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  • CFP: Decolonizing Environmental Imaginaries: Climate, Heritage, and the Postcolonial South
    Call for Papers   Edited Volume (Brill) Decolonizing Environmental Imaginaries: Climate, Heritage, and the Postcolonial South   Editors: Paweł Piszczatowski (Hg.) Neha Khetrapal (Hg.)   Book series: Culture – Environment – Society. Humanities and beyond Publisher: Brill   About the Volume   Recent debates in the environmental humanities — including works by Macarena Gómez-Barris (The Extractive Zone, 2017) and Farhana Sultana (“The Unbearable Heaviness of Climate Coloniality,” Political Geography, 2022) — have made it increasingly clear that climate change, heritage discourses, and environmental imaginaries cannot be understood apart from the colonial legacies of extraction, epistemic exclusion, and uneven modernities. Postcolonial and decolonial approaches have demonstrated that contemporary ecological crises are inseparable from histories of displacement, enclosure, and structural inequality. Foundational contributions such as Global Ecologies and the Environmental Humanities: Postcolonial Approaches (DeLoughrey, Didur & Carrigan, 2015) and S. Rahman’s “The Environment of South Asia: Beyond Postcolonial Ecocriticism” (South Asian Review, 2021) underscore how environmental thought emerging from the Global South foregrounds questions of justice, mobility, cultural survivance, and more-than-human relationality. Farhana Sultana’s concept of climate coloniality further exposes how ostensibly universal discourses of climate responsibility continue to reproduce geopolitical asymmetries between the Global North and the Global South. Complementary perspectives from disability studies, feminist theory, and critical heritage studies — for instance Disability Studies and the Environmental Humanities: Toward an Eco-Crip Theory (ed. Sibara & Ray, 2017) — have further expanded this field by interrogating the colonial, ableist, and anthropocentric assumptions embedded in dominant Western notions of the body, resilience, and environmental agency. Together, these frameworks signal a profound epistemic realignment: a shift away from Eurocentric universalism toward plural, situated, and relational ecologies. This decolonial turn has also gained increasing traction in Central and Eastern European scholarship, which situates local semi-peripheral contexts within broader global debates. Volumes such as Non-Western Approaches in Environmental Humanities (ed. Jarzębowska, Ross, Skonieczny, 2025) contribute to this dialogue by juxtaposing perspectives from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, asking how environmental thought might evolve once Western modernity is no longer treated as its epistemic center.   This edited volume seeks to extend and deepen these conversations by bringing together contributions that critically examine environmental imaginaries, heritage practices, and climate narratives from postcolonial, decolonial, and semi-peripheral perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the Global South.     Scope and Topics   We invite original contributions that explore the intersections of decolonial critique, environmental imagination, and heritage practices. While the volume places particular emphasis on South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and semi-peripheral regions of Europe, comparative and theoretically innovative approaches are especially welcome.   Possible topics include (but are not limited to):   Postcolonial and decolonial approaches to the environmental humanities Cultural, spiritual, and religious responses to climate change in the Global South Colonial legacies and epistemic asymmetries in heritage, conservation, and sustainability discourse Orientalization and Western appropriations of Asian philosophies, religions, and spiritualities Environmental imaginaries in literature, film, and visual arts from postcolonial contexts Intersections of religion, ecology, and material heritage (e.g. temple architecture, ritual space, olfactory heritage) Environmental mobility, migration, displacement, and climate-induced precarity Indigenous epistemologies and situated ecological knowledges Feminist, queer, disability-informed, and subaltern ecologies Comparative ecologies of postcolonial and semi-peripheral modernities Climate fiction, speculative imaginaries, and narrative strategies of resistance   Submission Guidelines and Timeline   Extended abstracts (700–800 words, in English) 📅 Deadline: February 28, 2026   Authors will be notified of acceptance by March 15, 2026.   Full chapters (approx. 6,000–8,000 words) 📅 Deadline: September 30, 2026   The volume is planned for publiation with Brill in 2027 as part of the Culture – Environment – Society. Humanities and beyond series.   Please submit abstracts together with a short biographical note (approx. 100 words) to:   📧 p.piszczatowski@uw.edu.pl 📧 nkhetrapal@jgu.edu.in
    By: Aaron Dorner
    Monday, Jan 26, 2026
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • The Alter-Lives of Independence Movements: Frustrated Hopes, Renewed Utopias
