The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa
The French Médersa explores how the French state pursued a century-long project of bicultural Franco-Muslim education in its northwest African colonies, resulting in a new type of school, the médersa, that combined French and Islamic curricula. French officials frequently described these schools and their students as "hyphens," drawing connections between larger French and Islamic forces.Samuel D. Anderson highlights this hyphenating idea, situating Franco-Muslim education between beliefs about not only France and Islam but also about tradition and modernity and about North and West Africa.

The médersa project had two goals: to create an elite class of Muslims friendly to the French imperial project and, subsequently, to mold Islam into a form that could be more easily controlled. A total of ten médersas opened across Algeria, Senegal, French Soudan, and Mauritania and closed only in the 1950s. The graduates of these schools, the medérsiens, went on to shape their societies profoundly but not always in the ways the French anticipated.

Drawing on archival and oral sources from Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, and France, The French Médersa proposes new ways to approach trans-Saharan history. Anderson argues that across northwest Africa, and for more than a century, Franco-Muslim education was central to the history of French empire and Islamic education alike.

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The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa
The French Médersa explores how the French state pursued a century-long project of bicultural Franco-Muslim education in its northwest African colonies, resulting in a new type of school, the médersa, that combined French and Islamic curricula. French officials frequently described these schools and their students as "hyphens," drawing connections between larger French and Islamic forces.Samuel D. Anderson highlights this hyphenating idea, situating Franco-Muslim education between beliefs about not only France and Islam but also about tradition and modernity and about North and West Africa.

The médersa project had two goals: to create an elite class of Muslims friendly to the French imperial project and, subsequently, to mold Islam into a form that could be more easily controlled. A total of ten médersas opened across Algeria, Senegal, French Soudan, and Mauritania and closed only in the 1950s. The graduates of these schools, the medérsiens, went on to shape their societies profoundly but not always in the ways the French anticipated.

Drawing on archival and oral sources from Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, and France, The French Médersa proposes new ways to approach trans-Saharan history. Anderson argues that across northwest Africa, and for more than a century, Franco-Muslim education was central to the history of French empire and Islamic education alike.

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The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa

The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa

by Samuel D. Anderson
The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa
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The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa

The French Médersa: Islamic Education and Empire in Northwest Africa

by Samuel D. Anderson

Overview

The French Médersa explores how the French state pursued a century-long project of bicultural Franco-Muslim education in its northwest African colonies, resulting in a new type of school, the médersa, that combined French and Islamic curricula. French officials frequently described these schools and their students as "hyphens," drawing connections between larger French and Islamic forces.Samuel D. Anderson highlights this hyphenating idea, situating Franco-Muslim education between beliefs about not only France and Islam but also about tradition and modernity and about North and West Africa.

The médersa project had two goals: to create an elite class of Muslims friendly to the French imperial project and, subsequently, to mold Islam into a form that could be more easily controlled. A total of ten médersas opened across Algeria, Senegal, French Soudan, and Mauritania and closed only in the 1950s. The graduates of these schools, the medérsiens, went on to shape their societies profoundly but not always in the ways the French anticipated.

Drawing on archival and oral sources from Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal, and France, The French Médersa proposes new ways to approach trans-Saharan history. Anderson argues that across northwest Africa, and for more than a century, Franco-Muslim education was central to the history of French empire and Islamic education alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781501784613
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication date: 01/15/2026
Pages: 252
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Samuel D. Anderson is a history teacher at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California.

What People are Saying About This

Kelly Duke Bryant

The French Médersa challenges existing methodologies, engages with trans-Saharan trajectories, and deepens our understanding of how one group of colonial intermediaries—teachers—shaped the institutions where they worked and colonial policy itself.

Augustin Jomier

This book is a tour de force that provides a remarkable and demanding investigation that opens up important avenues for reflection.

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Related Subjects

History
Social Sciences
World History
Islamic Studies
Civilization - History
Civilization - General & Miscellaneous
Islamic Studies - General & Miscellaneous
Middle East - Civilization
History
Social Sciences
World History
Islamic Studies
Civilization - History
Civilization - General & Miscellaneous
Islamic Studies - General & Miscellaneous
Middle East - Civilization

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