Sarah Zimmerman

@sjzimmerman

Historian, gender, West Africa, French imperialism, militarization, Author of Militarizing Marriage (Ohio UP 2020). Past-présidente of French Colonial Historical Society, BCDSS alum, recovering Oakland As Fan, PNW hiking/backpacking...w/ signature typoes

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Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· 1d

Got out for a shorter one today. The major mountains were socked in, so please enjoy this Jimothy cake....

a mountain meadow filled with purple flowers

green covered mountains with a cloudscape

Jimothy the raccoon on a cake as the seal of Washington state.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· 7d

Checked the primary results this morning. One of the candidates I would like to advance to the general (but couldn't vote for because they're in a different district) is closer to making it. Also, I am one of VERY few people that did something petty with my vote in an incumbent race.

screen cap of election statistics for whatcom county.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· 13d

I got out for a big one today. My feet will be elevated for the foreseeable future.

A high elevation trail splitting two snowcapped mountains.

my attempt at a selfie with mountains in background

the clouds are distracting from the snowy mountains

a morning shot of snow-topped mountains with a vertical meadow in the foreground.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· 17d

To my knowledge, we have a tradition of naming wildfires according to a local geographic feature. Contemplating a backpacking trip, I looked at my fire app today. These names would suggest that we will soon have "Flamey McFlamey Face Fire".

a screen cap from watch duty with two named forest fires, "Dirty Face Fire" and "Little Giant Fire"

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jun 28

Briefly, Maynooth & Howth.

Maynooth university -- old stones and steeple

a dusty, ferny paths with vegetation and water and sky. Looks like a tropical place, but its Ireland

yes, that is a shark looking like it's about to eat some soft serve

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jun 20

Beautiful day in the PNW...

mountains, snow, sky, trees featuring Koma Kulshan

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jun 16

A collection of images from 2002 that seem relevant to today.....Allez les Lions!!

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jun 14

I knew the US state department has been divesting from traditional diplomacy since the Obama admin, but I hadn't realized that 41/54 African countries currently do NOT have US ambassadors. Orange = no ambassador. Not even Rwanda?! Wild!

map of Africa with orange countries = no ambassador and green = w/ambassador

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jun 2

Got up to 6k ft for the first time this year. The melt off is in process. The pass was still snowed in.

a beautiful green mountain ridge in the distance with small evergreens with pockets of snow in the foreground.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· May 30

I've been so busy this quarter that I haven't been hiking much. Finally, in the past week I got out for some lake walks and a local lungbuster...

Lovely blue lake framed by reeds and grass in the foreground with trees hills in the background with a cloudy blue sky. Un-pictured, the large blue heron that I startled.

Close to sunset on a lake with darkened tress and their branched framing the photo. A scattered reflection of a golden setting sun on the water.

a vista from about 2000ft with treed hills extending to the horizon.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Apr 27

What class-action law suit is Bank of America anticipating? I received an email about how I need to opt out of a new user agreement that would prevent me from being included in a class action suit. I only use this banking institution for a frequent flyer credit card......

The agreement to arbitrate requires (with limited exception) that all disputes between you and us be resolved by binding arbitration whenever either party chooses to submit a dispute to arbitration or either party refers a lawsuit filed by the other to arbitration. Additionally, (1) you'll only be permitted to pursue claims on an individual basis, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action or proceeding, and (2) you may not be able to have any claims you have against us resolved by a jury or in a court of law.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Apr 26

During a 3-hour audition for Dir-Gen in front of 193 member states, former Senegalese president Macky Sall presented himself as a builder of bridges, & spoke to a vision of profoundly reformed UN....here are Senegalese soldiers that used live bullets during 2023 protests Sall could have prevented.

Protests from spring 2023 in Senegal in which soldiers with live bullets face off against protesters motivated into the streets due to Macky Sall's attempts to obstruct democratic process.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Apr 13

Reminder! My uni is hiring a one-year VAP in Medieval European History for the 2026-2027 academic year. I am the chair of this search. Send potential candidates with questions my way! Review of applications begins April 15, 2026 (in two days!!!)! (Is it Charlemagne or is it Christopher Walken?)