    Carmina UntalanLocationPortugalDecades after formal decolonisation, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism have remained a wellspring of inspiration and contestation. Studies about anticolonial thought, the 1955 Bandung Conference, and transcontinental solidarity movements have proliferated in academia and activist networks, providing the basis of theories and practices of resistance in contemporary times. Nevertheless, the ideas and the movements they inspired did not perish with the epoch that produced them. They evolved and acquired alternative lives in the period of nation-building and world-making, whether in extended or distorted forms. On the one hand, there were local and transnational efforts to sustain and enrich the revolutionary impulse through embracing the anticolonial spirit in various areas such as development, education, and diplomacy. As international institutions such as the UN welcome additional member states, Europeans and non-Europeans travelled to decolonised states like Algeria and Angola to learn and further cultivate ideas in building new societies. On the other hand, some dominant groups that took over the independent states capitalised on the anti-colonial pride to justify authoritarian and anti-democratic rule. Their utopian visions led to the systematic oppression of opposing forces and reproduced the hierarchical international state model. The fear of neocolonialism and disillusionment propelled both the former coloniser and colonised to reorganise their strategies and desires in the face of an emerging world order. This two-day conference on the alter-lives of independence movements explores the evolution and transformation of anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles. It focuses on the events and reflections about the early years of independence, a period of turbulent transition from colonial domination to self-governing nation-states, and of tumultuous beginnings of a new international order. We introduce the concept “alter-lives” to denote the process of altering imaginaries and practices that emerged during the colonial period in responding to uncertain futures, including the political uses of anticolonial memories and/or histories. It also refers to alternative relations forged between and among the former colonisers and colonised after independence. Thus, using “alter-lives” as a conceptual ground, this conference engages in the following questions: first, how have anticolonial thinking and practices evolved domestically and transnationally? Second, what were the structural and agential forces behind these evolutions? Third, how were anticolonial memories and histories politicised to achieve certain ends? Fourth, what difficulties did these agents face in realising their envisioned future? Lastly, how have alterations and alternatives affirmed and/or challenged the revolutionary ideas of the independence struggles? We welcome theoretical and praxis-oriented proposals to gather scholars, activists, and artists from various disciplinary backgrounds and acquire a broad comparative perspective. Possibleareas include, but are not limited to: Transnational solidarities and resistance, such as North-South and South-South cooperation Nation-building Anticolonial thought and figures Diplomacy and international affairs Pedagogy and knowledge transmission Literary and artistic representations, such as documentaries, films, and novels Rhetorics of failure, frustrated political projects Please submit your abstract (300 words max.) by 13 February 2026 to jiw.hopesandfears@gmail.com. Decisions will be communicated by the first week of March 2026. Contact Email jiw.hopesandfears@gmail.com URL https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/events/alterlives-independence-movements/?fbclid=IwY… Attachments CfP Poster Alterlives
    By: Aaron Dorner
    Tuesday, Jan 13, 2026
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • Call For Proposals: Virtual Workshop on "Subaltern Transnationalism"
    Jon KeuneThis announcement is for a Call for Proposals to participate in an experimental virtual workshop on "Subaltern Transnationalism," which will take place February 26 - March 6, 2026.   As explained in the attached PDF file, we will gather a small group of scholars to discuss ways in which "subaltern" or historically marginalized people developed emancipative possibilities by envisioning themselves as belonging to worlds beyond their immediate locales.  Mindful of how the terms "subaltern" and "transnationalism" carry different meanings in different global contexts, we hope that our call invites participants who work on relevant topics even if they do not typically resort to these terms to describe their research. Scholarship on transnationalism/transregionalism often takes for granted a high degree of financial, social, educational, or political status among participants who can engage the international world reciprocally. In contrast, we view subaltern transnationalism as reflecting marginalized people’s own imagination, agency, and uses of international knowledge according to their limited resources in their local contexts. In these cases, such knowledge may be rooted in partial information, rumor, media fragments, religious networks, political propaganda, or localized interpretations of rhetoric and events from elsewhere, which subaltern groups use to develop social imaginaries that give them hope and new forms of self-understanding. Our anticipated historical scope for the workshop is colonial and early postcolonial periods, but we will consider proposals that speak directly to the theme in other historical periods. To maximize engagement and feedback among participants, the workshop will have two parts. The asynchronous part will be facilitated through a private website hosting participants' shared materials February 26-March 5, 2025, followed soon after by a 2-hour group Zoom meeting that suits participants' availability and time zones.  Work in progress is welcome; a full paper is not required.  Please see the attached PDF file for more details, including how to submit proposals before the January 24 deadline, and how to contact the organizers. Contact Information Jon Keune, Associate Professor in Religious Studies, Michigan State University Surajkumar Thube, Visiting Faculty in Political Science, Ashoka University Contact Email subalterntransnationalism@gmail.com Attachments CFP & concept note
    By: Aaron Dorner
    Tuesday, Jan 13, 2026
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY

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  • Africa Global Partnership Scholars
