecturer in History. He began his career at Northwestern in 1968 as an entering freshman and has been associated with the University in one way or another since then. After graduation he went on to begin graduate work at the University of Edinburgh, receiving a Masters Degree in African Studies after completing a dissertation entitled "Wealth Power and Corruption: A Study of Asante Political Culture." From there he returned to the History Department at Northwestern specializing in West African History. After a few years pursuing African History he left academia and became a full time bookseller at Great Expectations Bookstore (in Evanston) where he remained until its closure in 2001, eventually becoming its owner. During this time he continued to teach occasional courses at Northwestern in History as well as on the culture of publishing and bookselling.

He returned to Northwestern full time in 2001 teaching in the History Department and later becoming a Weinberg Adviser. His courses have included “West African History,” “Civil Wars in Africa,” “Africa in Fact, Fiction and Film,” “Africa From Optimism to Pessimism” and a number of popular Freshman Seminars such as “From Nationalism to Ethnic Cleansing.” He is a Fellow at Chapin Humanities Residential College and was one of the organizers of the Major in African Studies which debuted in 2010. Jeff is also on the Executive Board of the Program of African Studies.

His current research interests involve the development of Afro-Pessimism and in particular, its pedagogical challenges. In the spring of 2010 he hosted a conference on this topic at PAS. The other focus of his interest involves conflicts in Africa and Central Asia and the reemergence of ideas of Indirect Rule which underlie some of the current approaches to counterinsurgency.

He lives with his wife Denise who is an artist and their six-year-old Basset Hound, Guiness, and Cat named Stout. He has four step-children (31,29,22,20) and if there is any spare time he is addicted to mystery novels, good music and films.