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Sometimes, I forget the title of my own thesis.
A blackout, of sorts, in the middle of my work.
Yet, the structure of my plan is fleshing out: I keep meeting new PhD students…
and the more I experience and learn,
the more confused my thoughts and notes get.
Are you from Paris?
Yes, I live here in Montreuil.
I was born in Germany, and my husband is Senegalese.
I was lucky enough to get a PhD contract – that is, financial support –
from the Graduate School of Geography.
It’s open not just to geographers, but also political scientists, sociologists and anthropologists,
even though there are lots of geographers.
I have a three-year contract to do a PhD on the environmental management of coastal urban areas.
I’m interested specifically in Dakar, Senegal.
I address the notion of territory and how this territory is occupied by very different populations.
Now, I’m focusing on one specific population, the Lebou, who are not an actual ethnic group.
They define themselves as a collectivity, a community,
and consider themselves to be the indigenous population of Dakar.
I try to figure out how the people claiming to be Lebou, and proud of it, view the coastline.
That’s where the topic becomes more anthropological:
it’s about the way one population views an area…
and the way other populations view this group in this area.
I don’t want the images I shot to serve only as illustrations.
I think that they’ll really have a cognitive status in my PhD.
They might even replace one of my thesis chapters.
I mean, in one of my chapters,
I might direct the reader to the movie, so that it can be included in the thesis.
At first, I was helping her manage the equipment.
At the same time, as a Senegalese, I could introduce her to the Lebou,
and act as a translator, so it made things a bit easier.
There are so many different populations in Senegal…
You always pay more attention to what’s outside your own world, though.
For example, I’ve always lived around the Lebou, but I never asked myself who they really were.
I want to expand the study further on the issue of women,
and how they perpetuate the traditional Lebou relationship with the coastline.
It’s the women who transmit local skills,
and teach the others about the places where the jinn, or spirits, live…
and about the things to do to live in harmony with nature and the spirit world.
So, how do you organize your life between Senegal and France?
I work on the ground in Senegal for 6 months, and come back to France for 6 months…
to work with my data, write my thesis and meet with my PhD supervisor.
We need to get the kids in school,
find a new nanny, move our stuff, settle in again…
It’s always a bit of a hassle.
I’m going to set up a circus workshop in Dakar.
My husband works in music and video, so we’re always around…
Arthur: …the arts.
Isabelle: Yes. We’d like to create a cultural space in Dakar.
You know, I chose this subject because I like it, and also because – let’s be honest –
I had a good chance of getting financial support for it.
Environment, sustainable development, resource management… It’s a growing area.
It’s true it was in my interest this topic.
But I chose Dakar, the population, the coast, because I really like it.
The more I refine my subject, the closer it is to my heart.
The ties that bind...
family and territory...
sociability and routine...
PhD and personal life…
I want to address all of this. Good thing I met with Isabelle.
She’s such a singular example of a life full of adventure and creative work.
I feel kind of lonely, all of a sudden.
As if, for the past few weeks,
my PhD has been accompanying me, consuming my thoughts more and more each day…