MA student presenting at the conference of the International Society for the Study of African Jewry (ISSAJ)

The conference, titled From Beyond the Rivers of Cush: African Communities Negotiating Jewish Identities, brought together scholars working on the history, identities, and contemporary developments of Jewish communities in Africa and the African diaspora. Participants represented a range of disciplines including African Studies, Jewish Studies, theology, history, and the study of religions. The event provided a platform for geographically dispersed scholars to discuss fieldwork, ethnographic documentation, and community-led perspectives from across Africa and the diaspora, including Côte d'Ivoire, South Africa, Ethiopia, and other regions.

During the conference Teis Fælling presented research based on fieldwork conducted in The Gambia between September 2025 and January 2026 as part of his MA thesis in African Studies at the University of Copenhagen. His presentation focused on a reported Jewish community in The Gambia, highlighting some of the challenges of studying emerging religious groups where institutional structures are minimal and claims to Jewish identity are still being negotiated.

“Presenting my findings in a room full of experts was both exciting and a little intimidating, but it offered a chance to situate my observations within broader debates on identity and religious practice in Africa,” Teis says.

He highlights a memorable session that focused on the Lemba Jews, with a member of the community sharing personal stories and reflections. “Hearing these firsthand perspectives made it clear how much identity is lived and negotiated on the ground, not just written about in books. Overall, the conference gave me the opportunity to engage with leading scholars in this relatively niche field and to see how research is conducted across different countries and disciplines,” Teis explains.

Conference Paper

The paper Teis Fælling presented at the conference is entitled: “Tracing an Elusive Jewish Network in The Gambia.” It draws on fieldwork conducted during his third semester of his MA in African Studies. His fieldwork was originally focused on Christian minority communities in The Gambia, but references to a small Jewish congregation led him to pursue this line of inquiry alongside the main project. Presenting the paper at the conference allowed him to situate these observations in relation to other ongoing research. Across different case studies, similar dynamics emerged, particularly regarding the role of digital media, the importance of personal networks. This suggested that the dynamics observed in The Gambia are not isolated, but part of a wider pattern in the study of emerging Jewish communities in Africa.

Upcoming MA Thesis

Teis Fælling's upcoming thesis builds on this research by examining emerging Jewish communities in West Africa, with a particular focus on The Gambia. It investigates how claims to Jewish identity are articulated and sustained in contexts where institutional structures are limited and external recognition is uncertain. The project combines ethnographic fieldwork, digital methods, and interviews to examine how Jewish identity is constructed and legitimized in West Africa.

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