Work was conducted in 6 Work Packeges, in three languages (English, French and Tuareg) and in three different continents: America (USA) where she was hosted at the University of Florida (1st year); Africa (Niger) as a fieldworker and as a visiting researcher in the local laboratory LASDEL (2nd year): and in Europe at the KU Leuven, Belgium (3rd year). To research training, SAVIJU has taken advantage of the expertise acquired by the Fellow at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Florida University and LASDEL, where she has attended interdisciplinary workshops, seminars and training courses, and learning from eminent scholars in the field.
To research training and transfert of knowledge, during the first year the Fellow has organized in the USA 1 international conference and has delivered presentations in 1 conference, 1 workshop and 2 seminars, serving twice as a chair and participating in 2 training. During the second year in Niger, the Fellow has conducted fieldwork living with converts to Christianity. In addition, she has organized 1 conference in Niamey and 1 panel in a International multi-day Conference (ASAA 2022 in Cape Town), attending also 1 seminar and 1 conference.
During the third year in Belgium the Fellow has organized 2 panels in international Conferences in America and Europe at the GIS MoMM 2023 (France) and at the ASA 2023 (USA). To communicate findings, she has participated in 7 top-level Conferences held in Europe, Asia and America (ECAS 2023; ACLARS 2023; GIS MOOM 2023; IUAES 2023; AFEA 2023; ASA 2023). For disseminating SAVIJU results beyond the MSCA end, she is implementing a multilingual dissemination strategy, co-organizing panels for 4 other Conferences: APAD 2024; REAF 2024; EASA 2024; VAAD 2024. To popularize SAVIJU findings outside academy, she has contributed to a well-known radiophonic program on her research on religious conversions. Results of this MSCA are reported in: 1) 4 publications 2) a corpus of Tuareg Christian songs and poems 2) the Fellow is leading the development of a journal special issue underway 3) forthcoming papers on interfaith marriages in the Sahara-Sahel and Muslim -Christian religious encounters; (4) forthcoming papers on methodology and reflexivity in the study of religious conversions in the Sahara; (5) papers about Muslim-to-Christian religious conversions in the Sahara-Sahel (6) papers on Tuareg society and culture. During the grant, she provided supervision and mentoring for early career researchers at the KU Leuven. She earned a teaching qualification in France. She To popularize SAVIJU results she has participated in a radio program in one of the most influential radio in France and in francophone Africa, and to a podcast for the French Institut of Journalism.
The data collected during this MSCA will inform and enhance dozens of publications in the coming years, in particular a book and multilingual articles that highlight research results.