A special workshop with presentations by outstanding scholars in Saharan studies discussing the place of the Sahara in research and education.
Friday, October 15, 2004
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Room 10383, Bunche Hall
10th Floor
UCLA Campus
Los Angeles, CA 90095


This workshop is designed as a thematic conversation about the place of the Sahara in research and education from a post-areas studies and transnational perspective. It brings together a select group of scholars who specialize in the study of Saharan societies, from both sides of African divide, that is to say specialists of Northern and Western Africa. The goal of the workshop is to facilitate exchanges between American, North African and West African scholars and to determine how best to promote “trans-Saharan scholarship” and its diffusion. The Sahara Crossroads Initiative (SCI) is an idea initiated by Wendy Wilson Fall and Ghislaine Lydon, with the help of Allen Roberts (Director, James Coleman African Studies Center) and Leonardo Villalon (Director, West African Studies Association). SCI is a three-year program that begins with this workshop. For the second year we plan another meeting out of which will come an edited volume. Finally, the third year will be devoted to outreach, curriculum development and teacher training at the K-12 level.
Presentations by:
John Hunwick, Northwestern University | Specialty: Islamic Africa, Arabic Literature in Africa
Ann McDougall, University of Alberta | Specialty: Sahara, Slavery and Salt Trade
Ismael Musah Montana, York University | Specialty: Sudan-Tunis, Slave Trade Demographics in Tunisia
Cynthia Becker, University of St. Thomas | Specialty: Morocco, Mali Art, Music and Slave Trade
Labelle Prussin, Smithsonian Institution | Specialty: Arts, Architecture, Material Culture Across the Sahara
Wendy Wilson Fall, Kent State University | Specialty: Pastoral Societies, Oral History, African Diaspora Studies
David Gutelius, Stanford University | Specialty: Moroccan History, Sufi Orders and Trade
Moulaye Ismael Keita, Université Cheikh Anta Diop | Specialty: Slavery and Discrimination in Contemporary Africa
Allen Christelow, Idaho State University | Specialty: Legal and Political History, Algeria and Nigeria
Jennifer De Maio, UCLA | Specialty: Ethnic Conflict and Intermediation, Eastern Africa, Western Sahara
Ghislaine Lydon, UCLA | Specialty: Trans-Saharan History, Trade and Islamic Practice
SESSIONS:
9:00-10:30 First Session: Thematic Conversations Part I
The Sahara in World History | The Place of the Sahara in African History | Saharan Art and Architecture | Art Historical Connections across the Sahara: Morocco and Mali
10:45- 12:00 Thematic Conversations Part II
Saharan Oases through Arabic Sources | Demographic Implications of the Slave Trade | Slavery and Racism in Contemporary Societies
13:30-15:00 Thematic Conversations Part III
Pastoralism, Drought and Culture | Political Reform and Legal Pluralism on the Frontier | The Western Sahara: Africa's Last Colony | The Sahara and the US War on Terror
15:30-17:30 Fourth Session: Work Meeting
Saharan Studies Association, Bibliography, Curriculum Development and Edited Volume Project
Cost : Free and open to the public; parking is available in lot 3 for $7.
James S. Coleman African Studies Center or Center for Near Eastern Studies
310-825-3686
africa@international.ucla.edu or cnes@international.ucla.edu www.international.ucla.edu/africa
Sponsor(s): African Studies Center, Center for Near Eastern Studies