Implied Pasts, Desired Futures: Black tourists in Dakar, Senegal

• Grant number: 25/00893-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: April 12, 2025
• End date: December 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology
• Principal Investigator: João Felipe Ferreira Gonçalves
• Grantee: Carla Brito Sousa Ribeiro
• Supervisor: Ibrahima Thiaw
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Institut Fondamental D'Afrique Noire, Senegal
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/04078-3 - Return and future in African and Afrodiasporic tourism in Dakar, Senegal, BP.DR

Abstract

In this BEPE proposal, part of my Ph.D. research on the narratives of collective pasts and futures shaped by African and African diasporic travelers in Dakar, Senegal, I propose a 9-month research stay at the University Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) under the supervision of Dr. Ibrahima Thiaw, a renowned anthropologist at the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire and expert in African archaeology and material culture. This project focuses on three prominent sites - the Monument of African Renaissance, the Museum of Black Civilizations, and the House of Slaves on Gorée Island. Through ethnographic research, archival exploration, and semiotic analysis, I aim to investigate how Black tourists engage with these sites - and with one another - to reconnect with African heritage and envision future connections across the Afro-Atlantic world. Guided by Senegalese approaches to material culture and public history, my research explores how tourism intersects with history-making and identity formation at these sites. For instance, while the House of Slaves reveals the contested memory of the Atlantic slave trade, the Museum of Black Civilizations addresses the contemporary cultural heritage of the diaspora, and the Monument of African Renaissance symbolizes postcolonial aspirations. This research internship will support my work by deepening my understanding of local perspectives, expanding academic networks in Senegal, and advancing fieldwork for my dissertation, which connects Black mobilities with historical representation.