Constructing the Maghrib: Contested Landscapes

"Constructing the Maghrib: Contested Landscapes" will explore the region’s historical-geographical development and corresponding sociocultural complexity. The project entails convening a symposium of scholars to generate a 21st-century discourse on this dynamic, geopolitically sensitive and under-studied African region.

The project also entails the curation and development of a multimedia, web-based exhibit designed for both the scholarly community as well as the general public. The project will also include a web-based exploration of the bibliographic origin story of the Maghrib. The project itself will become a tool to enhance our understanding of this region and for other scholarly inquiries such as mapping the archival silences on trans-Saharan slave trade, slavery and race.  

Image Caption: Detail of the 1154 Tabula Rogeriana, by the famous Arab cartographer al-Idrisi, focused on the Mediterranean world, including the Maghrib. Note how north is oriented toward the bottom of the image.