A Comprehensive Discussion with Michael A. Gomez

Rather than being disconnected on the periphery of the medieval world, Professor Gomez’s lecture will illuminate how the West African empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai were very much a central part of it. It will highlight the innovative statecraft, social changes, and transnational networks that became the foundations of these West African empires. It will offer a radical and new historical interpretation of the dynamic interactions between polity, religion, and commerce in the region, and relationships between West Africa, North Africa, and the larger Islamic world.

Michael A. Gomez is currently Silver Professor of History and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University and the Director of NYU’s Center for the Study of Africa and the African Diaspora (CSAAD), having served as the founding director of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora (ASWAD) from its inception in 2000 to 2007. Gomez, a recipient of the American Historical Association’s 2023 Award for Scholarly Distinction, supports the struggles of African people worldwide.

Sponsored by the History Department, with support from the Political Science Department Barbara Bailey Brown Fund, along with the Africana Studies Department and the programs of International Studies and Medieval and Renaissance Studies.