معرفی
Douglas Thomas serves as Associate Professor in the Department of African & African-American Studies at SUNY Brockport, where he has taught since 2018 after prior appointments at Cuttington University (Liberia), Université Kofi Annan de Guinée (Guinea-Conakry), and Grambling State University. His research centers on West African religious history with sustained fieldwork in Senegal.
His academic credentials include:
- PhD in History from Georgia State University (2010)
- MA in History from Louisiana Tech University (2001)
- BA in History from University of Central Arkansas (1997)
Dr. Thomas specializes in Senegalese religious movements, particularly Sufism and Mahdism, with expertise in the Layenne brotherhood and dual-gender authority systems. His acclaimed 2012 monograph Sufism, Mahdism, and Nationalism: Limamou Laye and the Layennes of Senegal established foundational scholarship on this topic, followed by co-editing the reference work African Religions: Belief and Practice through History (2018). Current projects examine West African gender structures in African-American churches and a biography of 18th-century Kajoor king Latsukaabe Ngoné Fall.
His publication trajectory reveals consistent focus on religious resistance frameworks, evolving from early analyses of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba's anti-colonial theology to contemporary examinations of Islamic responses to white supremacy. Recurring themes include reinterpretations of jihad through female leadership (e.g., The Lingeer's Jihad) and the transnational dimensions of African religious movements like Zionist churches.
