Instructor Guide A Saint in the City: Sufi Arts of Urban Senegal [DO NOT PUBLISH TO STUDENTS]

How to Use This Content

The content that the Fowler has prepared for these learning activities in Bruin Learn can be used as a complete module or as discrete discussion-based learning activities. The Overview page contains general information about Senegal, Sheikh Amadou Bamba, and the Mourides. In addition to the overview page, there are seven activities, any or all of which you may integrate into your curriculum.

Available activities

A Visit to the Fowler Museum: Preparation for visit including watching videos and viewing a 3D model followed by a visit to the Museum

Reading Senegal's Historical and Geographic Landscape: Engaging with a Storymap and participating in discussion forum

Sufism in West Africa and the Mouride Brotherhood: Watching videos and participating in discussion forum

A Closer Look at Sheikh Amadou Bamba: Watching videos and participating in discussion forum

Devotional Images of Sufi Saints: Watching videos and participating in discussion forum

Looking Closely at a Black and White Photograph: Watching videos and participating in discussion forum

Evaluate Provenance and Museum Ethics: Readings, Watching videos and participating in discussion forum

Learning Goals and Outcomes

Understand Aspects of Mouride Devotional Practice
Examine how acts of prayer, labor, pilgrimage, and artistic production express devotion to Sheikh Amadou Bamba and his disciple, Sheikh Ibrahima Fall. Consider how these practices shape Mouride religious life in Senegal and throughout the diaspora.
Image and Contemplative Practice
Analyze how images of Sheikh Amadou Bamba and Sheikh Ibrahima Fall—painted on restaurant doors and displayed in public spaces—serve as aids for contemplating prophecy, righteousness, and community cohesion. Explore how such imagery integrates faith into everyday environments and reinforces shared spiritual values.
Evaluate Provenance and Community Consent
Learn about the journey of these painted doors from a Senegalese restaurant in Dakar to a museum setting. Consider how provenance research and community consultation inform ethical exhibition practices, and reflect on the responsibilities of museums to represent devotional art with respect and accountability.

Adding Bruin Learn modules to your course

This course site is designed as a functional preview of learning activities that accompany the Fowler Museum's Vital Matters content. It is available here in Bruin Learn, so it is already customized to fit your UCLA course site. To copy the complete module or any individual learning activities, simply click the three-dot "vertical ellipsis" icon in the upper right corner of any page and select your course. If you are copying over the full module, it will add it to your sequence of modules. If you are copying individual activities, you additionally select the module and placement. Once added to your course site, you are welcome to edit the activities to suit your own learning goals. For example, you might change wording of a discussion prompt. Significant alteration of dynamic media content and graphic sections may, however, cause inadvertent graphic problems. Please consult with instructional designers in your department or the Teaching and Learning Center if you need assistance.

Contact Us

If you would like to plan a class visit to the Fowler Museum, please begin by filling out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdkRGQy7uRrNnYAjidRQu9FKdEkkgg57jsUtY6rJtYftYYLpA/viewform

If you have any questions about this module, or would like to collaborate with the Fowler Museum to enhance your curricula, please reach out to us: fowlereducation@arts.ucla.edu