Saharan Futures: Block Museum - Northwestern University
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Saharan Futures

Salt slabs at the Niger River
Salt slabs from the Sahara Desert are transported by camel to entrepôts near the Niger River, and then carried by boat to markets such as that in Mopti, Mali. Photograph DeAgostini Picture Library, 2016/Getty Images
Symposiums
April
11
5 PM

Event Details

Date & Time:

Thu April 11, 2019
5 PM

Location:

The Block Museum of Art
40 Arts Circle Drive
Evanston, IL 60208

Audience:

Open to the public

Details:

Conference Keynote: Ann McDougall

Saharan Futures is an open convening focused on the current politics and economics of trans- Saharan trade, aiming to illuminate contemporary realities of migration, security, economic exchange, cultural flow, and identity across the Sahara. The conference will explore how historical patterns of sub-Saharan, North African, and global exchange continue to shape the present and future, both in the challenges and the opportunities they present for human development and well-being. Keynote speaker Ann McDougall, Professor of History and Classics at the University of Alberta, focuses on commercial development in the desert-edge country of Mauritania. She is one of several conference experts on the movement of people, ideas, and resources within and across borders. Learn more information on this free conference, taking place April 11 and 12.

This program is presented by Northwestern’s Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa; Middle Eastern and North African Studies Program; and Program of African Studies.

Contact The Block Museum of Art for more information: (847) 491-4000 or email us at block-museum@northwestern.edu