International CooperationAjami Lab Setting Up Research in Senegal

10 April 2026

Interest in Ajami in West Africa is growing. During a recent field trip to Senegal, Dmitry Bondarev and his Ajami Lab team initiated new collaborative projects, identifying manuscripts, mapping collections and establishing further partnerships.

After establishing several Ajami‑related projects in Nigeria, the Ajami Lab is now expanding its research activities to Senegal. During the week of 23–28 March 2026, four researchers of the project worked together with colleagues from the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN) and Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) to develop a plan for joint activities. This collaboration led to several concrete outcomes.

A number of Qur’anic manuscripts containing translations into Pular (a Senegalese variety of Fulfulde) were identified for further study on their linguistic and exegetical contexts. Djibril Dramé, research associate at the Ajami Lab, conducted a field trip to northern Senegal in search of Soninke Ajami materials. And Saïd Bousbina, former Petra Kappert Fellow and now research assistant in the project, launched a ‘Manuscript Cartography’ initiative aimed at identifying largely unknown manuscript collections in the region.

In addition, Maria Luisa Russo and Dmitry Bondarev established contacts with the Department of Islamic Studies and Linguistics at the Faculty of Humanities at UCAD in order to explore opportunities for collaboration between UCAD and the CSMC.

A key objective of the Ajami project is the further development of Ajami Studies as an academic field. The exchange of expertise and the transmission of knowledge are essential components of this mission. Reflecting the growing interest in Ajami in West Africa, Dmitry Bondarev was invited to give a lecture on Ajami manuscripts and their typology at the Department of Islamic and Arabic Studies.