Eric S. Ross

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Canadian citizen currently resident of Morocco

Current address

Al Akhawayn University

P.O. Box 1889

Ifrane, 53 000, Morocco

tel.: (212) 35 86 24 81

fax: (212) 35 86 29 77

e-mail: e.ross@aui.ma

URL: http://www.aui.ma/~E.Ross/

EDUCATION

1996 Ph.D. Islamic Studies

Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University

title of Doctoral dissertation: “Tûbâ: an African eschatology in Islam”

1990 M.Sc. Geography

Université du Québec à Montréal

Title of Master’s thesis: “Cités sacrées du Sénégal: essai de géographie spirituelle”

1986 B.Sc. Geography

Université du Québec à Montréal

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

since 2006 Associate Professor of Geography

1998-2006 Assistant Professor of Geography

School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco

Research Activities

• Ongoing research on the configuration of Muslim towns in Senegal (since 1988)
• Baseline study of socio-economic condition in the Province of Ifrane, Morocco (2000)
• Multidisciplinary research on the impacts of tourism development on the city of Essaouira, Morocco (2001-2002)
• Multidisciplinary research on the occurrence of Sufi shrines at archaeological sites in Northwestern Morocco (2001-2003)
• Invited participation (since 1997) in Judaic Threads in the African Tapestry and African Crossroads, research on art and design being conducted by Labelle Prussin, professor emeritus

PUBLICATIONS

Books

• Ross, Eric (2006). Sufi City: Urban Design and Archetypes in Touba. Rochester: University of Rochester Press.
• Mbacké, Khadim (2005). Sufism and Religious Brotherhoods in Senegal. Translated by Eric Ross and edited by John Hunwick, Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers (originally published in French as Soufisme et Confréries Religieuses au Sénégal. Dakar: IFAN-CAD collection études islamiques, 1995).
• Ross, Eric, John A. Shoup, Driss Maghraoui, Abdelkrim Marzouk (2002). Assessing Tourism in Essaouira. Ifrane: Al Akhawayn University Press.

Pending

• Ross, Eric. Culture and Customs of Senegal. Greenwood/Heineman (scheduled for 2008).

Contributions to edited volumes

• Ross, Eric (2005). “From marabout republics to autonomous rural communities: autonomous Muslim towns in Senegambia”, in African Urban Spaces in Historical Perspective, edited by Steven J. Salm & Toyin Falola, Rochester: University of Rochester Press.
• Ross, Eric (2006). “Le Pénc : element du patrimoine et modèle d’aménagement urbain”, in Sénégalia : Etudes sur le patrimoine oust-africain, Hommage à Guy Thilmans, edited by Cyr Descamps & Abdoulaye Camara, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés: Editions Sépia.

Pending

• Ross, Eric, “Palaver Trees Reconsidered: Arboreal Monuments and Memorials in the Senegalese Landscape”, in African Ethnoforests: Sacred Groves, Culture, and Conservation, edited by Michael Sheridan and Celia Nyamweru (publication in initial stage, James Currey Publishers/Ohio University Press, scheduled for 2008).

Articles in peer review journals

• Ross, Eric (2002). “Marabout republics then and now: configuring Muslim towns in Senegal”, in Islam et Sociétés au Sud du Sahara, #16.
• Ross, Eric (1995). “Touba: a spiritual metropolis in the modern world”, in Canadian Journal of African Studies, vol. 29, # 2.
• Ross, Eric (1994). “Africa in Islam: what the afrocentric perspective can contribute to the study of Islam”, in International Journal of Islamic and Arabic Studies, vol. 11, # 2.

Published conference papers

• Ross, Eric (2005). Villes soufies du Sénégal : réseaux urbains religieux dans la longue durée, Série Conférences #20, Rabat: Institut des Etudes Africaines, Université Mohammed V.

Encyclopedia entries

Pending

• “Dakar,” “Gorée,” “Rufisque,” “Saint Louis,” “Thiès,” “Touba,” “Kaolack” (Senegal), “Essaouira” and “Ifrane,” in The City and Urban Life (a three-volume history of cities of the world), Jan Rogozinski, ed., M. E. Sharpe (expected in 2008).
• “Africa, History of the Name,” “Afrocentrism,” “Moors in African History,” “Travel and Exploration: Arab,” “Algiers,” “Carthage,” “Gao,” “Nouakchott,” Tangier,” “Timbuktu,” and “Tunis,” in The New Encyclopedia of Africa, Second Edition, Ken Wachsberger, project editor, Charles Scribner’s Sons (release scheduled for November 2007).