Rending of Charlemagne from the Aachen Museum. I think it looks like Christopher Walken

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Apr 11

In all the years I've lived here, my first time to the Tulip Festival....

rows of colorful tulips defended by a sign "please stay on the main roadway"

the tulips even snuck into the rows of daffodils

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Apr 1

Spread the word, my uni is hiring a one-year VAP in Medieval European History for the 2026-27 academic year. I am the chair of this search. Send potential candidates with questions my way! Review of applications begins 4/15/26! hr.wwu.edu/careers-facu... (photo from Carcassonne for attention)

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Mar 30

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Mar 30

A sea lion pup wakes up from a nap to go for a swim outside of santa cruz

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Mar 30

The transition from Winter to Spring Quarter is too short, so why not a "visite flash" to NorCal? Thanks to the friends and fam that made the time to see us & host us!

Art at the Crocker--multicolored bombs over a global map with the US imprinted all over it

Art at the Crocker...a mosque made up of bullets, guns, and other weapons

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Mar 17

As the espresso slurping Italians fall, join me in cheering on team Venezuela tonight in the World Baseball Classic!

ronald acuña jr celebrating after an RBI single at the WBC seminfal

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Feb 27

Does anyone know where I can find a clip of Fela Kuti on Sesame Street....or has my memory completely made this up?

picture of Fela Kuti performing at a piano

picture of 1970s cast of Sesame Street w/ muppets

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Feb 18

I am assembling a panel or two at the annual African Studies Association meeting in December. have attached the Call for Co-Panelists and posted it to the ASA's website. Please consider sending an abstract and/or spreading the word. Send queries my way. Gender and Social Order in Precolonial Africa

I am seeking a capacious conversation about gender and social order in precolonial Africa. This panel aims to redress the dearth of scholarly publications concerning gender in this vast era of the continent’s history. The twenty-first century has witnessed a breathtaking expansion of Africanist scholarship that prioritizes queer, feminist, and decolonial analysis, aiming to destabilize categories of gender and personhood affiliated with colonial “universalisms” and their attendant ideologies. In theorizing the coloniality of gendered identities, norms, and relations, Africanist scholars have scrutinized colonial and postcolonial evidence to critique the present and its prologue. Inspired by these efforts, this panel aims to probe the epistemological limits of precolonial gendered ways of being and historicize them.

Proposals in English or French, concerning any region of the continent, are welcome. Prospective presentations could engage innovative methodologies and/or theories to (re)examine primary sources relevant to precolonial Africa. Given the corpus of precolonial primary sources, how can we write histories of gendered order beyond elite perspectives? Papers could address how authority, access, or possible futures were gendered in precolonial Africa. Papers could interrogate gender as one contingent component of personhood or communal association, as gender identities are embedded in social relations informed by generational distinction, lineage or household membership, inheritance/succession traditions, cosmological/religious beliefs, class or caste affiliation, artisanal occupation or material production, ethnolinguistic differentiation, and enslavability or marginalized status. I also welcome presentations that expand the “limits of invention” debates related to gendered norms, traditions, and institutions.

I will present a paper informed by oral traditions on matrilineal inheritance and gendered authority in sixteenth-century Senegambia.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Feb 11

Screen cap in English and Russian of a social media recruitment campaign for Zimbabwean soldiers. I think it is amusing that it tries to convey urgency by claiming "limited spots"

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 20

For my students and colleagues today....

Close up of red, yellow and green cookies---the Senegal flag, with "REK" or "only" in Wolof spelled out across some of them.

red, yellow and green cookies---the Senegal flag, with "REK" or "only" in Wolof spelled out across some of them.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 18

I watched the game at the local soccer bar...now the regulars are aware of the passion of Senegalese ultras. I thought it was over with that penalty, but Pape Gueye's left foot brought down the sky.

Picture of Pape Gueye after scoring the only (well there may have been another) goal in the final of the African Cup of Nations

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 14

Also, this made me chuckle.

A computer generated image (perhaps AI) of a lion draped in a Senegal flag atop an egyptian pyramid.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 14

It's Senegal v. Morocco on Sunday (11am local time). I'll be at the local soccer bar clinging to my hopes and a record of senegalese football excellence. It should be a competitive match....with Morocco having the home advantage.

advertisement for Senegal v Morocco (in french) for the final match of Afcon

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 14

whew.....

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 14

Biting nails.....

a CGI with the Senegal v. Egypt symbols over a football pitch

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 12

I've been trying to read more fiction over the past months w/ some success. Finished The Healers by Ayi Kwei Armah (1978) last night. It takes place during the Second Asante War and deals beautifully with precolonial inequality and theories of originary/continental & diasporic pan-africanism.

A book cover for Ayi Kwei ARMAH's The Healers. It is a river bank photograph.

Sarah Zimmerman@sjzimmerman· Jan 10

Congrats to Nigeria and good luck against Morocco on Wednesday... ...when Senegal will play the winner of the this match...which begins in 15m