Contemporary African Literature and Its Contexts
A summer institute for college and university faculty

Summer 2004, June 14 – June 26
West African Research Center
Dakar, Senegal

Intensive two-week summer institute on African literary forms and their contexts, with a focus on Senegal. We will examine a number of specific texts, meet prominent writers, and explore the interest in local language literacy and publications. Importantly, we will also consider literary production in its relationship to other contemporary art forms such as rap and contemporary visual arts. The institute will be based at the West African Research Center in Dakar, Senegal, and is intended for faculty who wish to develop and expand teaching or research related to African literature. Institute director and the staff of WARC will help participants pursue individual interests in making research contacts or developing teaching materials. The institute will be conducted primarily in English.

Schedule and Itinerary: In order to provide as broad a perspective as possible on contemporary literature and its contexts, participants will be offered a series of lectures, seminars and discussion sessions at WARC, with academics, writers and artists from the region. Participants will also have the opportunity to travel to the historical city of St. Louis and to “ordinary” non-urban centers outside of Dakar.

Costs: The cost per participant is $2,500. This fee will include the full cost of the seminar sessions at WARC (all lectures and seminars); fourteen days of single-occupancy hotel accommodations; all local transportation costs; breakfasts, lunches, and approximately one half of the evening meals; and all local and in-country transportation. Participants will be responsible for their own airfare to and from Dakar; bar, telephone and other incidental hotel expenses; and occasional evening meals.

Institute Directors
Dr. Eileen Julien, Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Executive Director of the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, where she develops scholarly exchanges and research partnerships that link teachers, scholars and artists across disciplines and nations. She is a former Guggenheim fellow, founding director of the West African Research Center, and the author of numerous literary studies.

Dr. Jane Hale, Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Brandeis University. She has lived and worked in both Chad and Senegal and is the author of a number of articles and books. She is currently writing on the portrayal of literacy in cross-cultural works of art. Dr. Hale has taught language and literature at virtually every age and grade level, in the US and abroad.

Dr. Ousmane Sène, President of the Association de la Recherche Ouest Africaine (AROA), and teaches in the English Department of Université Cheikh Anta Diop (Dakar, Senegal). His teaching and research focus on African American literature and culture and their connections to African cultures, especially in the areas of religion and spirituality.

Application: Participation in the seminar will be limited to 12. For more information or an application form please contact WARA via email. A $500 deposit is required to reserve a space upon notification of acceptance to the institute. This deposit will be non-refundable after 15 April 2004. The balance of $2,000 must be paid before the start of the institute. A detailed program will be sent to all participants in early May.