Kairn A. Klieman
Associate Professor (Africa)
561 Agnes Arnold Hall
(713) 743-1306
kklieman@uh.edu

Dr. Klieman is a scholar of African history and African civilizations before 1750 to the present. Dr. Klieman has taught in the Democratic Republic of Congo and researched in Southern and West Africa. She has also served in the U.S. Peace Corps. Klieman also studies the African oil problem and the modern ethnic wars in Africa. In 2005 she was recognized by the African Studies Association (ASA) as a finalist for the Melville J. Herskovits Award for her book, The Pygmies Were Our Compass”: Bantu and Batwa in the History of West Central Africa, Early Times to c. 1900 C.E.” (Heinemann, 2003). The ASA awards the Herskovits prize for the outstanding original scholarly work published on Africa in the previous year.

Dr. Klieman received her Ph.D. in African history from the University of California, Los Angeles. She is also co-founder of the Houston Area African Studies Group.

Teaching:
Dr. Klieman teaches undergraduate courses in African Civilizations to 1750 and Africa & the Oil Industry. She teaches a graduate course on Africa in Global History 1800-Present.

Research:
Dr. Klieman’s first book The Pygmies Were Our Compass: Bantu and Batwa in the History of West Central Africa, Early Times to c.1900, focuses on West Africa. She has written numerous articles and reviews on the topics of Egypt in Africa, the Bantu expansion and farming in early Africa.

Selected Publications:
The Pygmies Were Our Compass: Bantu and Batwa in the History of West Centraol Africa, Early Times to c. 1900, Portsmouth. Heinemann, 2003. Finalist for the Herkovitz Award, Best Book in African Studies, 2003.

“Towards A History of Pre-colonial Gabon: Farmers and Forest Specialists along the Ogooue’, c. 500 B.C.-100 A.D.” in Michael C. Reed and James F. Barnes (eds.) Culture, Ecology, and Politics in Gabon’s Rainforest (Edwin Mellen Press, 2003).

“Hunter-Gatherer Participation in Rainforest Trade Systems: A Comparative History of Forest vs. Ecotone Societies in Gabon and Congo, c. 1000-1900 A.D.,” in Challenging Elusiveness: Central African Hunter- Gatherers in a Multidisciplinary Perspective, Karen Biesbrouck, Stefan Elders, Gerda Rossel, eds. (1999, Research School CNWS, Universiteit Leiden).

<< Back