Book reviews

• The History of African Cities South of the Sahara: From the Origins to Colonization (by Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch, Marcus Wiener Publishers, Princeton, 2005, English translation of Histoire des villes d’Afrique noire, Editions Albin Michel, Paris, 1993), reviewed for World History Bulletin, February 2006.
• Eurafricans in Western Africa: Commerce, Social Status, Gender, and Religious Observance from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century (by George E. Brooks, Ohio University Press, 2003), reviewed for H-Net, 2005.
• Paths of Accommodation: Muslim Societies and French Colonial Authorities in Senegal and Mauritania, 1880-1920 (by David Robinson, Ohio University Press, 2000), reviewed for H-Net, 2003.
• Building Technology and Settlement Planning in a West African Civilization: Precolonial Akan Cities and Towns (by Tarikhu Farrar, Mellen University Press, Lewiston, New York, 1996), reviewed for H-Net, 1997.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

• “Second Comings, or how Muhammad Begets Jesus in Contemporary Senegal”, Muslims and Others in Sacred Space, The College of Charleston, Charleston (South Carolina), 23-24 March 2007.
• “Using 60 cm Resolution Satellite Images to Map Sufi Shrine Towns in Senegal ”, Geography and Saint’s Cults: Technological Aids to the Geographical Study of Saints’ Cults, Agricultural College, Hólar (Iceland), 21-25 June 2006.
• “Adding a Layer: Functioning Muslim Shrines at Archaeological Sites in Morocco”, Popular Culture in the Middle East and North Africa, Ifrane (Morocco), 5-7 April 2006.
• “Beyond Bilâl: assessing Africa in Islam”, The World History Association 14 th Annual Conference, Ifrane (Morocco), 27-29 June 2005.
• “Le Pentch : Elément du Patrimoine et Modèle d’Aménagement Urbain”, Anthropologie, Archéologie, Muséologie en Afrique de l'Ouest, Hommage à Guy Thilmans , Dakar (Senegal), 13-15 December 2004.
• “Palaver Trees Reconsidered: Arboreal Monuments and Memorials in the Senegalese Landscape”, Annual Meeting of theAfrican Studies Association, New Orleans (Louisiana), 11-14 November 2004.
• “Touba: Senegal’s Trans-colonial Sufi Metropolis”, Urban Generations: Post-colonial Cities, Rabat (Morocco), 1-3 October 2004.
• “Villes soufies du Sénégal”, invited participation, Institut des Etudes Africaines, Muhammad V University, Rabat (Morocco), 28 September 2004.
• “La Configuration du Droit Chemin: Touba et l’Arbre du Paradis au Sénégal”, invited participation, Centre National de Recherche en Anthropologie Sociale et Culturelle, Mostaghanem (Algeria), 14 April 2004.
• “Casablanca: le Modernisme Architectural comme Projet Colonial”, invited participation, Centre National de Recherche en Anthropologie Sociale et Culturelle, Oran (Algeria), 12 April 2004.
• “Promoting Rural Tourism in a Middle Atlas Cave Village”, in Sustainable Technology for Rural Tourism Development, Ifrane (Morocco), 30 November-2 December 2003.
• “La Valorisation de la Culture Urbaine et le Marché Foncier dans la Médina d’Essaouira”, invited participation in La Médina, une Cité Nouvelle ?, Ifrane (Morocco), 28-29 June 2003.
• “Sufi City? Archetypes, Land Art, and Suburban Subdivisions in Touba, Senegal”, invited participation, A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal, exhibit at UCLA’s Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles (California), 2 April 2003.
• “Mouride Urban Planning: Configuring Civic Order and Religious Authority”, African Urban Spaces: History and Culture, Austin (Texas), 28-30 March 2003.
• “Le Développement Durable du Tourisme à Essaouira, ou Comment Positionner un Produit Local dans un Marché Global”, Société civile, culture et développement urbain, le cas d’Essaouira, Essaouira (Morocco), 14-15 June 2002.
• “Euro-gentrification of a Moroccan Resort Town”, Conservation and Regeneration of Traditional Urban Centers in the Islamic World, Amman (Jordan), 19-25 January 2002.
• “Marabout Republics Then and Now”, Islam and Africa: Global, Cultural and Historical Perspectives, Binghamton (New York), 19-22 April 2001.
• “Personal and Collective: Post-Slavery Identity Construction in Morocco and America”, Freedom, Identity, Integration and Slavery in the Muslim World, Ifrane (Morocco), 29-30 June 2000.
• “Mapping the Slave Trade?”, Slave Roads, Toronto (Ontario), 3-5 July 1997.
• “Community-Based Organizations and Development: the Case of the Mourides of Senegal”, Canadian Association of African Studies, Montreal (Quebec), April 1996.
• “Touba: une métropole spirituelle moderne”, Canadian Association of African Studies, Toronto (Ontario), April 1994.
• “Touba: Morphology of a Sufi City”, Middle East Studies Association, Research Triangle Park (North Carolina), November 1992.

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