Babacar came to CIE from Senegal, where among other things he was a griot – a story teller who preserves the oral tradition and history of a village or family.  After getting his Master’s degree in education he enrolled in a doctoral program in the French Department at UMass. 

In spring of 2005, at one of CIE’s Tuesday meetings, he announced that he was defending his dissertation that day, almost ten years to the day from when he arrived at CIE to begin studying for his Master’s degree,   His dissertation title was Negro African Theatre: Beyond traditional boundaries, development and new challenges.

In 2017 he wrote in response to an email: I am sorry for not having been a good correspondent. You may remember how resistant I was to email communication: I am a griot and I communicate in spoken words. That resistance has become stronger as I age (Ton oeil!).

After leaving UMass he became an assistant professor at Valdosta State University in Georgia in the Modern and Classical Languages Department.  He taught French and African Literature there until he retired in 2020 after 19 years of service. . In Valdosta he was also active in outreach, working with local churches to bring a more accurate understanding of Islam to the local community particularly in light of current world affairs. He served as the treasurer of the Valdosta Islamic Center for many years.

He says: I retired in 2020 and went back to Senegal with my wife where we have been since then. I am truly enjoying my time back home. Remember "a Griot always returns home." My wife Khady and I left behind in the US our four children and eight grandchildren. They are post-modern Griots who can only survive in the US which is their country - being cultural foreigners in Senegal.[10-23]

Email: bkmboup@gmail.com