Global Studies Program

Global Studies is pleased to announce that Esther Helm is the recipient of this year’s Outland Award for the best senior seminar paper. Esther’s paper, entitled ‘Mali’s “New Era”: the Competing Historical Narratives of the Transition Government and the Islamic State,’ uses discourse analysis to make sense of political speeches delivered by Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga, of the transition government, and Abu Bakr Al-Husayni Al-Qurashi Al-Baghadadi, of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. Through a close reading of these texts, Esther identifies how the two organizations use history to legitimize their competing political projects. The committee was impressed with Esther’s careful and nuanced analysis, which identifies central themes in each speech and key discursive strategies. Drawing on this material, Esther explains how each group views its political role in Mali’s evolving crisis.