Medieval Africa: The Trans-Saharan World, 500-1700

Date: 

Friday, February 6, 2015, 9:00am to 5:00pm

Location: 

Tsai Auditorium, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street
This symposium will explore the complex institutional, cultural, and religious relationships tying the societies of sub-Saharan Africa to one another and to the "medieval" worlds of the Mediterranean and Red Sea basins. From the formation of great trading cities like Timbuktu, to the establishment of Islamic religious communities across the breadth of Africa, to the creation of a rich, synthetic devotional and literary culture, these relationships represent an important test case for what Susan Nokes and Geraldine Heng have described as the "global Middle Ages". Speakers from a variety of disciplinary and regional backgrounds will discuss the contours of the trans-Saharan region and its pivotal cultural, religious, and economic role, and explore the value of "Trans-Saharan Studies" as a rubric for understanding the broader African ecumene in the pre-colonial past.The conference will take place on February 5 - 6, 2015. Conference program is available here: Medieval Africa program 10.14[3]