Deadline: Jun 30, 2023 Donor: 100+ Accelerator Grant Type: Awards, Prizes and Challenges Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000 Countries/Regions: All Countries Area: Accidents & Traffic Safety, Road Safety, Economic Development, Water 100+ Accelerator is inviting applications for the Inclusive Growth Challenge to help create economic prosperity across the entire value chain. For more information, visit https://www.100accelerator.com/en/challenge/inclusive-growth Premium Link: https://grants.fundsforngospremium.com/opportunity/op/Submit-your-Solution-for-Inclusive-Growth-Challenge- Read more

Deadline: Jun 30, 2023 Donor: 100+ Accelerator Grant Type: Awards, Prizes and Challenges Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000 Countries/Regions: All Countries Area: Business & Industry, Businesses, Companies and Enterprises, Startups, Biodiversity, Information Technology, Science The 100+ Accelerator is looking for startups that have solutions to protect, renew, and grow the biodiversity of all ecosystems to sustain life on Earth, and maintain the foundation of the supply chains and businesses. For more information, visit https://www.100accelerator.com/index.php/en/challenge/biodiversity Premium Link: https://grants.fundsforngospremium.com/opportunity/op/100-Accelerators-Biodiversity-Challenge-Apply-Now Read more

Impactful community leaders The Women Techmakers Ambassador program supports women in technology who are looking to create impact and give back to their communities. As an Ambassador, you’ll engage with your community by participating in one or more leadership activities on a quarterly basis. Ambassadors receive support from Google and the larger Ambassador community.   Women Techmakers Ambassadors are leaders around the world who are passionate about empowering their communities through organizing events, public speaking, creating content, and mentoring. With access to a global community and exclusive resources, Ambassadors are helping build a world where all women can thrive in tech. Applications for the Ambassador program are now open! Apply now through June 30, 2023.   Apply now: Sign in to advocu   View Ambassadors: Women Techmakers Directory  |  Google for Developers   Read more

Call for Papers: New Perspectives in Africana Studies* Editors: Drs. Crystal L. Edwards and Abul Pitre, San Francisco State University Scope: Established in 1968 as a direct result of Black student struggle on campus, the Black Studies Department—now Africana Studies Department— at San Francisco State University was the first Black Studies department in the nation. The establishment of the department also marked the institutionalization Black Studies “as a ‘scientific discipline’ rooted in racial redemption, liberatory scholarship and community revitalization, the discipline of Africana Studies is a body of systematized knowledge, theories, methods, and laws, which are congruent with the African centered paradigm and philosophy.” (Tshaka, 2012, p 29). Sixty years later, Black Studies—and all its colloquiums such as African American Studies, Africana Studies, Africology, African Diasporic Studies—has seen much growth and evolution in the field. It is in this vein that this work seeks to critically engage subjects relevant to people of African descent in the 21st century, from an African centered perspective. Topics of interest Include, but are not limited to: ·     Africana Education ·     Africana Social Science Research ·     Africana Studies in the Digital World ·     Africana Gender and Identity Studies ·     Africana Religious Studies ·     Africana Health and Wellness ·     Africana Family Studies ·     Moving the Field Forward   If you are interested in contributing, please send a 400–500-word abstract that indicates your intended topic area to me at: cledwards@sfsu.edu . Abstracts will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until May 31st, 2023. Upon acceptance, full drafts of articles (4,000 to 6,000 words) in APA 7th edition formatting are due September 4th, 2023. Inquiries and questions can be sent to: cledwards@sfsu.edu or apitre@sfsu.edu . Contact Info:  Crystal Edwards, PhD. San Francisco State University- Africana Studies Contact Email:  cledwards@sfsu.edu Read more or reply Back to top 2. Journal of West African History by Bernard C. Moore Call for Manuscripts: Journal of West African History Founding Editor-in-chief: Nwando Achebe Editors: Trevor Getz, Saheed Aderinto, Harry Odamtten, and Vincent Hiribarren Book Review Editors: Mark Deets and Ndubueze Mbah  The Journal of West African History (JWAH) is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed research journal that publishes the highest quality articles on West African history. Located at the cutting edge of new scholarship on the social, cultural, economic, and political history of West Africa, JWAH fills a representational gap by providing a forum for serious scholarship and debate on women and gender, sexuality, slavery, oral history, popular and public culture, and religion. The editorial board encourages authors to explore a wide range of topical, theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspectives in new and exciting ways. The journal is committed to rigorous thinking and analysis; is international in scope; and offers a critical intervention about knowledge production. Scholarly reviews of current books in the field appear in every issue. And the publication is in both English and French; an abstract in both languages is provided. Michigan State University Press publishes JWAH.  