March 6, 1980
Eminent Africanist Dr. Jan Vansina, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, lectured on using oral tradition to interpret African history in “The Oral Sources of Pre-Colonial African History” in Chicago Hall. The world's foremost authority on the use of oral tradition in interpreting African history, Dr. Vansina published Oral Tradition: A Study in Historical Method and Kingdoms of the Savanna in 1965 and 1966, respectively, and his Oral Tradition as History appeared in 1985.