Join the Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies for the latest presentation in the Global Africas series: “Global Africas: Senegal: Past and/as Present [Sénégal passé/present].” This two-day, interdisciplinary symposium will o address the pressing question of the past’s influence on the present, specifically how centuries of French colonialism have shaped recent developments in Senegal. Speakers and attendees will also explores the impacts of historic legacies on present-day Senegal’s infrastructure, culture, and everyday life.  

Event Speakers 

Ibrahima Thiaw, Ph.D. is an archaeology professor within the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) at the University Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal where he directs the archaeology laboratory and the Research Unit in Cultural Engineering and Anthropology. He earned his doctorate in 1999 from Rice University, and he directed IFAN’s Musée d’Art Africain from 2008-14. He has also served as the chair of the Heritage Committee for the African Archaeological Association since 2018. Thiaw’s research focuses on material culture, heritage management, community engagement, the politics of memory and identity, and the long-term impacts of slavery and colonization in the making of the modern world. 

Adama Pam, Ph.D., is a historian and curator of cultural heritage who earned his master’s degree from the École nationale des Chartes (Sorbonne) and his doctorate in contemporary history from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar. He serves as head archivist for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, where he manages international archival projects and specializes in the history of health and biopolitics during colonialism. Pam is the author of several publications on the history of archives and libraries in Africa and the history of epidemics and colonial order in Senegal. 

Ibrahima Thiam completed his studies in economics in Dakar, Senegal, in 2009 before discovering his passion for photography at a workshop organized by the Goethe Institute. Since then, Thiam’s work has focused on memory, archival documentation and African orality via myths and legends. In recent years, he has developed his own practice that sheds light on divinities from the Lebou community, an ethnic group in Senegal. His work has been presented in several international collective expositions.  

Karine Silla has been a novelist and scriptwriter for 30 years. Her fourth and most recent book, “Aline et les hommes de guerre” details the “Joan of Arc” of Senegal, and Silla’s first short film in 2016, “Alice,” was selected in an official competition at the Cannes Film Festival. As a playwright, Silla’s play “Le temps qui passe” was performed at the Théâtre des Mathurins in 2011, and she is currently developing a feature film adapted from her third novel “L’absente de Noël,” which is scheduled to begin shooting in Dakar in the spring. 

“Global Africas,” now in its third year, examines the cultural, linguistic, political, and historical realities of Francophone regions of Africa from a range of academic and artistic perspectives. Global Africas is presented by the Winthrop-King Institute for French and Francophone Studies, and these events are free and open to the public. Advance registration is required. 

For the program schedule and more information, visit the Winthrop-King Institute website.  This event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.