The editorial board invites scholars to submit original article-length manuscripts (not exceeding 10,000 words including endnotes, 35 pages in length) accompanied by an abstract that summarizes the argument and significance of the work (not exceeding 150 words). Please see submission guidelines for detailed expectations. Review essays (not exceeding 1,000 words) should engage the interpretation, meaning, or importance of an author’s argument for a wider scholarly audience. See what we have available for review on our Book Reviews page. Please contact our Book Review editors Mark Deets mark.deets@aucegypt.edu and Ndubueze Mbah ndubueze@buffalo.edu for more information.  Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of West African History should be submitted online at http://ojs.msupress.msu.edu/index.php/JWAH/about/submissions. In order to submit an article, you will have to create an account. The site will guide you through this process.  Read more

Purpose of the programme This programme aims to foster the development of doctoral theses on terrorism and counterterrorism issues (in their broadest definition). In addition to an annual financial support, the programme aims to : Accompany the recipient doctoral students in the development of their research projects, through the organisation of seminars on methods and methodologies; Give PhD students the opportunity to discover the work of recognised researchers and discuss with them via the organisation of conferences and workshops; Provide awardees with the opportunity to broaden their scope of analysis by connecting them with practitioners trained at the Academy ; Support PhD candidates throughout their professional integration into the academic world, by offering professional development seminars ; Support awardees in the development of a professional network and reputation in their field of research, through the promotion of their work at events organised by the Académie Internationale de Lutte Contre le Terrorisme (AILCT) or through the publications issued by its Strategic Research Institute (IRS). The programme offers one-year renewable grants. For PhD candidates in the final stages of their thesis, support is available for a shorter time frame. Eligility requirements The applicant has been registered in a full-time PhD programme for at least six months; The thesis project must be related to the research themes developed within the Strategic Research Institute ( IRS) of the AILCT; The applicant must have an excellent command of either French or English (level C1/C2), and an intermediate level (level B1/B2 minimum) in the other language. Money The grant amounts to 7 500€ per year (from June 2023 to May 2024). For PhD students in the final stages of their degree, a pro rata will be applied. Main themes Drones and the fight against terrorism in Africa The use of drones by African armies in the fight against terrorism: strategic and ethical issues. The resources and strategies employed by armed terrorist groups to counter the use of drones by state security forces Relations between security forces and various security actors in Africa: militias, vigilantes and auxiliary forces A critical approach to African armies' counter-terrorism doctrines Terrorism and Territoriality in Africa Including the issue of governance Terrorisms in Africa: doctrines and ideologies Preventing terrorism in Africa: current situation, assessment, good practices and prospective Including : Prevention of radicalisation Prevention of attacks Prevention of political violence Roles of government and civil society Use of technology Location-based approach, people-based approach, community-based approach Relationships between security forces and civil society in the fight against terrorism in Africa Financing of terrorism in Africa Women and terrorism in Africa Information landscapes and the treatment of terrorism in the African media African victims of terrorism African states, civil society and the refugees of terrorism Comparative approaches are welcomed. The application Submit an apllication (1 single file in PDF format) including : A cover letter specifying the interest and relevance of the project and of the applicant's project in relation to the research themes prioritised by the Academy (2 pages max); A presentation of the thesis (5 pages max), including : Context and state of the Art The aim of the project Method and methodology Duration and planning of the thesis Steps already taken and goals already achieved Communication and promotion strategy Chronogram or timetable Grants already secured (if