    In an era where complex global challenges demand collective action, the need for international collaboration and knowledge sharing has never been more critical. Africa Global Partnership Scholars Program (Africa GPS) is a cohort-based program, designed for early to mid-career MSU faculty to create and deepen new scholarly partnerships with collaborators and peer institutions in Africa in support of MSU’s global mission. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: Foster the development of a group of faculty members dedicated to establishing and enhancing international research connections, collaborating on solutions with African partners, and adopting a global perspective in their scholarly work Support MSU’s 2030 strategic plan goal of discovery, creativity and innovation for excellence and global impact Connect MSU faculty with potential collaborators and mentors in Africa, expand the scholars' international networks, and offer support for establishing long-lasting collaborations Heighten global awareness and research dialogue Elevate the status of MSU’s global mission Capitalize on opportunities to leverage external resources and form partnerships ELIGIBILITY FOR APPLICATION Tenure-stream or fixed term faculty at Michigan State University without prior scholarly experience in Africa are eligible to apply for Africa GPS. REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS As part of the application process, the applicant must submit the following materials: Completed application questionnaire An up-to-date curriculum vitae (max 4 pages) A one-page statement that describes your reasons for applying, potential research focus, and if known, the AAP consortium institution and African country of interest for the collaboration. If needed, AAP can help identify the country, mentor and/or the collaboration partner based on the applicant’s interests. A letter expressing strong support from the Chair/School Director/Dean. The letter should affirm: The candidate’s international interest, experience, and/or research The candidate’s strengths as a researcher within the context of unit expectations The candidate’s proposed project will advance the mission and goals of the academic unit, be supported by the unit, and benefit international partners Applicants are encouraged to obtain a commitment from their unit or college to provide a 20% cost share. While cost sharing is not required, preference will be given to proposals that include this match. FUNDING To facilitate the participation of faculty members selected as Africa GPS Fellows, AAP will provide support for the following: Up to $10,000 in support of international travel and scholarly collaborations with a researcher and/or mentor at an AAP Consortium member institution. The $10,000 may be used to support the MSU faculty members’ individual travel, collaborative research activities or to bring an African partner to MSU.  Connection with potential collaborators, mentors, and institutions in Africa Structured workshops on establishing and navigating international partnerships Financial Guidelines: The financial support must be expended prior to the end of the program (one year after awarded).   Preference will be given to applicants who provide a 20% match from the applicant’s unit, department or college. PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS Africa GPS participants are expected to develop a sustainable collaboration with peer researchers at an AAP consortium institution. As a result, within two years of being selected for the program, the scholar is expected to achieve the following outputs:  A collaborative research paper coauthored with their African collaborator to be submitted for publication.  A concept note of a proposal submitted to a funding agency to sustain the partnership with the African collaborator.   Progress reports submitted every six months to AAP documenting how the collaboration is progressing and any challenges that may have arisen. Attend program orientation, professional development workshops organized by AAP, and other relevant events as shared by the AAP team. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR GLOBAL RESEARCH FELLOWS The criteria below will be utilized to evaluate candidates for their selection to the Africa GPS program: Commitment Level: Applicants need to show a readiness to dedicate the necessary time to maximize the benefits of the Fellowship year, along with a proven scholarly potential that supports such a commitment. Research Interest: Candidates should demonstrate a strong commitment to international research and articulate how participation in Africa GPS will contribute to their personal and professional development Unit Support: Candidates must have strong support from relevant departmental or school and college administrators, indicated by enthusiastic recommendations. Alignment of Interests: The applicant’s international research interests should align with the Africa GPS’s mission to foster excellence in international research. Apply here: https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bIS1j4JJxUE2voq SELECTION OF FELLOWS Applications are due by January 30, 2026. Application materials will be reviewed by a selection committee in International Studies and Programs. Scholars will be announced by May 2026. Funds must be transferred to selected scholars by June 30, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact Justin Rabineau at: rabinea1@msu.edu
    By: Justin Rabineau
    Monday, Dec 22, 2025
    AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS
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  • AAP Steps Up Its Global Footprint at Falling Walls 2025
