AAP will be hosting our next Public Dialogue “Peace and its Reflection in African Art”, Wednesday, April 27th at 8:00am- 9:30am EDT. This dialogue session will be co-hosted by AAP consortium member -Université des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako. Art is a reflection, a mental representation of an object, an idea, or a concept whether it be abstract or concrete. Therefore, when we pass any judgment on a work of art based on the image or the idea that we have of this object and outside of its historical, geographical, social, or ethnic context, it is likely that this will be a subjective judgment and often based on prejudices. Unfortunately, contemporary artistic production on the African continent is often focused on and reflects fixed concepts and structures "imposed" by the West. It no longer responds to the aesthetic concerns of the populations who, in principle, should generate it. This panel will bring together specialists focused on art and peace within Africa. This subject is especially timely given the current context of global upheaval.   To register please visit: https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/7716492601543/WN_FyyKDq_zT6ug4vxHi_ApEw?fbclid=IwAR0sa0-aPf6sGkp5GbY8ScMZsEJZwIhPAz6K1QEOWqURxqhngLA_tYc9mRc Read more

Applications from young feminist groups from all majority countries to apply. More information is here.

Since the early 1990s, political, social and economic instability in East Africa,1  including long-running conflicts in Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia and Burundi, has produced high rates of displacement. Movement within and from the region has led to substantial refugee populations being housed in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as a large diaspora of East Africans scattered across the globe.   Among those leaving their countries of origin are a significant number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons. Many are fleeing state-sanctioned violence, including arrest, prosecution and imprisonment, while others seek to escape oppressive social norms and community opprobrium, often experienced as gossip, beatings, outings, extortion, familial abuse and forced marriage. These efforts to preserve the heteronormative social order are buttressed by the expansion of colonial-era penal codes, the growing influence of anti-LGBTQI+ religious movements and the strategic use of anti-LGBTQI+ discourses by political elites looking to consolidate their power and authority.   While LGBTQI+ refugees and asylum seekers in East African have recently begun to attract media attention, there is yet to be sustained academic engagement with their lives and experiences. This collection will address this knowledge gap by bringing together diverse scholarship on the drivers, impacts and consequences of displacement linked to sexual orientation and/or gender identity and expression. It will do so by exploring all aspects of LGBTQI+ migration, including displacement catalysts, mobility pathways, transit routes, migration governance, encampment policies, humanitarian interventions, resettlement challenges, integration strategies, livelihood programmes and public advocacy. By centring the experiences of LGBTQI+ East Africans who move, the collection will produce new insights into the geographical, historical and cultural specificities of a region that both produces and hosts individuals fleeing homophobic and transphobic persecution.   This will be an interdisciplinary publication, and we invite submissions from all academic fields, including migration studies, gender studies, border studies, religious studies, media studies, legal studies, literary studies, public health, history, sociology and anthropology. We also welcome abstracts that consider the lives of LGBTQI+ East Africans in the diaspora and the impacts of LGBTQI+ East Africans on global, regional or local protection mechanisms. Those working outside of the academy (humanitarian workers, legal practitioners, service providers, etc.) are welcome to submit abstracts of a scholarly nature. Possible topic areas include, but are not limited to, the following: The state of research: Trends in LGBTQI+ migration research and knowledge gaps. Theorising LGBTQI+ displacement: Looking beyond South-North migration trajectories, rethinking movement, boundaries and borderlands, challenging European 'exceptionalism' and so on. Methodological tensions: Unpacking the ethics and practices of researching and representing LGBTQI+ mobilities, the use of arts-based methodologies, decolonial approaches to migration research and so on. Law and justice: Making sense of legal challenges and opportunities relating to LGBTQI+ migration, including local, regional and international protection mechanisms, state responses to decriminalisation and so on. Structures of asylum and migration: Encampment, waiting, documentation, border controls, online fundraising campaigns, illegality as orientation, the finitude of language and so on. Documenting, archiving and disseminating knowledge: Partnerships (civil society, government, policy-makers, etc.), research uptake beyond the academy, data security, keeping LGBTQI+ communities safe when 'going public' and so on. Representations in film, literature and media: Reflections on how LGBTQI+ displacement in/from East Africa is produced, discussed and circulated through creative works. The role of religion and culture: The relationship of institutions, practices, networks and discourses with migration, with faith as a mediator of belonging or dispossession.  Research in action: Empirical findings from recent studies on LGBTQI+ displacement in the region. Prospective authors are asked to submit an abstract (500 words max) and a short bio to queerdisplacementea@gmail.com by 1 April 2022. Read more

