June 2009 - Summer Program in Dakar, Senegal

Taking place in the beautiful, cosmopolitan city of Dakar the Black Studies Summer Program is designed to provide students an opportunity for cultural exploration and understanding from a first hand perspective.  Each class is designed to provide students with both skills and opportunities to actively interact with the people, places and institutions they come into contact with during their time in Senegal.  Through language, history and culture students will be challenged to explore different ways of knowing and new ways of expressing themselves.  Each class will help students break out of Western and nationalist cultural assumptions and take on, if even briefly, the perception of someone living in a different culture.  By experiencing the validity of perspectives other than their own, students will develop a genuine understanding of diversity.

The Black Studies Summer Program will be based on the Suffolk University Dakar Campus where program participants will take meals and have classroom meetings.  Located in the Mermoz community of Dakar, the campus is easily accessible to markets, cultural activities and major points of interest in Dakar.

Suffolk University's Dakar Campus is a modern campus where students will have access to the computer lab and the library, which, with its e-holdings is the largest library in Dakar.  The basketball court, the soccer field (the finest in the city) and the various on-campus activities provide natural opportunities for American and Senegalese students to interact and get to know one another.

Classes Offered

HST 330 The History and Culture of Senegal
This class will introduce students to the richness of Senegalese culture and history, from the 11th century to the modern era. Along with history, students will examine Senegal's culture and customs through lectures, readings, music and film. Through field exploration students will have the opportunity to interact with people, institutions and historic sites.

CJN 419 Photography in Dakar
The class will be for those interested in photography as it relates to the journalistic process as well as photography as Fine Art.  Together, photography as document and work of art creates a powerful means of expression.  Students will be required to produce a portfolio of superior work that will be collected as a group portfolio to be exhibited at the University's Boston campus in the fall.  Additionally a research project and photo essay in Power Point format is required with the topic to be approved by the instructor.

BLKST 263 Sabar:  Music and Dance of Senegal
Taught by professional practitioners of the sabar tradition this class will use language, history, philosophy, spirituality, music and other aspects of culture to introduce students to the sabar dance tradition and provide them with an opportunity for cultural exploration and understanding.  Students will be introduced to sabar dance techniques and traditional dance movements.  They will also learn about the connection of the movements to the music.  In addition to the classes students will have the opportunity to experience sabar drum and dance in traditional and popular contexts. 

BLKST 264 The Géwël Tradition in Sound and Motion
Using the drum as the central organizing principle this class will present and explore African non-literary text traditions of oration, movement and sound, and the ways that information is preserved and transmitted through these forms.  Taught by professional practitioners of the sabar tradition students will be introduced to sabar drums and the techniques for playing them.  They will also learn about rhythms, bakks, and the connection of dance movements to the rhythms.  In addition to the classes students will have the opportunity to experience sabar drum and dance in traditional and popular contexts.

BLKST 463 The Art of the Silver Smith
This class will introduce students to the process of working with gold and silver and the art of making jewelry. To accomplish this, the students will have an apprenticeship with a family of traditional gold and silver smiths where they will learn about each aspect of the jewelry making process.  During the class students will learn how to use the tools of the smith and will develop their creativity making chains, rings, pendants and bracelets.  Students will also learn about the various symbols and representations used by the smiths.

Faculty

Dr. Robert Bellinger, Program Director, Associate Professor, Suffolk University, Department of History
Ken Martin, Adjunct Professor, Suffolk University Department of Communications and Journalism
Mouhamadou Moustapha Faye, Director, Sing Sing Juniors Sabar Drum and Dance Ensemble
Aziz Faye, Instructor, Sing Sing Juniors Sabar Drum and Dance Ensemble
Nogay Ngom, Lead Dancer, Sing Sing Juniors Sabar Drum and Dance Ensemble
Malick Ngom, Lead Drummer, Sing Sing Juniors Sabar and Dance Ensemble
Sanga Gueye, Silversmith, Soumbidioune Artisanal
Ibrahima Sow, Silversmith, Soumbidioune Artisanal

For more information contact:

Dr. Robert A. Bellinger
Suffolk University History Department
One Bowdoin Square, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
rbelling@suffolk.edu

Democracy in Dakar

Democracy in Dakar is a multi-media documentary project featuring the election in Dakar on February 25, 2007 and the role Hip-Hop has played in Senegalese politics and culture.  Please visit http://www.africanunderground.com/ for more information and updates on the election.