In 2002, the Joola, a government-owned Senegalese ferry, capsized off the coast of The Gambia in a tragedy that killed approximately 1,863 people, leaving only 64 survivors. The Joola is recognized as the second worst maritime disaster in peacetime history yet few people are aware of this event and how it shaped the lives of Senegalese people.
Karen will speak about her book project which serves as the first investigation into the roots of the Joola shipwreck and its consequences for rural communities in Senegal and The Gambia.
Through three summers of mixed methods fieldwork, her book, coming out this fall: (1) explores the geographic push and pull factors that encouraged communities from the rural Casamance to travel on the Joola in the first place; (2) the series of logistical mistakes that gave rise to the September 26 event; and (3) highlights community resilience in disaster-affected communities as well as the global forces (fishing piracy, climate change) that continue to challenge everyday livelihoods in Casamance. This project was funded by both Fulbright and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
A Zoom presentation at 6:30 PM MDT. Karen S. Barton, Professor of Geography, GIS, and Sustainability, University of Northern Colorado