applicable) An example of academic writing (article, dissertation, research paper); A transcript of grades earned in the current programme; Un CV (2 pages max) ; A certificate of enrolment in a PhD programme; A letter of support from a researcher; A letter of support from the thesis supervisor; A copy of your ID. Dealine : 7 May 2023 The application must be sent by email to : candidature.bourse@ailct-irs.org More information : Call for application 2023 - Grant-Fellowship programme - PhD - AILCT Any question, contact : question.bourse@ailct-irs.org Contact Info:  Amel Larivière Academic Coordinator, Académie Internationale de Lutte Contre le Terrorisme Contact Email:  question.bourse@ailct-irs.org URL:  https://issuu.com/ailct-irs/docs/2023-ailct-strategic_research_institute-call_for_a Read more

Call for Paper, Panel and Roundtable Proposals   (On-site and Virtual)   July 16-20, 2023 Faculty of Arts Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria   Confirmed Speakers Prof. Karin Barber University of Birmingham, United Kingdom   Prof. Carole Boyce Davies Cornell University, USA    Prof. Tunde Bewaji University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica   ‘‘New Theories of Africa: Diversities, Divergences, Dreams"   How has theory advanced critical discourse in Africa? Is a unified theory of Africa possible or desirable? Should the reticence toward theory in African Studies be validated now that the age of theory is receding? These are some of the questions that have prompted and necessitated this conference. Theoretical approaches to understanding Africa have ranged from the holistic to the metonymic, seeking knowledge as a whole or partially and incrementally. Perhaps, the significance of Mudimbe’s The Invention of Africa was identifying precisely how anthropology functioned as the first producer of systematic and totalizing grand récits of Africa. Anticolonial discourses had dispensed critiques of anthropological and ethnological truths by this time. In the decades since its less acclaimed sequel, The Idea of Africa, a long and eminent list of scholars, have attempted to compress and capture Africa as an object of knowledge outside the “idea” constructed by the Western world.   In his charge against Conrad, Achebe teased an imperative that aims “[to] suggest from my privileged position in African and Western cultures some advantages the West might derive… to look at Africa [with open minds].” More recently, about a decade into the twenty-first century, Wole Soyinka stated in Of Africa that Africa is a “continent yet waiting to be truly discovered.” How could Africa be so familiar but yet unknown? As Christopher Miller posits in Theories of Africans, can we have theories, philosophies, and representations of Africa that do not appreciate or are not entangled by the question of Africa’s opacity, différance, and differences? The relationship between difference and knowledge on the one hand and difference, otherness, and alterity on the other constituted a basis for the dispute between Ken Harrow and Simon Gikandi in the aftermath of Miller’s provocation. This conference attempts to resurrect these debates taking into account the daunting and elusive nature of theorizing Africa. We ask delegates to ponder these challenges from historical, ethical, and futuristic perspectives. What are the current attempts to characterize intellectual trends, name practices, define identities, produce understandings, rediscover genealogies, and enunciate African futures?    Suggested topics include but are not limited to the following: The theory question in African studies •           African Gnosis and sacred knowledges •           Divination, Fractals, and the new computer age  •           Demographic change, youth population, and the future of Africa •           The resurgence of theories of Decolonization •           Conflict and African humanism •           Epidemiology and global narratives of Africa •           Deviant skills, cyber warfare, and criminality  •           Africa in the age of disinformation •           African Political economy in the 21st century •           Impact of the rise of global neo-nationalism and ultranationalism in Africa •           Englishness, Francophonie, and other specters of colonialism •           Afrobarometer: the pendulum of democracy vs. autocracy  •           The form vs. content, theory vs. practice dichotomy  •           New Fusion energy and climate change: the post-fossil fuel ecology and African economies    We invite scholars and graduate students to submit abstracts for individual paper presentations, panels or round tables. Panels and roundtables are to accommodate a maximum of four participants and those proposing them are to make proposals after constituting them. Panel and round table abstracts are not to exceed 350 words, while individual paper abstracts are not to exceed 250 words.   Send all proposals to: artsconference@oauife.edu.ng by May 13, 2023. The covering letter should state the institutional affiliation and contact email of the scholar making the proposal.   