August 15, 2006 | Faculty

Diagne Named Koldyke Outstanding Professor

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Souleymane Bachir Diagne, professor of philosophy and religion at Northwestern University, has been named the Martin J. and Patricia Koldyke Outstanding Teaching Professor.

Prior to joining the Northwestern faculty in 2002, Diagne was vice dean of the College of Humanities and professor of philosophy at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal.

His work is focused on the history of logic and mathematics, epistemology, the tradition of philosophy in the Islamic world, identity formation and African philosophies.

Among Diagne's many publications are two books on George Boole, “Boole, l'oiseau de nuit en plein jour” [translated as “Boole, a nightbird in the daylight”] (1989), and a French translation of Boole's “Laws of Thought” (1992).

In the field of Islamic philosophy, he has written a book on Indian poet and philosopher Muhammad Iqbal, “Islam et societé ouvert: La fidélité et le mouvement dans la philosophie d'Iqbal” [translated as “Islam and the open society: fidelity and movement in Muhammad Iqbal's thought”] (2001).

In another book published in 2001, “Reconstruire le sens. Textes et enjeux de prospectives africaines,” Diagne takes up the debate concerning an “African philosophy” and the crisis of meaning.

He has also edited and written introductions to numerous publications, and he has given presentations (to be published) at Johns Hopkins and Rice universities on Muhammad Iqbal.

Diagne is a member of the editorial board of Revue d'histoire des Mathematiques and of Pressence Africaine, as well as a member of the Pan-African Council for the Development of Research in Social Sciences (CODESRIA).

A student of Louis Althusser and Jacques Derrida, Diagne has also presented talks in Dakar and Paris on “Senghor and Teilhard de Chardin on the convergence of cultures.”

From 1993 to 1999 Diagne was a special adviser to the President of Senegal for cultural and educational policy.