Topic: Political and Ethnic Divisions the Post-Jammeh Era: Land Disputes and Ethnic polarization in The Gambia since 2016
Lecturer: Prof. Assan Sarr, Ohio University, USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0chKgzqsvM
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Date: Friday 13th August 2021
Time: 11 am
Venue: Conference Room, Peace Building, Kanifing Campus, UTG.
Abstract
On the day election results were announced and it became apparent to Gambians that their long-term president had lost the presidential election to Adama Barrow, the country’s citizens came together as one people celebrating the news. But, soon after the new president was sworn in and Yaya Jammeh left the Gambia on exile in Equatorial Guinea, friction of various kinds began to emerge not only among the political leaders who replaced Jammeh but also between communities. One such tensions is the growing frequency of land disputes which are turning more violent and deadly. At the heart of many of these conflicts is a debate over the meaning of citizenship and belonging – questions that the current government does not seem to have solutions for.
Short bio:
Dr. Assan Sarr is an associate professor of History and International Studies at Ohio University. He is currently the Director of Graduate Studies, a member of the Ohio University Graduate Council and an affiliate faculty member of the Center for International Studies. Dr. Sarr has received several teaching awards including in April 2021 when he received the CIS Excellence in Teaching Award and back in 2017 when he was awarded the 2016-17 Jeanette G. Grasselli Brown Faculty Teaching Award in the Humanities. Dr. Sarr, who is the author of a 2016 book, Islam, Power and Dependency in the Gambia River Basin: The Politics of Land Control, 1790-1940 with the University of Rochester Press, is also a recipient of 2019-20 Outstanding Faculty Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity award from the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University. He is a proud alum of the UTG.