The conference organisers plan to publish selected papers from the conference, some in special issues of Scopus-indexed journals and others as chapters in a book.   Conference Registration Fees: Participants from Nigeria – N25,000.00 (Early bird: N20,000.00) Graduate students from Nigeria – N15,000.00 (Early bird: N12,500.00) Participants from Africa – $80.00 (Early bird: $75.00) International participants - $120.00 (Early bird: $100.00)   For enquiries, contact:  artsconference@oauife.edu.ng ‘ Contact Info:  Obafemi Awolowo University Faculty of Arts, , Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria   Contact Email:  Oyeniyi Okunoye - ookunoye@oauife.edu.ng Professor of English & Dean of Arts Department of English Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, 220005 Osun State, Nigeria   Editor, Nigerian Journal of Oral Literatures   Section Editor, Anglophone African Literature, Postcolonial Text   Alternate emails: ookunoye@yahoo.com, ookunoye@gmail.com Read more

Publishing in highly ranked international academic journals is increasingly seen as a marker in personal career advancement and development, as is citation, which is more common from higher ranked journals. These journals are usually linked to institutions in, and normally dominated by scholars from, the Global North, resulting in significant barriers to publication for scholars from the Global South. This intentional and unintentional silencing of scholars and perspectives from the Global South perpetuates the dominance of outlooks and understandings grounded in the Global North across most subject areas.   With a goal to increase publication of African sports histories by scholars in Africa within The International Journal of the History of Sport and Sport in History, the editors of the two journals, with support from the British Academy, are organizing a writing workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. The writing workshop on History of Sport, Leisure, and the Body in Africa would take place over two years. This writing workshop invites Early Career Scholars based in Central and Southern Africa who are working on sport history broadly conceived to transform their research into articles that will be published in special issues of The International Journal of the History of Sport and Sport in History.  Individuals selected will participate in a series of three workshops held in November 2023, April 2024, and January 2025. The workshop aims to bring the emerging African sport historians together, have their articles workshopped, prepare scholarship for English-language publications in top sport history journals, and build potential collaborations among an engaging group of sports scholars. The workshop is intended to be practice-based with a view to developing high quality outputs and facilitate publication. It is our hoped that this will provide the basis of an enduring scholarly network. This workshop will support up to 12 scholars who reside in the 23 countries of Central and Southern Africa (please see the list of eligible countries below) who work on sport history conceived broadly, including the histories of physical education, leisure, and the body. Selected participants will be expected to submit a 5,000-word draft of an article by 1 October, 2023. The draft will be workshopped at the three-day workshop in Johannesburg in November 2023, with participants reading another participant’s article prior to the workshop. The organisers will work with the participants to develop their articles at this workshop with time allocated to discuss, reflect, write, and revise with their peers.  The organisers will also devote time to developing future publication and funding opportunities for participants to further advance their careers.   The second workshop will be a one-day online event in April 2024 will present their near complete manuscripts and will receive comments on how to get them ready to submit to the journals in the summer of 2024.  The final event will be a 1.5-day workshop in Johannesburg to discuss the writing, editing, peer-review and publication process and future publication opportunities for participants.   All travel, accommodation, subsistence, and visa costs for the two trips to Johannesburg will be covered for all participants.  To support scholars with caring responsibilities, the organisers are also able to pay for childcare (either in the participant’s home country or on site in Johannesburg) for up to five participants.  The organisers are also able to support up to two scholars for whom English is not their primary working language with the full editing service from Taylor and Francis.   