    The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) strengthened its global visibility this year with a significantly expanded presence at the Falling Walls Summit in Berlin, signaling a new phase in Africa’s engagement with one of the world’s leading platforms for science, innovation, and societal impact.  The momentum follows a fast-growing collaboration between AAP and the Falling Walls Foundation, an alliance that has already produced tangible results. LUANAR in Malawi became the first institution in the consortium to launch a combined Falling Walls Engage and Lab, followed by the University of Botswana, which introduced the Gaborone Lab in 2025 and is preparing to roll out the Engage program in 2026. For AAP, these developments are more than individual wins: they mark the beginning of a wider rollout across the consortium, designed to strengthen research communication and create a more connected science engagement ecosystem across Africa.  At this year’s Summit, AAP member universities made their strongest showing yet. Lab winners from LUANAR and the University of Botswana took the stage in Berlin, showcasing African innovation to an international audience of scientists, investors, policymakers, and global media. Senior leaders from across the consortium also attended, led by Michigan State University’s Vice-Provost for International Studies and Programs, Professor Titus Awokuse.  During the delegation meeting with Falling Walls’ Executive Director, Andreas Kosmider, there was clear enthusiasm about the trajectory of the partnership. Discussions focused on deepening African participation in next year’s Summit and widening the circle of collaborators to include government ministries, policymakers, and funding agencies, an effort aimed at opening new channels for African–German cooperation.  For AAP, the stakes are high. Strengthening research communication equips young African scientists to tell their stories compellingly, improving public understanding and increasing the influence of research on policy. The Labs, meanwhile, function as early-stage innovation pipelines, giving African entrepreneurs exposure, mentorship, and a global platform for emerging ideas. The partnership also enhances institutional visibility, positioning African universities as active players in global science diplomacy.  Planning has already begun for next year’s Summit, with AAP leaders working on a coordinated roadmap to ensure a more visible and more diverse African presence in 2026. The goal is not simply to attend, but to shape the agenda by bringing African voices, research, and innovation to the centre of the global conversation.  As AAP expands its Falling Walls footprint, the partnership is beginning to look less like a program and more like an ecosystem-building catalyst. It is strengthening the consortium internally, opening new possibilities externally, and giving African researchers and innovators a much-needed global stage. And if the early signs are anything to go by, the walls separating African science from global visibility are starting to crack, making space for a new era of collaboration and opportunity.   
    By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-Major
    Thursday, Dec 11, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • Culture in collaboration: repurposing folklore for youth empowerment
    Africa, particularly Nigeria, has a teeming young population who attempt to creatively navigate rapidly shifting identities within an unstable economy. For them, storytelling becomes a powerful tool through which sense is made of their place in the world. My research on folklore reimagination interrogates how traditional narratives are transformed into contemporary artistic endeavour that reflect the social realities of the youth. Folklore reimagination thus becomes an avenue for skill acquisition and empowerment in a society plagued with mismanaged resources and youth unemployment. By perceiving folklore as a living resource rather than a mere relic of the past, my research attempts to revive cultural heritage into digital content for the screen, constituting a source of self-employment for young creatives. In addition to addressing SDG number 8 – decent work and economic growth, this research fosters partnerships between culture and performance, youth and communities, tradition and modernity, and between local narratives and a global audience, offering education opportunities and reduced poverty. The research goal is to develop a toolkit which serves as both a learning and teaching aid for students and teachers of creative writing, further resonating with SDG number 4. Besides offering a platform for creativity and skills acquisition leading to self-employment, this research provides a model for a cultural engagement that is rooted in heritage preservation, shared creativity, collaboration and mutual respect. The research, which began in 2022, is divided into three distinct phases – toolkit draft, evaluation and update. Phase one involves the draft of the toolkit, which is divided into 5 parts and provides ethical insights and guidelines on working with folklore from the point of collection until reimagination. Offering mostly a theoretical guide, this phase is completed, and phase two is in progress. Phase two demands working closely with student writers to test the toolkit draft. Through a close collaboration with my students, aspects of the toolkit are currently being tested for effectiveness. Through feedback provided by the students, the toolkit will be updated with practical guides and sample scenarios. Further updates are expected following curated workshops, writers’ conference and creative labs. The creation of this toolkit resonates with the theme for this newsletter - art in partnership. Currently under the mentorship of Dr Jeff Wray of Michigan State University and Professor Chinenye Amonyeze of University of Nigeria, this research highlights that art, generally and folklore in particular, is not just a memory of set time in history, but a flexible material that can be reshaped into performances and creative narratives with social and economic value, while fostering partnerships driven by art. Folklore reimagination is, at its heart, an art of cultural partnership which depends on collaborations between researchers and creatives. By centring youths as creative agents, it leverages heritage to build skills, empowerment and self-employment. In this partnership, cultural memory is perceived and treated as a resource for innovation and economic growth. This art of partnership is therefore a sustainable one built on shared stories – stories that bear identities shaped by the past, present and future.