The Journal for the History of Knowledge features an annual special issue, compiled by guest editors, which explores a theme central to the journal’s scope. The special issues of previous years have been Histories of Bureaucratic Knowledge (2020) and Histories of Ignorance(2021). We are currently accepting proposals for the 2024 Special Issue. Proposals should contain the following: A description of the proposed theme (1500-2000 words) highlighting its significance for the history of knowledge A table of contents (typically 8-12 articles of 8000 words) Abstracts of the articles Two-page CVs of the editors; short biographies of the contributors An outline of the production process up to manuscript submission. All manuscripts must be submitted to the journal by May 2023. Please send your proposal to: jhokjournal@gmail.com Proposal deadline: 1 May 2022Notification of acceptance: by 30 July 2022   After submission, all manuscripts will go through a process of peer-review, author’s revisions, and copy-editing. JHoK is a diamond Open Access journal, at no charge to the authors. Details of the journal’s scope and a full list of the editorial team and advisory editorial board is available on the journal's website. Read more

Theme: COVID-19 and Global Africa For its maiden issue, the editors of the Global Village Review are inviting scholars, essayists, and book reviewers to submitscholarly articles, critical essays, or book reviews on topics that center around the wide variety of issues that impact COVID-19 has had on Africa and peoples of African descent, globally. We encourage submissions from researchers, educators, artists, and policymakers from around the world in all disciplines, in both the social sciences and the humanities.Suggested Topics Status of Vaccine Science in Africa/Vaccine Hesitancy Among African-Americans/Reasons for Low COVID-19 Mortality Rates in Africa/Impact of COVID-19 on African Economies/Impact of COVID-19 on Caribbean Economies/Virtual Learning Experiences at African Institutions under COVID-19/Impact of COVID-19 among African Diasporans in Latin America/Impact of COVID-19 on African Diaspora in Britain/Plight of Front-Line COVID-19 Healthcare Workers in the African Diaspora/Impact of COVID-19 on Tourism in Global Africa/Post-COVID-19 Recovery in Africa   Submission Guidelines:Reference Style: APA (7th Edition):https://libguides.jcu.edu.au/apaLength of Submissions:Articles & Essays: 5000-8000 wordsBook Reviews: 1000-3000 wordsAuthor’s Bio: Brief (1-3 lines)Abstract Submission: 75-100 wordsEmail Address for Submissions and Inquiries:mwwilliams91@webster.edu   Submission Deadline: May 1, 2022   Journal Profile The Global Village Review (GVR) is an online, bi-annual, peer-reviewed journal, designed to provide critical analysis ofglobal affairs from an Africana-centered perspective. Its primary focus is to examine matters of global significance affectingthe African World. GVR consists of three parts: research articles, critical essays, and book reviews. Based on a double-blindreview process, the editorial policy of GVR will ensure that all submissions, regardless of political leanings, will begiven equal consideration.   To learn more: Call for Papers: Global Village Review-COVID-19 and Global Africa | H-Africa | H-Net Read more

Digital financial services have the potential to positively affect women’s economic empowerment, despite limitations that restrict their access to and use of financial resources and services. Building on the Digital Finance and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Beyond Production Roles in Agriculture and Food Systems report published by the Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment Program, this webinar will invite participants to learn about promoting women’s economic empowerment in agriculture using digital financial services.  Presenters will share out the findings, conclusions, and recommendations from the report, highlighting through a fireside chat the lessons learned and best practices from implementers and service providers working in the DFS space, and provide time for participants to pose questions to the presenters.    To learn more/Register: Using Digital Finance to Promote Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agriculture | Agrilinks Read more

Do you have a demonstrated commitment to advancing sustainability for Africa’s landscapes, seascapes and communities?Do you want to be part of a global community of friends working to promote sustainable and equitable land management through the landscapes approach?Are you between 18 and 35 years old?The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), in partnership with the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL), is launching the first ever “Young African Landscape Leadership” program, an 8-months program filled with networking meetings, regional dialogues, workshops and more.Let us know who you are, and your motivation to join. With a median age of just 19.7 years, Africa’s diverse population is by far the youngest  of any other continent in the world. These unique demographics offer a significant advantage in the drive to revive ecosystems and safeguard livelihoods. Africa’s youth have immense potential to forge a new development model and vision for the continent as they are already champions for landscape action and community-based solutions.    The GLF, in partnership with the Youth in Landscapes Initiative, is launching the first ever Young African Landscape Leadership, an eight-month annual program filled with networking meetings, regional dialogues, workshops and much more.    Learn more/apply: Young African Landscape Leadership 2022 - Youth in Landscapes Initiative (globallandscapesforum.org) Read more

