Gana Ndiaye

Graduated Summer 2022

Research Interests

Brazil, migration, transnational Islam, Ajami, African languages, race & ethnicity

About

Gana Ndiaye’s academic interests include migration, transnational Islam, Ajami literature, African languages, race and ethnicity, and Francophone film and cinema.

His research focuses on the social and intellectual activism of West African Muslim migrants in Brazil, specifically the followers of the Muridiyya Sufi order. He examines the ways in which African migrants showcase their Muslim identities, expand meanings of “Africanness,” and contribute to a revival of Black Muslim heritage in Brazil.

Gana describes himself as an academic migrant. Prior to joining BU, Gana lived and studied in Morocco, France, Belgium, and Brazil. Upon graduating from Ecole Normale Supérieure of Dakar (currently FASTEF), Gana worked as high school teacher and then in secondary school administration for the Senegalese Ministry of Education. Gana earned B.A. in English Studies from Mohammed I University (Morocco), a M.Sc. in Intercultural Mediation: Identities, Mobility and Conflicts from KU Leuven, Belgium, a M.A. in French Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and was a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant at Michigan State University.

Awards

• The Angela J. and James J. Rallis Memorial Award and the Clarimond Mansfield Award for outstanding work in the humanities, Boston University Center for the Humanities (Summer 2022)
• Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Completion Fellowship, The Institute for Citizens & Scholars (Formerly, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) (2021-2022)
• CURA Colloquium Fellow, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA), Boston University (2021-2022)
• Boston University Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship (2019-2020)
• BU Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies & Civilizations Summer Fellowship (2019)
• Social Science Research Council Fellowship (2019)
• Boston University Outstanding Teaching Fellow, 2018-2019
• Boston University Dean’s Fellowship
• BU Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies & Civilizations Summer Fellowship (2018)
• The American Ethnological Society Graduate Student Small Research Grant (2018)
• Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, University of Illinois, Lemann Fellowship (2016)
• French Department, University of Illinois, Minn Fellowship (2016)
• Senegalese Ministry of Education Study Abroad Scholarship (2003-2006)

Publications

Peer-reviewed Book Chapter

• 2020. “Mobility and Cultural Citizenship: The Making of a Senegalese Diaspora in Multiethnic Brazil.” In: Yana Meerzon, Daniel McNeil, and David Dean (eds), Migration and Stereotypes in Performance and Culture. Contemporary Performance InterActions. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 157-177.  
• 2020. “Private Islamic Education in Africa.” In: Fallou Ngom, Mustapha H. Kurfi, and Toyin Falola (eds), The Palgrave Handbook of Islam in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 577-598.  

Online Magazine Articles 

• (Co-author: Jeffery W. Rubin, Ph.D.). May 22, 2020. “The Social Cost of Bolsonaro’s Denial.” The North American Congress on Latin America. [https://nacla.org/news/2020/05/22/social-cost-bolsonaro-covid].   
• 2019. “Fieldwork among Senegalese Muslim Migrants in Brazil during the FIFA World Cup.” American Ethnologist Website. July 31, 2019. [https://americanethnologist.org/features/reflections/fieldwork-among-senegalese-muslim-migrants-in-brazil-during-the-fifa-world-cup]. (Online Magazine Articles) 

Documentary 

• “Senegaleses no Brasil: para além da economia informal (Senegalese Immigrant Lives in Brazil: Beyond Street Vending), 28 minutes, available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jZjiqkYA5Cw.