    By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-Major
    Thursday, Dec 11, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • 2025 AAP Consortium Delegates Welcomed in Classic Warm Heart of Africa Style
    Delegates to the AAP Consortium Meeting in Malawi were welcomed with a vibrant cultural reception on the afternoon of Sunday, June 8, 2025, at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) Amphitheatre. The event offered a rich immersion into Malawi’s cultural heritage, from traditional dances that transported participants across the country, to rhythmic music echoing tales of generations past, complemented by a curated selection of local foods and beverages. Set in the warmth of Malawian hospitality, the reception also featured interactive activities celebrating African cultural diversity through language games and cultural lightning talks.  Reception Planning   The reception was carefully designed to celebrate cultural identity and diversity while ensuring an enjoyable and memorable experience for all attendees. Preparations began with identifying local performance groups whose artistry authentically reflects the Malawian cultural brand. Consultations with selected groups ensured a thoughtful balance of energetic and soothing performances suited to a diverse audience, ultimately creating a programme that offered a cultural tour of Malawi through music and dance. Organisers also coordinated with the hosting hotel to incorporate Malawian cuisine on the cocktail menu, showcasing the country’s culinary heritage. With the performances and menu in place, the reception hosts curated additional interactive activities to promote cultural exchange and engagement among delegates.  Performances  The Malawi National Dance Ensemble, popularly known as the Kwacha Cultural Troupe, headlined the afternoon. Established in 1987, the renowned 30-member troupe delivered a captivating sequence of traditional dances representing Malawi’s regions. Their repertoire included Beni, Chimtali, Chisamba, Chiterera, Mjedza, Malipenga, Ingoma, Mganda, Vimbuza, and Gule Wamkulu—the iconic masked dance of the Chewa people. Adding to the ambiance, Owen Mbilizi and his team offered a rich musical experience featuring original compositions and Malawian classics, blending skilled instrumentation with harmonious vocals. Delegates responded with enthusiastic applause and cheers throughout the performances.   Local Foods  Participants enjoyed an assortment of local delicacies, including mandazi, zitumbuwa (banana fritters), malambe (baobab) juice, and thobwa (sweet beer), alongside familiar continental snacks. The refreshment break provided an informal space for delegates to mingle, exchange reflections, and deepen their appreciation of the cultural showcase.   Significance  The cultural reception successfully highlighted Malawi’s artistic and culinary traditions while fostering a shared appreciation for cultural diversity among delegates. It was an afternoon filled with warmth, laughter, and a strong sense of community, the perfect icebreaker for the week’s engagements. 