The Young African Leadership Programme funded by the European Commission is a tailor-made fellowship and training programme aiming at catalysing and fostering changes as envisioned in the Africa Agenda 2063 and in the Africa-EU Partnership. After a pilot cohort in Autumn 2021, the second cohort of Young African Leaders is expected in Florence in September 2022   The Young African Leaders Programme is a fellowship scheme that provides a unique opportunity for policy experts from Africa (all regions) to further develop their policy work and professional and leadership skills amidst international experts.   Furthermore, the Programme aims at creating new networks, connecting a strong cohort of leaders committed to driving change in their own countries and across the continent, as well as address the gender gaps and foster inclusivity in leadership roles.   In the dynamic academic environment of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, selected participants will take part in workshops, training and skills development sessions, conferences, and study visits in Europe. Interaction with the other fellows, policymakers and the academic community at the EUI will make this a truly unforgettable experience. The structure of the Programme will be as follows: Executive Training Seminars on thematic issues; Professional Development Workshops, providing a set of leadership skills, tools and concrete case studies; Study Visits to EU institutions, relevant academia, and international organisations Final individual written assignment Award of the YALP certificate of attendance Connection to network of scholars and practitioners knowledgeable in relevant transnational governance The three-month leadership programme takes place from the 1 September 2022 to the 30 November 2022. Fellowships are fully-funded with a grant of € 2,500 per month. The selected African fellows must live in the area of Florence for the duration of their stay. The language of the Programme is English. Where possible, the STG will seek to integrate French. The Programme has an intensive training schedule, and is therefore a full-time and fully-funded fellowship scheme.     Who should apply? The Programme targets mid-career, high potential policy-makers, diplomats, and professionals from Africa, working in national and local authorities, regional, continental, international organisations and development partners, civil society organisations, academia, media and private sector, in Africa. More precisely, the Programme is open to professionals (M/F/X), mid-career and executives alike, who are nationals of African countries, residing in Africa and are up to the age of 35.   This Programme is supported by the European Commission, Directorate-General for International Partnerships. This Call for applications is launched under a suspension clause, related to the final approval of the financing decision of the Programme by the European Commission. According to such clause, should not the financing decision be taken, the EUI/STG reserve the right to cancel the call without any prejudice to the Institute and potential beneficiaries.   This programme is supported by the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission. For enquiries about applications please vist: Young African Leaders Programme • European University Institute (eui.eu)    Or contact: apply.fellowships.stg@eui.eu Read more

The 2022 Call for Nominations is open until 20 May Gender equality in education is a basic right and a prerequisite to build inclusive societies. Although notable progress has been made over the last 20 years, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to education and exacerbated existing inequalities, disproportionately affecting girls and women. Today, 127 million girls of primary and secondary school age are out of school,  three quarters  of children who may never set foot in school are girls while women still accounted for almost two-thirds of all adults unable to read in 2019. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).   The UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education honours outstanding and innovative contributions made by individuals, institutions, and organizations to advance girls’ and women’s education. It is the first UNESCO Prize of this nature and is unique in showcasing successful projects that improve and promote the educational prospects of girls and women and in turn, the quality of their lives. Funded by the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Prize is conferred annually to two laureates and consists of an award of US $50,000 each to help further their work in the area of girls’ and women’s education. The Director-General of UNESCO awarded the Prize for the first time in 2016.   Established by UNESCO’s Executive Board, the Prize directly contributes to the attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development agenda, particularly SDG 4 on education and 5 on gender equality. It also supports UNESCO’s global priorities included in the Medium-term Strategy 2022-2029 and the Gender Equality Action Plan 2014-2021 (GEAP II), as well as the UNESCO strategy for gender equality in and through education (2019-2025). Read more

