3 IU credits, 4 UO credits
Credit Options through IU: ANTH E 400 / HIST E 338 / REL R300
UO credit as INTL 405
Preliminary Syllabus – Schedule Not Yet Updated; Content Subject to Change
Instructor: Dennis Galvan
This course introduces students to the history, politics, and socio-cultural dynamics of West
Africa with an emphasis on Senegal. We begin with an overview of West African history, including the expansion of Islam, to allow us to situate contemporary phenomena within broader social and political transformations. In the weeks that follow, we examine expressive traditions of the post-independence period; Islam as a spiritual, social and political force; international migration and local transformations; health issues; development and the state; and children, youth and education. The goal is to gain an understanding of the world outside the class room and the issues that concern Senegalese and other West African citizens today.
The course will be taught in seminar format, requiring everyone’s active participation. Students will take turns introducing the readings and raising issues for discussion. Assigned readings will be complemented by guest lectures and discussions with local scholars and artists as well as by excursions to Gorée Island, the Muslim spiritual centers of Tivaouane and Touba, and to Saint-
Louis and the Senegal River Valley. Students are encouraged to learn experientially by immersing themselves in Senegalese society and by engaging with Senegalese students on campus.
Grading
The course grade will be based on the following components:

Extent and quality of class participation – 30%

A 2-3 page written reflection / response to one guest lecture and related reading – 20%

A 2-3 page written commentary based on a news item in one of the Dakar papers (e.g.
Le Soleil, Sud Quotidien, Wal Fajri) and discussion with a Senegalese student – 20%