Applicant requirements:--must be late stage doctoral student or have received the PhD within the previous five years (from 2018-2023)--must reside in one of the following countries:  Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe Applicants should email the following by 15 June 2023:•    1 page abstract of research for proposed article•    2 page curriculum vitae•    if residing outside of South Africa, please note the passport held and whether a visa for South Africa is required, along with the preferred airport departure•    please note in application if childcare is needed Timeline:Application submission deadline: 15 June 2023Announcement of selection: late June 20235000 words First Draft due: 1 October 2023Workshop #1 (Johannesburg): 20-23 November 2023Workshop #2 (online): April 2024 (date tbc)Workshop #3 (Johannesburg): January 2025 (dates tbc) Any questions should be directed to Dr. Heather Dichter at heather.dichter@dmu.ac.uk Organisers:Dr. Heather Dichter, De Montfort UniversityDr. Tarminder Kaur, University of JohannesburgDr. Malcolm MacLean, University of Gibraltar and De Montfort UniversityProfessor Kay Schiller, Durham University Read more

We hope this email finds you all well. We are writing to remind you of the opportunity to publish your writing through the Association for Feminist Anthropology in Anthropology News. We are looking for essays, interviews, or photo essays for our section's column in AN from all subfields of anthropology written in an accessible, journalistic style that draw on your scholarly sensibility and expertise as feminist anthropologists. Pieces may focus on, but certainly be not limited to, interesting research, fieldwork experiences, current events, career advice, or hot topics in the profession. Essays and interviews should have a maximum length of 1,600 words and be accompanied by 1-3 images. Photo essays should have a maximum length of 750 words for the introductory text and be accompanied by 6-8 images.    We publish four columns per calendar year, one per quarter. We will accept pieces from current AFA members on a first come, first serve basis by the following deadlines:    Submission deadline for publication in Quarter #3 2023 (July-September): May 1st 2023 Submission deadline for publication in Quarter #4 2023 (October-December): August 1st 2023  Submission deadline for publication in Quarter #1 2024 (January-March): January 7th 2024   Please send us your pitch for your piece at least 1 month prior to the deadline for the quarter in which you intend to publish with us at mlbaiocchi@flacso.org.ar or at lsavloff@elon.edu. For more information about publishing with us, please refer to the AN Guidelines for Section Authors.    We look forward to receiving your ideas for contributions to our section's column in AN.   Thank you for your consideration and best wishes,    María Lis Baiocchi and Leyla Savloff   -- Dra. María Lis Baiocchi Becaria Postdoctoral Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de América Latina Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Tucumán 1966 (C1050AAN) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina (+ 54 11) 5238-9300 – Interno: 441 mlbaiocchi@flacso.org.ar  Read more

Recent scholarship attests not only to the viability of biographical accounts in writing Zimbabwean history and politics on an academic basis, but also the need to develop further this genre. Taking a closer and more systematic look at the actors’ experiences, motivations and actions allows us to reconceptualise both colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwean politics and society. The biographical approach engages particularly well with the enduring quest to understand, in particular, liberation era dynamics (1960s to independence), early post-independence developments (1980 to the 1990s), and from 2000 onward, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF)’s power-retention politics and the opposition’s counterhegemonic endeavours. Histories of the individual help capture the broader and largely contradictory social ideas and struggles at play during the different epochs, in addition to establishing connections across time and space. The volume will contribute to the development of the biographical genre in historical studies. In the context of Zimbabwean history, society, and politics, it strives to trigger the rethinking of academic orthodoxies and traditions, the adoption of new sources, and the reimagination of old stories. Historical and interdisciplinary biographical accounts of particular interest include (but are not limited to): ● Trade unionists● Student leaders● Public intellectuals● Diaspora figures● Chiefs● Opposition politicians● Military officials● Bankers/economists● ZANU-PF dissenters● War veterans● Female politicians● Artists● Religious officials● Media/journalists● Propagandists and ideologues● Indigenous business people● Philanthropists● Matabeleland disturbances actors● Youth activists Those interested in contributing a piece on a figure active in Zimbabwean politics and society between 1960 and the present, should submit an abstract of 150 to 300 words by 30 April 2023 to zimbiographies2023@gmail.com. A draft, ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 words, should be in place by 1 November 2023. If funding allows, an in-person conference to present the papers may be held in the first half of 2024 at the University of the Free State, South Africa.  Lotti Nkomo, University of the Free StateBrooks Marmon, The Ohio State UniversityMelusi Nkomo, University of Zurich Read more

