Ph.D. student, 2018
Areas of Specialization: Ajami literature, Islam in Africa, Sufism, West African popular culture
Macodou graduated from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (Senegal) with a B.A and an M.A in English. He then completed another M.A in African Studies at Ohio University, Athens. Macodou is interested in the study of Islam, Ajami literature, traditional religions, and popular culture in West Africa with a focus on the Senegalese Sufi Brotherhood, Muridiyya. His research project seeks to explore the Murid urban associations’ (Dahiras) various teaching methodologies, which also include singing, praise singing, and the interpretation of Murid texts (qasidas) via the use of Ajami Wolof. Specially, Macodou intends to examine the historiography and meanings of the different forms of singing of the qasidas and the Dahiras’ re-appropriation of early Murid scholars’ educational mission. Macodou is fluent in Wolof, French, and English and has taught Wolof at Ohio University.