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colleagues, administrators, and friends, including supportive Deans Carol Long and Marlene Moore, as well as generous and kind Pamela Smith, Natalia Shevchenko, Pam Moro, Fabien Poète, Hannah Harper.
My profound gratitude to the Willamette University library staff, particularly to John Repplinger for providing much needed last-minute technical expertise. His enthusiastic assistance was key to the timely submission of the project. A heartfelt thank you also goes to Doreen Simmonsen for the efficient and prompt handling of my interlibrary loan requests and other services while I was working abroad and for always being so attentive to my sometimes rather challenging source finding needs. Many thanks to Melissa Treichel and Shanel Parette for being willing to go the extra mile and to Debra Dancik for her encouraging words and for allowing her staff the flexibility to be able to devote additional time to helping me complete this work.
Many thanks to my good friend and former classmate, Imam Mamadou Touré, for the many hours of long and intense conversation about the Koran and Islam in general, and Islam and the role of marabouts in Senegal, in particular. Touré gives most generously of his time and his expertise for which I am a grateful beneficiary.
I am deeply appreciative of the many friends and colleagues who have been a source of inspiration and encouragement to me since the initial phases of this project. These friends spent evenings watching and discussing Sembène’s films with me, and several provided feedback on chapters, at one point or another: Antoinette Pressley-Sanon, Kristen Velyvis, Tom Zinnen, Peter Quella, Kimberly Greco, Emmanuel Hernandez, Naomi Ziegler, Shireen Ally, Marie Kruger, Stephen Volz, Andrea Robles, Akosua Darkwah, Julie Kreunen, Steven Thomson, Lisa Heaton, Mary Carbine, Kelly Davis, Scott Barnwell, Diana Toledo, Janet Sausen, Solon Simmons, Rama Diabong, Nancy Podger, Beth Mullen, Nompumelelo Nzimande, Chiara Di Cesare, Birama Dieng, Mor Guèye (Miche), Dior Konaté, Abi Diop, Mamadou and Ndèye Koné, Anoumou Amekudji, Bonaventure Balla Omgba, Olympia Vernon.