There has been a surge of scholarly interest in the Ghana of the 1950s and 1960s, under its charismatic independence era leader Kwame Nkrumah. These works tell a new story of that era, focusing on the possibilities of independence by looking anew at Pan-Africanism, socialism, new histories of the Cold War and Black internationalism (Alhman 2017; Getachew 2019; Iandolo 2022; Osei-Opare 2023).   In contrast, Ghana’s 1970s are often reduced to an afterthought. Military coups dominate the narrative. Indeed, the 1970s are a decade characterized by military rule, economic decline, emigration, and hardship (Hutchful 1979; Pellow & Chazan 1986). This hardship is reflected in the relative lack of scholarship on the period. The body of work that does exist tends to reinforce a top-down narrative, with a strong focus on the state. It is only after 1981, when J.J. Rawlings comes to power and stays, that Ghana again attracts significant scholarly interest (Herbst 1993; Nugent 1995; Brydon & Legge 1996).Forty years on, it is high time to return to the 1970s. Inspired by the interest in the Nkrumah years, and motivated by the availability of new archives in Ghana and elsewhere, we invite historians to reconsider the 1970s with us. Building on recent scholarship that begins to probe the 1970s anew (Hart 2016; Murillo 2017; Wiemers 2021), we seek contributions that engage with the following questions: How might our understanding of this decade change if instead of focusing on disjuncture, we looked for continuity? How did this period of transition between two defining political regimes (between Nkrumah and Rawlings) shape contemporary Ghana?  How did ordinary Ghanaians navigate this tumultuous decade? What does a focus on everyday lives, rather than a state-centric approach, reveal about these years? What new methods and sources might we turn to, to recover histories of a decade when state institutions supposedly collapsed? To what extent can the framing of “Ghana’s long 1970s” (1966–1981) help us reconsider the history of postcolonial Ghana? We are particularly interested in contributions that de-center political narratives, but are open to a wide array of approaches. We welcome expressions of interest and further conversations regarding potential submissions (write to: claire.nicolas@unil.ch).   Submission Guidelines Abstracts (200 words) should be submitted to Claire Nicolas (claire.nicolas@unil.ch) and Elisa Prosperetti (elisa.prosperetti@nie.edu.sg) by 1 April 2023. Contributors will be notified by 15 April 2023. Full papers (8000 words) are to be received by 15 September 2023. All articles will undergo peer review. Those accepted for publication will appear in a special issue of Ghana Studies, scheduled for publication in 2024.   About Ghana StudiesGhana Studies is the peer-reviewed journal of the Ghana Studies Association, an international affiliate of the African Studies Association (U.S). Its current editors are Victoria Ellen Smith (University of Bristol) and Nana Yaw Boampong Sapong (University of Ghana). Since its first issue in 1998, the journal has published significant work by leading scholars based in Ghana, the United States, Canada, and Europe. It is published annually by the University of Wisconsin Press. https://gs.uwpress.org/content/call-papers   About the editors of the special issueClaire Nicolas is a Research Fellow from the Swiss National Science Foundation, at SOAS (University of London). She specializes in the history of sport, citizenship, and gender.Elisa Prosperetti is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She specializes in the history of education, development, and nation-building.   BibliographyJ. Alhman, Living with Nkrumahism: Nation, State, and Pan-Africanism in Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2017).L. Brydon and K. Legge, Adjusting Society: The World Bank, the IMF, and Ghana (London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1996).A. Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019).J. Hart, “‘NIFA NIFA’: Technopolitics, Mobile Workers, and the Ambivalence of Decline in Acheampong's Ghana,” African Economic History, 44 (2016): 181–201.J. Herbst, The Politics of Reform in Ghana, 1982-1991 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993).E. Hutchful, “A Tale of Two Regimes: Imperialism, the Military and Class in Ghana,” Review of African Political Economy 14 (1979): 36–55.A. Iandolo, Arrested Development: The Soviet Union in Ghana, Guinea, and Mali, 1955–1968 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2022).B. Murillo, Market Encounters: Consumer Cultures in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2017).P. Nugent, Big Men, Small Boys, and Politics in Ghana: Power, Ideology, and the Burden of History, 1982-1994 (London: Pinter, 1995).N. Osei-Opare, “Ghana and Nkrumah Revisited: Lenin, State Capitalism, and Black Marxist Orbits,” Comparative Studies in Society and History (2023): 1-23.D. Pellow and N. Chazan, Ghana: Coping with Uncertainty (Boulder: Westview Press, 1986).A. Wiemers, Development and Rural Statecraft in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2021). Read more

