Senegal: Manding Drumming and Culture in West Africa

December 27, 2009 - January 16, 2010

MUET 438S (3 credits)

Manding Drumming and Culture in West Africa is a Study Abroad course to the Dakar, Senegal area is designed to both study Manding African drumming and to experience the culture of the Manding music tradition in Senegal. The student will learn about African drumming traditions and its social context through readings, lectures and organized trips to surrounding areas and cultural events. The culmination of learning will be celebrated in a final public performance.  Undergraduate students will be responsible for keeping a journal and graduate students will also write a final ethnographic project. The expected learning outcomes for the class are that students will master the basic skills of djembe drumming in the context of the djembe orchestra and learn about the integration of the music and musicians in a Manding community in Senegal. 

Upon arriving at the airport the group will be picked up by chartered minivans or buses and taken to the Kapere Inn, Camberene II Dakar which is on a beach outside of Dakar. The itinerary is designed to immerse the student in the music-culture of the Manding drumming tradition through in-depth lessons from a master drummer and by participating in the surrounding culture via visiting local communities, markets, performances and the vibrant musical nightlife of Dakar. An equally significant highlight to this experience is the trip to Gorée Island which is one of the major sites of the slave trade. To pay tribute to the victims of this period, master drummer Doudou N'diaye Rose performed there with his djembe and sabar orchestra. There will also be trips to the local villages Las Palmas for sabar drumming and dinner, Toubab Dialaw to visit drum and dance companies and an artist colony on Ngor Island.

Faculty & Staff

Mahiri Keita Edwards has studied Manding drumming with master musicians from West Africa. As a graduate of Tam Tam Mandingue (TTM), a school of percussion, he is the first appointed instructor in the U.S. He is co-director and instructor of the UM African Drum Ensemble.

Dr. Boden Sandstrom is a Lecturer in Division of Musicology and Ethnomusicology in the School of Music. She won The Philip Brett Award from the American Musicological Society for her work as co-producer on the award-winning documentary Radical Harmonies. Her most recent work is as editor of a textbook World Popular Musics and Identity for her course by the same name.

Please contact either Mr. Edwards or Dr. Sandstrom for information about course content and itinerary. 

For questions about the application, registration and pre-departure logistics, please contact the Study Abroad Office.