    By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-Major
    Tuesday, Dec 9, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • From Lens to Learning: Alex Mkwizu’s Transformative MSU Journey
    When Ibn Battutah said, “Traveling—it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller,” in his famous volumes Travels of Ibn Battutah, little did I know how profoundly this wisdom would echo throughout my eight-day experience at Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing. I had the honor of attending as the overall winner of the InVision Africa Photography Competition, curated and sponsored by the Alliance for African Partnerships. This MSU initiative champions collaboration with African universities in art, culture, language, and other fields.  My time at MSU was eye-opening, filled with warm introductions to professors and artists. I met Professor Peter Glendinning from the Kresge Art Center, whose expertise in photography was inspiring; Professor Susan Wyche, who specializes in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI); and Mr Vadu Rodrigues, a Master of Fine Arts candidate, from whom I learned how his personal influences shaped his narrative and storytelling in photography. I also met many other colleagues, learning from their diverse experiences and creative processes.  These key encounters with experts and practitioners across different artistic disciplines opened doors for me to continue exploring, collaborating, and discovering new opportunities as a multidisciplinary creative artist passionate about the intersection of data, technology, and human-centered storytelling.  One of the most memorable encounters was with Professor Peter Glendinning and his body of work Attached to the Soil, a brilliant photographic project consisting of fifty portraits, oral history-based stories, and metaphoric representations of South African youth. He shared fascinating insights into his process, including an old, rare tool he once used to achieve a stroboscopic effect before the era of advanced cameras and editing software. What stood out most to me was that each photograph’s story was told from the perspective of the subject themselves, a powerful approach to narrative photography.  Another remarkable interaction was with Mr. Vadu Rodrigues and his artistic initiative Positive Africa, which seeks to challenge negative and biased narratives about Africa through photography and other art forms. Spending time with him in his studio was deeply insightful. I admired his practice of carrying a small notebook to document daily experiences and visual ideas that later influence his creative work. Observing his process from conceptualization to a finished art piece was a masterclass in intentional storytelling.  The culmination of this experience profoundly influenced my growth as a creative technologist and multidisciplinary artist. It also opened new doors for collaboration, one of which came through the MSU Museum CoLab Studio. I learned about a call for artists to create a piece exploring AI singularity in all its forms. Having subscribed to the studio’s newsletter, I received the announcement and decided to apply with a concept for a Virtual Reality immersive experience: a VR tribunal where sentient AIs bring cases against humans. Participants take the role of the defendant, while a generative AI judge, UbuntuBot, presides, modelled on African communal justice systems. The project merges storytelling, ethics, and digital futures.  As the old proverb goes, “Luck is when opportunity meets preparedness.” Fortunately, I was selected as one of the artists to collaborate with the MSU CoLab Studio, supported by a seed grant to bring this piece to life and exhibit it at the MSU Museum.  While the journey has only just begun with MSU Art Community, the experience with the Invision Africa Photography Competition and the exposure and connections made within MSU’s artistic community have left a lasting and transformative impact. It will continue to shape my creative path and remain a defining part of my artistic journey.     
    By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-Major
    Tuesday, Dec 9, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • Celebrating The Role of Art and Creativity in Shaping Global Partnerships
    Photo by: Cris Dopher.  The arts represent the most imaginative and creative form of expression, integral to the civilizational progress of communities worldwide. In Uganda, an East African country where I originate, the arts are embodied and lived through music, dance, theatre, poetry, storytelling, folktales, and other forms of artistic engagement. The cultural, historical, social, and political meanings are etched in the art forms of the people. The arts are evolutionary and revolutionary, depicting the changes and continuities, and instigating shifts in the lived experiences of communities.  The arts have demonstrated their value in fostering community transformation across histories and territories. In Africa, the role of the arts has evolved in tandem with sociocultural, political, and economic changes in communities. The arts have offered platforms to sensitize communities around ever-emerging challenges, such as disease, climate change, conflicts, forced migration, gender-based violence, poverty, and cultural differences, among others. The functions of the arts have transcended stage performances and entertainment. Communities have deployed their creative and artistic potential to explore local solutions to prevailing problems. Within international development discourse on Africa, there is talk about ‘Africa finding local solutions to African problems’. Arts-oriented interventions that communities have applied and sustained offer a rubric on how communities in Africa can develop and implement sustainable and cost-effective solutions to local challenges.  