Research Teams are invited to submit Concept Notes for two-year research projects. Teams successful at the Concept Note stage will be invited to submit Full Proposals. The following types of research are considered in scope: Epidemiological studies that describe and analyze patterns of diseases or health among women and consider different population and occupational factors. Population health research that explores diverse women’s experiences as individuals and within the society (e.g., family and community, intergenerational relationships, socioeconomic groups, work groups and enterprises). Intervention and Implementation research focused on exploring how policies, practices and strategies already put in place to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 influence the relationships between women’s paid and unpaid work and their health. Specific Research Areas A subset of funds is available to support research that is relevant to the scope and objectives of Women RISE and specifically addresses one of the following three Specific Research Areas: Infectious diseases research focused on understanding how relationships between women’s work and health have been shaped by and are shaping disruptions to infectious disease prevention, immunization programs and care services. HIV/AIDS STBBI research specific to women living with HIV/AIDS, COVID-19-related disruptions to HIV and STBBI prevention or care services, or the health of women in occupations that put them at increased risk for HIV and STBBI acquisition. Pandemics and other health emergencies research that investigates ways the COVID-19 experience can inform, improve, and safeguard women’s health and socioeconomic well-being against future health emergencies. Eligibility The Research Team must include a Principal Investigator (PI) who is a low- and middle-income country (LMIC) researcher based in the LMIC Lead Applicant Organization and residing in an eligible LMIC country/territory where the research is proposed. The PI will be the team lead and will work in close collaboration with a Canada-based Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) and a Decision-Maker Co-PI based in the same country as the Lead Applicant Organization or in a country where the research will take place. For applications involving Indigenous communities, the RT must include at least one member who self-identifies as Indigenous or provides evidence of having meaningful and culturally safe involvement with Indigenous Peoples in an Indigenous Health Research Environment.   The Research Team must also include a Lead Applicant Organization and a Canadian Co-Applicant Organization. More details For more information, please read the detailed call for concept notes. Please also consult our frequently asked questions. Read more

Two organizations are looking for interns with good writing skills, in Dar es Salaam and Arusha, Tanzania. Both can provide secure and well-appointed housing for the volunteer, but other expenses (food, transport, visa) will have to be covered by the volunteer. Both would be good opportunities for graduate students with an interest in East Africa to meet people and become part of a community. Swahili proficiency is not needed, but some familiarity with Swahili would be valuable for a good experience.    Mkuki na Nyota Publishers is Tanzania's most prestigious publisher and the volunteer will work under the direction of the owner and director, Walter Bgoya, one of Tanzania's elder statesmen of letters. The intern will be involved in all aspects of publishing depending on expertise, but mainly marketing and copyediting in English. The volunteer would be provided with a safe and well-appointed apartment in downtown Dar es Salaam near the Mkuku na Nyota office. Interested candidates should contact Walter Bgoya by email.    Pamoja Tuwalee grows out World Education Inc. (WEI) and continues to implement projects in education and care for orphans and vulnerable children. The volunteer would work with Lilian Badi, who has worked with WEI and its associated programs for over a decade. The volunteer would work primarily on proposal writing. The volunteer would be provided with a safe and well-appointed apartment near the Pamoja Tuwalee office. Interested candidates should contact Lillian Badi by email.   For more questions you can also reach out to Paul Bjerk at Texas Tech University Read more

