Africa’s digital landscape is expanding and rapidly changing. In this moment, digital platforms–and the products, services, communication, and networking they offer– significantly shape everyday economic, social, and political life on the continent. This digital landscape is underpinned by a combination of economic/financial, political and cultural logics and practices, both global and local. Platforms promise business […]
Our African Ajami scholars completed a landmark multi-year project, Digital Preservation of Fuuta Jalon Scholars’ Arabic and Ajami Materials in Senegal and Guinea, funded by the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library. The project digitally preserved 49 collections of endangered Arabic and Ajami manuscripts (African-language texts written in an enriched form of the Arabic […]
Fallou Ngom and Daivi Rodima-Taylor presented at the Boston University Digital Ventures Open House on African Ajami projects. The event took place on March 31, 2025, and brought together researchers, students, and various staff members of the Boston University Libraries to discuss their work around digital scholarship and archival collections. The gathering provided a dynamic space […]
The Boston University Readers in Ajami (RIA) project has developed three African Ajami Readers – of over 600 pages of instructional materials. The Wolof, Mandinka, and Hausa Ajami Readers offer a comprehensive multimedia learning experience in combination with the interactive project website. The initiative aims to revive and promote African literatures written in Ajami, which […]
Professor David Robinson’s book, Chiefs and Clerics: Abdul Bokar Kan and Futa Toro, 1853-1891 in the Senegal Valley, has been translated into French under the title Chefs et Marabouts – Abdoul Bocar Kan et le Fouta Toro. 1853 – 1891. The French edition was published by Éditions Jimsaan, a Senegalese publishing house. The book explores […]
Our Readers in Ajami project has developed important learning resources in African Ajami, featuring a multimedia interactive website and the 200-page Wolof Ajami Reader, the first in a series of three planned Ajami Readers. The project is conducted with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. These resources aim to bring greater visibility to […]
Our staff members attended the Project Directors Meeting of the International Research and Studies Program of the United States Department of Education that took place on April 12, 2024, in Washington, DC. Prof. Fallou Ngom and Dr. Daivi Rodima-Taylor presented on our ongoing project, Project RIA: Readers in Ajami and Companion Multimedia Website. The project […]
The British Library Endangered Archives blog posted our article about our new project, Digital Preservation of Fuuta Jalon Scholars’ Arabic and Ajami Materials in Senegal and Guinea. The project is funded by a grant from the Endangered Archives Programme (EAP1430). It seeks to digitally preserve 50,000 pages of endangered Arabic and Ajami manuscripts (texts written […]
Our new special issue in Islamic Africa examines Ajami literatures and literacies in West Africa and situates African Ajami studies in participatory multimedia and digital archiving approaches. The double special issue of nine articles is titled “Ajami Literacies of Africa: the Wolof, Mandinka, Hausa and Fula Traditions” and is co-edited by Fallou Ngom, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, […]
BU research journal The Brink published a new feature article on our Ajami research on December 21, 2022. Read more here