Workshop Connects Ajami Researchers in Discussions of Best Practices

In early July, the ASC hosted a vibrant three-day workshop led by Prof. Fallou Ngom and Dr. Daivi Rodima-Taylor to connect researchers involved in Ajami research in West Africa. Participants included BU African studies faculty, research affiliates, staff, and graduate students as well as members of the Geddes Language Center, African Studies Library, and colleagues at partner organizations across North America and West Africa.

Delayed for several years due to the pandemic, the workshop drew on continued support from the ASC’s Title VI National Resource Center funding from the US Department of Education as well as from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is funding a collaborative research grant on Ajami literatures of four main languages of West Africa. Both agencies have been critical supporters for the development of Ajami teaching resources, digitization of manuscripts in West Africa, and other research materials over several years, driven principally by the work of Prof. Ngom and the African Language Program.

Read more details, see slideshows, and view images from the workshop in a detailed report by Dr. Rodima-Taylor, Project Manager on the NEH Collaborative Research Grant.

Links to all Ajami resources and projects at Boston University can be found in our new centralized African Ajami research page.