CFP for IJIA Special Issue on Climate Change and the Built Environment in the Islamic World Special Issue: Climate Change and the Built Environment in the Islamic World Thematic volume planned for May 2024 (IJIA 13.2)Proposal submission deadline: April 30, 2022 This special issue of IJIA focuses on the impact of the current climate crisis on the built environments of the Islamic world. Environmentalist scholar and eco-theologist Seyyed Hossein Nasr once said that the natural environment occupies a type of ‘sacred’ space in the world, an elevated position that exists only because nature is ‘always in danger of desecration’ (Chidester and Linenthal 1995). In fact, many scientists are now seeing our current global predicament as evidence of the emergence of a ‘fifth nature’ or ‘post nature’, referring to a world ‘after’ nature or potentially beyond or in addition to it, which expands the central definition of the ‘natural’ to include man-made waste, environmental pollution, and importantly climate change as part and parcel of a lived and living ecosystem (Apotsos and Venter 2020). To this end, this special issue takes up the challenge of unpacking this complex topic by utilizing architecture as a space of discourse for thinking about how one might craft a theory of ‘critical environmentalism’ across the Islamic world. Currently accounting for 40 per cent of the world’s total energy usage per year, the built environment provides a fitting platform for a consideration of climate change and attendant environmental themes such as sustainability –  broadly defined as ‘the endurance of systems and processes’ – towards examining how such realities are made manifest through the lens of diverse spatial templates within Muslim societies around the globe.   To this point, many architectural approaches being explored in the contemporary period as potential solutions to building in an increasingly unstable climatic future are rooted in historical practices, many of which emerged in proto-Islamic lands. Archaeological evidence from North Africa and the Middle East, for example, not only suggest that early civilizations used thermodynamically efficient materials like earth to build in desert environments, but also developed an understanding of how to generate livable microclimates through infrastructural design and engineering. Some of these early approaches have also served as the basis for some of the first modern attempts at crafting climate-appropriate design, spearheaded by architects such as Hassan Fathy (Egypt) and his utilisation of AT (Appropriate Technology), and even certain contemporary structural counterparts like Dubai’s new eco-mosque in Hatta, which opened in 2021 and uses both solar panels to reduce its energy usage and water treatment units to reuse water for irrigation and cleaning due to the lack of potable water sources in the region. Importantly as well, such building projects and approaches also gesture towards shifting conditions and modes of being in the world, realities informed by numerous different perspectives ranging from social, cultural, economic, and even religious modes of existence. In 2021, the Saudi Arabian government issued a fatwa on the topic of water reuse, requiring mosques in both Mecca and Medina to recycle wastewater or ‘grey water’ due to the limited potable water resources in the region and the extreme drain on regional water resources that events like the annual Hajj provoke. Some see this as evidence of the emergence of a ‘Green Deen’, or an approach to sustainability that positions environmental stewardship as a faith-based ordinance.   Contemporary considerations of the effects of climate change on built environments throughout the Islamic world also compel a reconsideration of the continuing fallacy imposed by western Enlightenment thought that the relationship between architecture and the environment is one of mutual exclusion. Although advancements in green technology, the growth of design fields oriented around biomimetic applications, and the development of sustainable building materials such as ‘cradle to cradle’ products are shifting the relationship between built form and the environment in a more cooperative direction, the fact remains that architectural practice continues to position the natural environment as a separate, distinct realm to be studied and above all controlled, a largely non-collaborative system that rarely overlaps with the built environment unless forced and often actively opposes it. To this end, this special issue encourages contributions that explore the role of architecture and the built environment in shaping the contours of current climate change and environmentalist discourse in the context of diverse socio-political, cultural, and economic spheres throughout the Islamic world. Contributions might consider past and present events, circumstances, and spaces that offer different or nonconventional interpretations of environmentalism and even the idea of ‘nature’ itself as a space of multiple perspectives, definitions, and concerns, as well as how communities individually encounter and define environmental concerns and incorporate natural design elements into structural responses and solutions specific to the context. Papers might additionally address how architecture as an analytical mechanism challenges established approaches and tendencies that position the built environment in opposition to environmentalist concerns by recognizing its capacity to act as a type of text composed of multiple narratives and registers of knowledge that reflects the value system and frameworks operating within a society at a particular moment with regards to the environment. Papers should adhere to the IJIA’s remit, which is defined broadly as ‘the historic Islamic world, encompassing the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, but also the more recent geographies of Islam in its global dimensions’. Further, contributors should fully exploit the self-reflexive potential of this remit towards addressing a spectrum of critical approaches to the built environment in the Islamic world that not only position architecture as a theatre of environmental performance, but also a platform from which to consider additional conditions revolving around issues of race, gender, ethnicity, culture, and politics as they relate to environmental challenges and concerns. To this end, this special issue not only aims to be strongly interdisciplinary, drawing from fields ranging from urban design, history, architecture, archaeology, sociology, and anthropology, but also accommodate a diversity of discourses that focus on regions, communities, and built environments not widely addressed in scholarship on Islamic space. Such case studies are particularly important toward generating a comparative interrogative approach to effectively consider the ongoing encounter/relationship between humanity and the natural world over time and space. Examples of themes contributors might wish to explore include, but are not limited to, the following: Imagining sustainable futures/architecture as an environmentalist frontier Global warming, climate change, and its social/cultural impacts Natural aesthetics as design inspiration Green architecture in desert environments Environmentalism, heritage, and its discontents Eco-Islam and the ‘Green Deen’ Armed conflict and its environmental impacts/implications Petropolitics and sustainable space Architecture and ecological conservation/preservation Non-traditional/emerging designs, materials, and spaces Colonial/postcolonial frameworks in environmental discourse AT (appropriate technology) Articles offering historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers) should be between 6000 and 8000 words, and those on design and practice (DiP papers) between 3000 and 4000 words. Practitioners are welcome to contribute insofar as they address the critical framework of the journal. Please send a title and a 400-word abstract to the guest editor, Michelle Apotsos, Williams College (IJIAsustainability@gmail.com), by April 30, 2022. Authors of accepted proposals will be contacted soon thereafter and will be requested to submit full papers by January 30, 2023. All papers will be subject to blind peer review. For author instructions, please consult: www.intellectbooks.com/ijia. Read more