Senegal: History, Politics and Culture
AFAS (L90) 369
Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo
Summer 2008
Method of Evaluation of Students:
Map Exam
Journal Logs
Class Attendance and Participation
Final Project

Class Material:
Joe Lunn, Memoirs of Maelstrom  (selections)
Myron Echenberg, Black Death, White Medicine
Sembene Ousmane, God's Bits of Wood
Mariama Ba, Scarlet Song
Ken Bugul, Abandoned Baobab
Class reader

Class Schedule:

Spring 2008:   1st Pre-Departure Meeting
Introduction

Distribution of Relevant Forms; Payment and Vaccination Schedule

Spring 2008: 2nd Pre-Departure Meeting

View La Petite Vendeuse du Soleil

Distribute Course Readers

Read the last interview with Mambety, www.newsreel.org/articles/mambety.htm

Dinner, discussion, and finalization of airport meeting times

Senegal Course Schedule
Classes are in the morning; the afternoon is reserved for some field experiences throughout the city and independent research.  We may have to adjust our calendar subject to our guest lecturers’ needs.
 Course Description

This course will study the history of Senegal in the modern period, beginning with the formation by French traders and Lebou/Wolof women of the Four Communes (Saint Louis, Dakar, Rufisque and Gorée Island). It will then explore Senegal's unique position as the founding place of two major Islamic brotherhoods and examine the legacy of French assimilation/association policy.  As the course moves into the contemporary period, it will give some attention to the Senegalese Diaspora, particularly in large urban centers such as New York, Detroit, Paris, and Milan.  The class will explore themes of caste, colonialism, assimilation and identity, negritude, Islam, gender relations, the 1960s arts movement, and the cultural life of Dakar, a major center of Francophone African culture and the former capital of the French West African Federation (AOF).  There will be an emphasis on the relationship between Islam and politics in contemporary society. 

 
Course Goals and Objectives

The class is important on two levels. On the first level, we will examine important themes in Senegalese history, politics and culture such as French colonialism and its legacy, religious expression, gender, and the role of the intellectual in society. The class provides a basic introductory understanding of Senegal.

Methodologically, the course is designed so that students will understand the myriad of sources available for multi-disciplinary understanding of Senegal. Readings and class discussions will help shed light on the researcher’s craft.  How do authors gather and analyze material, shape their arguments, and critique colleagues?  What is the role of the author/narrator/filmmaker/artist in shaping subject and content in studies on Senegal?  What are the underlying assumptions in the creation of their work?  What types of evidence are used to support an argument or perspective? Students will share their insights through discussions and written assignments.  This course encourages the development of critical reading, thinking, and writing skills. The final research project proposal represents the culmination of this effort.  
On another level, the course gives students the unique opportunity to interface with important professors, artists, and activists in Senegal.  The readings will prepare them for guest lectures with distinguished lecturers from the Université Cheikh Anta Diop such as:  

Historian Boubacar Barry (Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade; and Le Royaume du Waalo, le Sénégal avant la Conquête)
Historian Ibrahima Thioub (« Writing National and Transnational History in Africa : the Example of the ’Dakar School’, in Stefan Berger (ed.) Writing the Nation. A    Global Perspective; AOF : réalités et héritages. Sociétés ouest-africaines et ordre colonial, 1895-1960, co-editor)
Sociologist Paul Diedhiou  
Historian Mor Ndao
Djiby Guisse (of the popular band, Frères Guisses)

During our excursion to Saint Louis, Senegal, we will meet with Sociology Professor Alfred Ndiaye, Université Gaston Berber, about the role of Saint Louis in the politics of the French West African Empire.

Public Health and pre-medical Students will have a unique opportunity to work with a virologist.

Students will complete an independent research project.  Their projects may take many forms including: a typical written research paper, a visual project (for example, a photographic history of an element in Senegalese society).  Dean Diallo and Prof. Graebner will ensure that these projects are feasible in the available time in Dakar.

Students will also keep journals to document and reflect film viewings, seminars, and excursions; students will also note current events in Senegal in journals.