Why Bondoukou and Zinder?
"Drinking the Word of God" is a product of scholarly research conducted by the exhibition's curators, Rob Glew and Ray Silverman. Glew, a cultural anthropologist, lived in Zinder, located in southern Niger, from 1988 to 1990 as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and then again in 1994-95 and 1996 while he was conducting research that dealt with Muslim identity and religious change in Zinder. Silverman, an art historian, lived in Bondoukou, located in northeastern Côte d'Ivoire, from November 1987 to July 1988 while he investigated the historical relationship between the Dyula and Akan peoples of the region.

Robert Glew, Ph.D., Curator
Raymond Silverman, Ph.D., Curator

Malek Towghi, Research Assistant
Cheikh Anta Mbacke Babou, Consultant
Mamadou Balde, Consultant

Additional funding for the exhibition was provided by the Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID)

Glew's research in Zinder was supported by a fellowship granted by the Institute of International Education, awards granted by the Office of International Studies and Programs (MSU), the Graduate School (MSU), the College of Social Science (MSU), and by research funds from the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History and Michigan State University Museum.

Silverman's research in Bondoukou was supported by fellowships granted by the U.S. Department of Education, the Social Science Research Council, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

We wish to thank the scholars of Zinder and Bondoukou who generously shared their knowledge and views of spiritual belief and practices with the exhibition's curators so they might, in turn, share their understanding of these traditions with the MSU community.