Beschreibung
David C. Conrad has been the president of MANSA, the Mande Studies
Association, since its foundation in 1986. Hence, he was sometimes
jokingly lauded as the MANSA mansa, the “king of MANSA”. His tenure has
been marked by a growth in the association’s membership and ambitions. The
membership list now counts hundreds, spread over twenty-five or more
countries. MANSA organized six international conferences, and it has seen
the birth of a journal ( Mande Studies) and of a monograph series
( Mande Worlds). Crucial to MANSA’s success are David Conrad’s leadership and
dedication, his insistence on inclusion, and the measures he has taken to
ensure that African colleagues would remain involved in the Association’s
activities. MANSA is an association founded upon the principles of
badenya, fully conscious that the core of its mission lies in the Mande
world itself.
David Conrad has now retired from his teaching position at the State
University of New York at Oswego, and returned to his home in California.
He has suggested to the membership that the time is coming for him to step
down from his long-held position. He will then no longer be the
MANSA mansa. We propose that his new title should be not
bemba, which relegates him to antiquity, but one which recognizes
the breadth of his effort: Mande mansa.
