Program Highlights

Program Dates

Fall 2026

Faculty Director

Youssef Carter, UNC Department of Religious Studies

As an anthropologist of religion, I am interested in the manner in which religious discourses and movements become oriented in the direction of abolition. At the moment, I am fascinated with how Muslims in the United States and in West Africa interpret their religion as a means of empowerment in the face of oppression, while relying on scripture and prophetic narration to navigate hostile political realities. To that end, I am working on a book called “The Vast Oceans: Remembering God and Self on the Mustafawi Sufi Path” which is a multisite ethnography of a transatlantic spiritual network of African-American and West African Sufis that deploy West African spiritual training to navigate historical-political contexts in the U.S. South and beyond.

I am also proud to share that I am chief editor for a multi-volume work entitled “Servant of the Messenger: The Spiritual Life of Shaykh Ahmad Bamba Mbacke”— Authored entirely by his great-grandson, Shaykh Moustapha Mbacke, the series is written for those who are more inclined to the inner life of sainthood. Using declassified colonial documents as well as original writings of Shaykh Ahmad Bamba, in addition to family narrative, the work provides an unprecedented spiritual biography of a visionary who sparked the Murid movement in Senegal and around the world.

For the past few years, I have also led a small editorial team for an online magazine project, Voyages Africana Journal. Part journal, online magazine, and blog, Voyages is a visual and literary space that serves as a creative educational and cultural tool for students and lovers of the Africana World. In addition to these projects and others, I serve as an advisory board member of the ‘After Malcolm Digital Archive’, sponsored in part by the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, which chronicles the oral histories of African-American Muslims and serves as a repository for digitized historical documents, newspapers, and memorabilia related to their involvement in the Black Freedom Struggle from 1965 onward.

On campus, I look forward to teaching courses on Sufism and Islam in the United States, particularly in regard to the African-American experience, and in West Africa. In addition to introductory courses on the religion of Islam, I will also teach Ethnicity, Race and Religion in the United States.

Highlights

UNC’s Honors Semester in Cape Town enables students to learn about the achievements, complexities, and challenges of post-apartheid South Africa through a range of academic and experiential learning opportunities.

While living and learning in one of the most beautiful and diverse cities in the world, you will not only learn about the country’s rich and complex history. You will also immerse yourself in the living history of South Africa by interning with institutions that are helping to create a democratic civil society.

You will have the opportunity to visit significant South African historical and cultural sites such as Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other anti-Apartheid leaders were imprisoned, and the historic District 6 in the city’s center. Educational excursions to these and other sites are embedded in the academic courses, all of which are designed to help you contextualize your experiences.

You will also have the opportunity to get to know the country’s historical and cultural richness during week-long excursions to other parts of the country, including one or more of its unmatchable wildlife reserves.

All participants remain enrolled at UNC, earning graded Honors Carolina course credit for a full semester’s work. Courses count toward fulfillment of general education as well as major requirements.