Hosted by Rhodes University Department of Literary Studies in English and the Wits University Department of Fine Arts Date: 11-13 July 2023 Venue: Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa   In 1977, Ghanaian novelist Ama Ata Aidoo published her book Our Sister Killjoy: Or Reflections from a Black-Eyed Squint. In it Sissie arrives on a fellowship in Germany. Her observations of white colonial culture, of relations between black and white subjects and historical collisions and disjunctures, even relationships between African men and women come under her incisive interrogation and tongue. Both in form and in content, Sissie heralds a break with convention,  demonstrating that African subjects have always been speaking and not always in the politeness that some would prefer. Jean Paul Sartre (1948) in Orphée Noir said, “What then did you expect when you unbound the gag that muted those black mouths? That they would chant your praises? Did you think that when those heads that our fathers had forcibly bowed down to the ground were raised again, you would find adoration in their eyes?” Angry black women, sassy black women, too loud, too vocal abound as stereotypes in culture – women who do not know their place. bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Sara Ahmed, Pumla Dineo Gqola, Stella Nyanzi, Peace Kiguwa all talk about how the angry black women stereotype is used to silence subjects and, yet, as Lorde tells us, anger is a reasonable response to injustice. In a world coping with the stark inequalities that COVID-19 has thrown into view, our sisters across the continent and world have every reason to be angry, and they are more vocal than ever. In this fifth anniversary edition of the African Feminisms (Afems) Conference, which will be hosted by the Rhodes University Department of Literary Studies in English and the Wits University Department of Fine Arts, Afems 2023 will return to its birth at Rhodes University and celebrate Our Sisters Killjoy – feminist killjoys, black feminist killjoys, queer killjoys, differently-abled killjoys, eco killjoys, creative killjoys, anti-capitalist killjoys, speaking-truth-to-power killjoys, everyday killjoys, chick-lit killjoys, comedic killjoys and more … Conference presentations can include the following thematic areas: ·     On being angry black women ·     Back talk: Speech acts, speaking truths to power and ‘the mute always speak’ ·     Nervous Conditions: Radical negativities and radical refusals ·     Testimony as witnessing – or ‘theorising from the epicentres of our agency’ ·     Willful Subjects ·     Creativities as sites of de-authorisation, as de-archiving, of de-inscription and decolonisation ·     I Write What I Like ·     Onwards: Moving forward with ‘six mountains on her back’ ·     Butterflies Burning ·     Madams and Mistresses ·     Intersecting intersectionalities or refusing either/or positionalities ·     So Long a Letter: on love and sister-killjoys ·     David’s Story: or actually a story about a history of women ·     So you think you’re funny, eh? ·     Murder She Wrote: Women in Crime/ Women and Crime Afems 2023 aims to bring together a range of local and international African feminist scholars in the Sciences, Social Sciences, Economics, Law and Humanities disciplines in a three-day conference. Registration fee for all participants and attendees is R500 (R250 for students). Participants can present up to 20 minute papers, performative lectures or creative engagements. As is the format of Afems, creativities will form a central component. Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent in by 31 March 2023 to afrifems17@gmail.com. The abstract should contain the provisional title of the presentation (the format of the presentation needs to be outlined, i.e., paper presentation, performative lecture, creative presentation) and details on the presentation. Performative and creative presentations must be accompanied with details on equipment or venue needs (please note, the conference is not able to provide materials, specialist needs or honoraria). For more info on Afems 2023, please see: https://afemsconference.wixsite.com/afems   Contact Info:  Queries can be directed to Prof Sharlene Khan on: Sharlene.Khan@wits.ac.za or afrifems17@gmail.com Contact Email:  afrifems17@gmail.com   URL:  https://afemsconference.wixsite.com/afems/afems-2023 Read more