The migratory and borderless natures of the creative arts, and their distinctiveness as a universal language, position them strategically to mediate differences, heal broken communities, quell tensions, and pluralize perspectives. The transnational and transcultural nature of the creative arts is evident in how they are constituted by cross-pollination of diverse cultural traditions, stories, and orthodoxies. The art forms are reinvented and reimagined at the intersection of other existing artistic practices. The aspect of embodiment that gives the arts their true meaning and essence centers people, as bearers of practices, meanings, and knowledge.  The global flow of art forms stems from local innovations. The being of the global dimension of the creative arts is rooted in their local value. Art proliferates by diffusion. The notion of art being born of people’s imaginaries enables its adaptation, assimilation, transcendence, and permeation across localities and contexts. Across Africa, the Black Diaspora, and global indigeneity, the commonalities between the arts demonstrate their universal reach, underscoring histories of migration, cultural connections, and intercultural interfaces.  Scholarship, practice, and research are media through which the arts have found expressions in transboundary contexts. In the realm of scholarship, collaborative research in the creative arts has increased, generating rich and diverse knowledge that has improved the human condition. The mobility of scholars and researchers between cultures and nationalities has augmented the exchange of expertise and circulation of artistic and cultural ideas and practices.  My current tenure as an African Futures Fellow at Michigan State University under the auspices of the Alliance for African Fellowship (AAP) is testimony to how the creative arts and artists can support global partnerships through scholarship and research. As a dance studies scholar at Makerere University in Uganda, East Africa, the program has supported me to connect with scholars at MSU and the US; co-write articles for publications; present at conferences; collaborate on artistic works with communities; and partner with researchers on ideation, incubation, writing, and submission of research grant ideas. Such engagements have facilitated the convergence of ideas, cultures, and people. My story represents a myriad of scholars who are leveraging the scholarly prowess of the creative arts to dissolve boundaries and dismantle barriers.  The arts have accelerated global partnerships through joint performances and collaborative creative processes. Worldwide, concerts, festivals, competitions, showcases, and productions have facilitated exchanges between artists, communities, artistic works, and audiences, and have supported the mobilization of resources through fundraising to care for those in need. The arts have been the heartbeat of globalization. Through exposure to different artistic forms, communities have peeked into cultures beyond their own. The creative arts carry a unique ability to communicate across generations, demographics, cultures, and geographies. Communities across the globe have united through the creative arts to draw attention to and amplify the voices of the oppressed.  The emergence of innovative technologies and platforms has empowered creatives worldwide to access wider audiences and listenership. Technology has democratized access and consumption of creative artworks globally. For Africa, the innovative platforms have enabled people to tell their own stories and confront stereotypical views through artistic and cultural products. Global business collaborations have emerged, resulting from the potential for the creative arts to circulate as commercially valuable products.  The creative arts possess inherent power to unite people across divides. As the world confronts challenges of conflicts, climate change, food insecurity, natural disasters, disease, social injustices, forced labour, and human trafficking, among others, the arts will continue to take center stage as strategic tools through which global communities can partner to find solutions to these problems. The creative arts have always been the heart that gives and receives. 
    By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-Major
    Thursday, Dec 11, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY

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  • Call for Papers: History of Technology Conference
    “Engaging the History of Technology” International Congress of History of Science and Technology Annual Meeting   Democritus University of Thrace Alexandroupolis, Greece October 8 – 11, 2026 The theme of this conference, “Engaging the History of Technology”, invites critical reflections on how history of technology can engage with evolving methodologies, theories and pedagogies, and other branches of historical study to demonstrate that understanding technologies’ pasts are essential to navigating contemporary challenges. The conference, therefore, seeks contributions across spatial and epistemic boundaries: from the everyday and local to the geopolitical and planetary; from archival practice to classroom teaching and public engagement; and from discipline-specific research methods to interdisciplinary collaborations. Contributors may engage with one or more of the following themes, or even suggest new ways of thinking about:  1. The History of Technology between the Local, the Regional, and the Global:• Circulation of technologies, expertise, and knowledge across borders• Adaptation and appropriation of technologies in different cultural contexts• Tensions between globalisation and localisation in technological change• Regional networks and their role in shaping technological trajectories• Colonial, postcolonial and decolonial dimensions of technology• Networks of maintenance and repair2. History of Technology, Historiography and Education:• Methodological innovations in researching the history of technology• Interdisciplinary approaches and their challenges• Teaching the history of technology in universities and schools• Public engagement and the communication of technological history• The relevance of technology history to contemporary policy debates• Digital humanities and new forms of historical scholarship3. Intersections between the