Senegal & Cape Verde
Crossing Borders: Migration, Identity, and Culture in Senegal and Cape Verde
June 4-16, 2006

Rationale
This year’s seminar seeks to explore the elements that form the texture of Senegalese and Cape Verdean social and cultural histories. The seminar provides an opportunity to absorb the rich historical and cultural traditions of Senegal and Cape Verde, learn about contemporary Senegalese and Cape Verdean societies, and hear about the challenges facing the two countries from an African perspective.

Senegal and Cape Verde have different historical and cultural backgrounds, yet they share profound similarities between the two countries’ respective political histories. In the face of global contacts, Senegal and Cape Verde have each developed coping mechanisms centered around the need to open up to other civilizations while cultivating indigenous customs and practices. The seminar incorporates academic lectures and site visits focusing on a variety of topics, including politics, education, artistic traditions, health, and religion.

Host Institution
The seminar will be hosted primarily at Suffolk University's Dakar Campus, also home to the CIEE Study Center in Senegal. Lectures and visits will be held at various sites including the West African Research Center, the Baobab Center, Forut Media Center, and Toubab Dialaw in Senegal, and the Institute of Superior Education, Mindelo Cultural Center, and FOU-NANA PROJECTOS in Cape Verde.

Seminar Leadership
Dr. Serigne Ndiaye is the Resident Director of the CIEE Study Center in Dakar, Senegal. Originally from Senegal, he completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in English and American Literature and Civilization at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Emory University. His primary research and teaching areas are Francophone African and Caribbean literature and culture and postcolonial theory. Dr. Ndiaye has taught African, Caribbean, and African-American literature courses at both Emory University and the State University of New York at Albany.

Academic Content
Following are the tentative lectures, site visits, and study tours for this seminar:

Lectures

• Religions and Belief Systems in Senegal and West Africa
• Family, Health, and Educational Issues in Senegal
• Senegalese Political Reform and Democratization
• Development and the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations
• The Transatlantic Slave Trade
• Senegalese and Cape Verdean Cultural Traditions
• Cape Verdean Identity and Cultural Expressions
• African Migration
• The Cape Verdean Diaspora Community

Site Visits/Study Tours

• Visits to the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) and the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar
• Visit to the fishing village of Toubab Dialaw and an overnight stay at the artistic center of Sobo Badè
• Sightseeing and market visits in Dakar
• Visit to Gorée Island, an important center of the slave trade; tours of the Maison des Esclaves (Slave House), and the Musée de la Femme (Museum of Women)
• Cidade Velha, reported to be the birthplace of the Cape Verdean culture and the first Portuguese city in Africa
• Terrafal, a Portuguese prison for political dissidents during the colonial times
• Mindelo, the birthplace of Cesaria Evora, a vibrant cultural center

Itinerary
This 13-day seminar begins in Dakar (7 nights), continues in Cape Verde (4 nights) and returns to Dakar for the final night. Group travel between Senegal and Cape Verde is included in the seminar fee.

Seminar Fee
$2,850