The literary and linguistic turn in the 21st century cannot be over-emphasized. This is precisely because questions around development continue to resonate with the imperative of taking recourse to language and, of course, the applied dimension of literature to reach out to the billions of the world’s population, in accordance with the implementation and realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Whether we are concerned with these development goals, from contextualized perspectives or globalized dimensions, it has become extremely important to note that, for instance, the very first goal, which is “No Poverty”, cannot be eradicated, or at least brought to the barest minimum, without the facility of language. The linguistic agency should be one that must be contextualized, or localized, so that, in the 21st century, the sort of all-round development at the global level is not achievable when only a few languages are considered to be languages of the world. In other words, it is high time we began to rethink the so-called notion of international languages that have, at their best, been tools of global tyranny. Yet, despite their so-called globalization, development is fundamentally localized to reflect internal dynamics.  When contextualized, therefore, we may begin to ask, how do we deploy our diverse languages and literature in Nigeria and Africa to mediate development? How do we make language and languages in Nigeria, and Africa more accessible through improved literacy? What are the benefits that we stand to enjoy when we interact with our African literature, especially in our languages? How do we move beyond the overdependence on international languages, so-called, to begin to explore and utilize all the gains that are inherent in the utilization of our own languages? Development, that is, problem-solving, is fundamentally contextualized, which means that the challenges we face in Africa are not exactly those faced in the other parts of the world. If they, through their languages and literature developed tools for solving their problems, the challenge before us is how do we do the same using our languages and literature in Africa? This conference, therefore, welcomes submissions that address theoretical and empirical challenges that stand in the way of linguistic and literary deployment of our knowledge systems to mediate development. The turn of applied knowledge to drive development has to begin with addressing the potential of our languages and literature as problem-solving tools. Sub-themes include, but are not limited to, the following: Langauge, Literature and Sociolinguistics, Language, Literaure and Psycholinguistics Language, Literature and National Development Language, Literature and Multilingualism Language, Literature and Media Language, Literature and Politics Language, Literature and Educational Development Language, Literature and Gender Studies Language, Literature and Medicine Language, Literature and Conflict Resolution Language, Literature and Religion Language, Literature and International Relations Language, Literature and Bilingualism in French Language, Literature and French Translation Language, Literature  and Digital Technology in the 21st Century Language, Literature and Sociability in the 21st Century  Language, Literature and Social Issues  in the 21st Century Language, Literature and Intersectional Perspectives in the 21st Century Language, Literature and Pragmatics Language, Literature and Discourse Language, Literature and Performing Arts Language, Literature and Economic Development Language, Literature and Security Studies Language, Literature and Mass Communication Language, Literature and Psychology   Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be sent to lculanglitconference@gmail.com . Kindly indicate the sub-theme that your abstract speaks to in your submission. All enquiries should be directed to the LOC members listed below: Dr Esther Senayon (08135283700); Dr Femi Jolaoso (08024290550), and Mr  Olusegun Jegede (08036545183). Important Dates: Abstract Submission Deadline: 10th March, 2023 Conference Days : Day 1 (22nd March, 2023) -Opening Ceremony,  Keynote and Lead Paper                                Presentations, and Plenary Sessions (Hybrid)                                     Day 2 (23rd March, 2023):  Syndicate Sessions and Chat Rooms (Virtual) Paper Publication  Submission Deadline-30th April, 2023 Conference Fees: Physical Nigeria-based Scholars=20,000 Naira Nigeria-based Postgraduate Students=10,000 Naira Other Africa-based Scholars-100 Dollars Other Africa-based Postgraduate Students=50 Dollars Other International Participants=120 Dollars Conference fees cover  lunch and conference materials.   Virtual Nigeria-based Scholars=15,000 Naira Nigeria-based Postgraduate Students=7,500Naira Other Africa-based Scholars-80 Dollars Other Africa-based Postgraduate Students=30 Dollars Other International Participants=100 Dollars   Chief Host: Prof. Kabiru Adeyemo, VC, Lead City University, Ibadan Host:           Prof. Donald Odeleye, Dean, Faculty of Arts                            Convener:   Dr Ufuoma Davies, Head, Department of Languages and Literature   Keynote Speaker-Prof. Aderemi Raji-Oyelade, Professor of English, Africana Literatures and Creative Writing, University of Ibadan, Nigeria   Lead Paper Presenters- Stephen Boluwaduro, University of Wisconsin, U.S.A. -Hauwa Mohammed Sani, Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria   Contact Info:  Senayon Olaoluwa Institute of African Studies University of Ibadan Nigeria Contact Email:  samsenayon@gmail.com Read more