Madina Thiam is a PhD student in History at UCLA. Her research focuses on Islam and knowledge networks in 19th and 20th century Sahara. She is interested in the discursive, literary, and migratory practices whereby Muslims acquired and transmitted knowledge across the region, as well as the various identities they acquired and were assigned while doing so. She obtained her B.A. in History in 2012. Her thesis was entitled: “A Wide Web of Words: Islam, Written Discourse, and the Golden Age of Timbuktu 1321-1591″.