Reports that rebels have over-run and looted centres containing thousands of ancient books and documents in Mali’s historic city of Timbuktu has led the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to appeal to all relevant authorities to be on the alert against any attempt to traffic items stolen from these centres.

Colgate University’s Department of Geography seeks to appoint a one-year postdoctoral scholar in the field of Environmental Security to begin Fall semester 2012. We encourage applications from candidates whose own expertise lies at the intersection of Ecology and Security Studies, and whose research focuses on the effects of environmental insecurity on vulnerable populations. Preference will be given to candidates holding a Ph.D in Geography, but applications from candidates in relevant Social Science fields who are capable of linking environmental dimensions of geopolitics to threatened populations will also be considered. The Postdoctoral Scholar will teach three courses per year, share their research work with the community, and actively participate in and contribute to the life of the Geography Department. Applicants should have received their Ph.D. no earlier than 2010; persons holding tenure-track appointments are not eligible to apply. Ph.D. candidates must have degree in hand by the time of appointment. This position carries a competitive salary with full benefits and some research and/or travel support; there is a possibility of renewal for a second year.

Au cours de cette séance nous nous intéresserons à la parenté et à la parentalité au sein des familles transnationales sahéliennes. A travers une confrontation entre mes données de terrain sur les tontines et les cérémonies féminines dans les communautés sahéliennes et les résultats de l’enquête dirigée par Jacques Barou* sur la vie quotidienne des migrants originaires d’Afrique Noire en France (De l’Afrique à la France. Armand Collin, 2011), on interrogera les spécificités des manières de faire la parenté dans les familles patrilinéaires du Sahel, ainsi que les continuités et les discontinuités observables en contexte migratoire.

The dramatic yet still evolving transformations in Mediterranean North Africa, most importantly in Libya, have been extensively analyzed in the context of Middle East security. Yet the ramifications of the ‘Arab Spring’ on issues of conflict and intervention in the Sahara-Sahel region have yet to be fully explored. Along with the Horn of Africa, the great expanse between Mauritania and Sudan has arguably been one of the most conflict-ridden areas in Africa. It is also home to some of the world’s largest reserves of oil and natural gas; the Sahara literally helps power world economic growth and production. For decades, this zone has been caught in a web of intra- and inter-state conflicts further complicated by external interventions performed by Western powers. The Sahara-Sahel is home to various insurgent movements, including the long-living Polisario Front in Western Sahara, the trans-national Tuareg insurgencies, the highly unstable rebel factions in western Sudan’s Darfur region, and now the Boko Haram movement in northern Nigeria. The internal dynamics of these and other conflicts in the region have been exacerbated by a plethora of old and new rivalries between regional and extra-regional actors, which often results in the widespread phenomenon of proxy warfare. A major battlefield for the US-led global war on terrorism, the rise of a regional branch of Al-Qaida has tracked alongside the dramatic proliferation of informal trade networks based on the smuggling of goods and humans. The proposed panel aims to analyze the interaction of these internal and external factors, particularly their impacts on contemporary politico-military conflicts in the Sahara-Sahel. It will address a broad spectrum of related issues, from the determinants of regional cooperation, conflict and foreign intervention to the important consequences of social, economic and political turbulence, including conflict-driven migration, terrorism and trafficking.

España en África: la ciencia española en el Sáhara Occidental, 1884-1976, contiene un DVD con diez documentales, de una duración media de diez minutos, sobre los aspectos históricos, geográficos, económicos, científicos y culturales de lo que fue esta presencia en el Sáhara Occidental y la relación con sus habitantes originarios; y lo hace mediante descripciones explicativas del desierto y de sus habitantes, con películas e imágenes lejanas y actuales, y con el indispensable apoyo de gráficos, imágenes de satélite y una rica y variada cartografía.

Mercredi 22 février 2012 au siège du CEMA, Oran, Algérie

Tout en revisitant les recherches fondatrices sur la communauté mouride du Sénégal, notre étude s’inscrit dans une nouvelle optique : basée sur plusieurs observations participantes menées entre 2004 et 2012, elle vise à démontrer les “réalités” vécues par les disciples à travers leur “Tarbiya” (formation spirituelle) au sein de cette communauté. Dans cette intervention, nous mettrons l’accent sur ce que nous appellerons “le récit du corps” : l’usage du corps et des espaces dans les rites, les “vécus internes” des disciples et leurs représentations corporelles, leurs évolutions personnelles, leurs quotidiens et leurs choix de vie… À travers cette démarche empirique, nous tenterons de démontrer, au plus près de la réalité, une vision (du corps, de l’homme et du monde) qui se conjugue à travers une manière d’être “mouride” dans ses dimensions multiples: corporelle, spirituelle, langagière et symbolique.

CEMAT is searching for a short-term program fellow for Spring 2012 (four to six months) to assist the Director with new local and international partnerships. The fellow will be expected to perform a variety of program-related and administrative tasks and show flexibility with CEMAT’s high-paced position within a rapidly changing political environment. Main responsibilities will include working on new partnerships with development and educational programs as well as identifying new and suitable partners for CEMAT. The fellow will be expected to work 30 hours a week, which will allow her/him to conduct own research or pursue language study, if desired. The fellow will have the option to reside in subsidized housing in Sidi Bou Said, receive a modest monthly stipend, and an economy-class round-trip ticket to and from Tunis.

We are seeking submissions for at least two linked panels: one focusing upon war and slavery in Africa, and a second focusing upon war and slavery in the Americas, with particular reference to the wartime contributions of enslaved Africans.

Le colloque vise à documenter les multiples implications de la migration en Afrique et plus particulièrement en Afrique de l’Ouest, à partir des axes suivants : a) Les flux migratoires : zones de départ, zone d’accueil, situation des générations issues de la migration, migration de retour ; b) Migrations et accumulation de capital, développement économique et social; c) Migrations et construction des espaces communautaires et identitaires; d) Les migrations du Sud vers le Nord; e) Politiques nationales de migration dans les pays de départ et la gestion des situations de crises sociales; f) Migrations et environnement