Oral presentation on a topic of interest that entails conversations or interviews with three to five persons – 30%
Required Readings:
Articles and book chapters posted in OnCourse and the following web sites:
“Passport to Paradise” (a web gallery developed in connection with the UCLA Fowler
Museum exhibit A Saint in the City ) http://www.fowler.ucla.edu/passporttoparadise.htm
.
“Saint-Louis: Religious Pluralism in the Heart of Senegal,” a web gallery developed by
Professor David Robinson, Department of History, Michigan State University. http://dev1.matrix.msu.edu/jaquint/aodl2/galleries/unit.php?unit=1&sunit=1 .
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Week One, July 9-13
Tuesday
Boahen, Adu. 1986. “The Trans-Saharan Trade” (pp. 1-10) and “West Africa and
Europe” (pp. 102-110). In
Topics in West African History , Adu Boahen.
Wednesday
Barry, Boubacar. 1998. Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade . (Excerpts)
Guest lecture by Professor Boubacar Barry “Senegambia: Past, Present, and Future.”
Thursday
♦ Excursion to Gorée Island led by M. Doudou Gaye ♦
Friday
Boahen, Adu. 1986. “West Africa and Europe” (pp. 111-148). In
Topics in West African
History , Adu Boahen.
Guest lecture by Professor Babacar Fall: “The Colonial Experience in French West
Africa.”
Week Two, July 16-20
Monday
Robinson, David. 1991. “An Approach to Islam in West African History.” In
Faces of
Islam in African Literature , Kenneth W. Harrow, ed., pp. 107-129.
And
Brenner, Louis. 2001. “Knowledge and Power in Pre-Colonial Muslim Societies.” In
Controlling Knowledge: Religion, Power and Schooling in a West African Muslim Society , Louis
Brenner, pp. 17-38.
Tuesday
Three poems by Cheikh Aliou Ndao:
Dakar; Mopti; Aguibou Alpha Maki Tâl
Guest lecture by Writer Cheikh Aliou Ndao: “Literature and the Construction of the
Nation-State: Personal Reflections.”
Wednesday
Harney, Elizabeth Ann. 1998. “Art at the Crossroads: Senegalese Artists since the
1960s.” In
Issues in Contemporary African Art . Nkiru Nzegwu, ed., pp. 69-84.
And
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Harney, Elizabeth Ann. 2004. “Glass Painting as a Modern Idiom.” In In Senghor’s
Shadow: Art, Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960-1995 by Elizabeth Harney, pp.
180-189.
Guest lecture by Artist Anta Germaine Gaye.
Thursday
McLaughlin, Fiona. 1997. “Islam and Popular Music in Senegal: The Emergence of a
‘New Tradition’.”
Africa 67(4): 560-581.
Friday
Dilley, Roy. 2004. “Global connections and local ruptures: The case of Islam in
Senegal.” In
Situating Globality, Wim van Binsbergen and Rijk van Dijk, eds., pp. 190-219.
Week Three, July 23-27
Monday
Villalon, Leonardo. 1999. “Generational Changes, Political Stagnation, and the Evolving
Dynamics of Religion and Politics in Senegal.”
Africa Today 46(3/4), pp. 129-147.
And
Galvan, Dennis. 2001. “Political Turnover and Social Change in Senegal.”
Journal of
Democracy 12(3), pp. 51-62.
Tuesday
Mbow, Penda. 1997. “Les femmes, l’Islam et les associations religieuses au Sénégal.”
In Transforming Female Identities , Eva Evers Rosander, ed., pp. 148-158.
Guest lecture by Professor Penda Mbow: “Women and Islam: Contemporary Issues.”
Wednesday
Babou, Cheikh Anta. 2002. “Brotherhood Solidarity, Education and Migration: The Role of the Dahiras among the Murid Muslim Community of New York.” African Affairs 101, pp.
151-170.
♦ Excursion to Touba, spiritual center of the Muridiyya ♦
Thursday
Buggenhagen, Beth Anne. 2004. “Domestic Object(ion)s: The Senegalese Murid Trade
Diaspora and the Politics of Marriage Payments, Love, and State Privatization.” In
Producing
African Futures , Brad Weiss, ed., pp. 21-53.
Friday
Hanson, Stefan. 2005. “Is HIV control in sub-Saharan Africa losing focus?”
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 33(3), pp.-235.
And
Homaifar, Nazaneen, and Suzan Zuljani Wasik. 2005. “Interviews with Senegalese
Commercial Sex Trade Workers and Implications for Social Programming.” Health Care for
Women International 26(2), pp. 118-24.
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Guest lecture by Ms. Khadidiatou Tall Thiam, GEEP Administrative Director:
“Population, Health, and HIV/AIDS.”
Week Four, July 30-August 4
Monday
Boone, Catherine. 2003. Political Topographies of the African State.
Chapter 3, pp. 43-45
& pp. 94-104 (Casamance) and chapter 5, pp. 240-243 & pp. 282-314 (Senegal River Valley).
And
O’Bannon, Brett. 2006. “Receiving an ‘Empty Envelope’: Governance Reforms and the
Management of Farmer-Herder Conflict in Senegal.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 40(1).
Guest lecture by Professor Amadou Mamadou Camara: “Development in Senegal:
Problems and Prospects.” (with emphasis on the Senegal River Valley and the Casamance)
Tuesday – Saturday
♦
Excursion to Tivaouane, Senegal River Valley, and Saint Louis ♦
Sunday evening (time TBA)
Film screening: Un Amour D’Enfant (2004; 93 minutes) by Ben Diogaye Beye
Week Five, August 6-10
Monday
Perry, Donna. 2004. “Muslim Child Disciples, Global Civil Society, and Children’s
Rights in Senegal: The Discourses of Strategic Structuralism.”
Anthropological Quarterly 77(1), pp. 47-86.
Guest lecture by Film Maker Ben Diogaye Beye .
Tuesday
Diouf, Mamadou. 1996. “Urban Youth and Senegalese Politics: Dakar 1988-1994.”
Public Culture 8(2): 225-249.
And
Havard, Jean-François. 2001. “Ethos ‘ bul faale
Sénégal.”
Politique Africaine 82, juin. (Optional)
’ et nouvelles figures de la réussite au
Wednesday
Guest Lecture by Professor Abdoul Sow, Dean, FASTEF: “Youths and Education in
Senegal: Current Issues.”
Thursday
Student Presentations
Friday
Student Presentations
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