Funded by the Oppenheimer Africa Project, in cooperation with the Centre for African Studies (UCT), the Tombouctou Manuscripts Project (HUMA, UCT), and the Centre for Contemporary Islam (UCT), This workshop will take place in conjunction with the project ‘Religious Leaders and Knowledge Transmission in Central Africa: Muslim ‘Ulama’ in the history of Chad.’ The goal of the workshop is to bring together and coordinate a group of researchers who have already worked separately on issues related to the history of Islam in Chad. Draft papers will be circulated, presented and critically discussed. After the workshop, participants will proceed to write their final papers under a common framework. Publications by Africa-based researchers will be particularly encouraged. Working language will be French and English. An exposition of traditional tools of literacy (pens, inks, etc.) from the region of Central Africa (Chad, Nigeria) as well as reproductions of manuscripts from Chad, will be included in the programme.

We welcome the submission of abstracts for possible papers on the following topics: manuscript sources for the history of Chad; descriptions of existing manuscript collections; historical studies on the role of the ‘ulama in Chadian society, politics and economy; studies of theological debates through the analysis of one or more works written by Chadian religious scholars; anthropological studies on the transmission of Islamic knowledge in Chad, either in an urban (primarily Abéché), or a nomadic context.

Please read the full Report for more information.

Please contact Andrea Brigaglia or Cathlene Dollar for additional details, or to submit an abstract.