History of Technology and Other Fields of Historical Study:• Technology and social history: class, labour, gender, and everyday life• Technology and cultural history: representation, identity, and meaning• Technology and environmental history: sustainability, resource use, and ecological change• Technology and economic history: innovation, industrialisation, and development• Technology and political history: governance, regulation, and power• Technology and the history of medicine: cultural values, therapeutic practice, and material conceptions about the human body4. Special Focus: Museums, Material and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Public Engagement: Given our collaboration with the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, the planners particularly welcome proposals that engage with material and intangible culture, museum practices, and public history. They are interested in innovative session formats that:• Explore tensions and synergies between academic and museum approaches to technological history• Demonstrate object-based learning methodologies• Address the challenges of communicating technological history to diverse publics• Examine the role of museums in preserving and interpreting technological heritage• Study visitor engagements with intangible heritage, particularly those of marginalised and silenced ethno-cultural communities• Critically examine the funding relationships between private technological and industrial interests, and museum Proposals will be accepted in the following formats: Paper presentations Individual and author teams’ presentations.Please, submit an abstract of up to 350 words. Panel Sessions Thematically coherent sessions of 3-4 papers. Panel organisers should submit a panel abstract (up to 400 words) describing the theme and its significance; after approval the conference committee and the panel organisers will issue a specific call for proposals (individual or author teams’ paper abstracts up to 350 words each). Roundtables Discussion-based sessions with 4-6 participants addressing a specific question or debate. Organisers should submit a description of the topic and format (up to 350 words); names and brief bios of participants (up to 100 words each); key questions to be addressed. Graduate Student and Early Career Opportunities ICOHTEC is committed to supporting emerging scholars. We particularly welcome submissions from graduate students and early career researchers. The conference will feature:• Visual Lightning Talk Competitions for graduate students• Mentorship opportunities pairing students with established scholars• Book development workshops Submissions of abstracts through the conference website: December 15, 2025 - January 31, 2026 Official conferencewebsite: https://icohtec2026.hs.duth.gr - Peter Alegi, MSU Department of History -“Soccer as Work and Play: A Congolese Life Story, from Colonialism to Globalization” (co-sponsored by the MSU Department of African American and African Studies and the MSU African Studies Center)   Monday, March 23 - Jenelle Thelen – “Smooth as Silk: Working Women of the Belding, MI Silk Mills (1902-1908)” (co-sponsored by the MSU Center for Gender in Global Context)   Friday, April 3 - David Stowe, MSU Religious Studies – “The Musical Tanner: Negotiating Work, Music, and Belief in Revolutionary Boston”   * TBD - Nicholas Sly, MSU Department of History - “Curing the Crisis of Masculinity: Calisthenics and Office Work in the Early Twentieth Century”     Check out all the Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives brown bag presentation recordings available on the MSU Library website (over 125 and still counting!!- JPB)   Did you miss a brown bag presentation that you really want to hear? Or perhaps you may want to explore the listing of past presentations that you didn't even know about. There's an answer to both quests.   Thanks to all our friends at MSU Vincent Voice Library, there is a new home for all our recorded brown bags.  Follow these links and you should be able to tap into all of the recordings we have cataloged thus far: Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives Channel or https://mediaspace.msu.edu/channel/channelid/209060293. Easy Peasy!! Thanks to everyone for setting us up this way!!!   The deepest note of Thanks to all of the folks at the Vincent Voice Library who have worked with us to create this archived set of recordings. Thanks to Shawn, James, Mike, Rick and the late John Shaw for their work over the years on our behalf.      For over thirty years, "Our Daily Work/ Our Daily Lives" has been a cooperative project of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and the Labor Education Program.
    By: Aaron Dorner
    Thursday, Dec 4, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY
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  • Call for Book Proposals: Yorùbá Worlds, New Book Series Edited by Toyin Falola
    The University of Wisconsin Press is pleased to announce the launch of a new book series, Yorùbá Worlds, edited by Toyin Falola. Publishing innovative book-length works and privileging Yorùbá voices, this multidisciplinary series is intended to answer urgent calls to decentralize colonial narratives of Africa and its diaspora and elevate Indigenous knowledge systems, oral histories, and community-centered approaches. “The long and diverse history of the Yorùbá people, from precolonial times to today, included notable achievements in political systems, economic ties, cultural innovations, multireligious interactions, and global continuities,” says series editor Toyin Falola. “This series highlights Yorùbá voices and knowledge systems, focusing on agency and communities in both Africa and the diaspora, to deepen understanding of ongoing developments and potential related to identity, spirituality, decolonization, and transnationalism. I am excited about the opportunity to showcase and curate a wide range of innovative, cutting-edge, and multidisciplinary scholarship that offers new insights into the history, cultures, and intellectual contributions of what is perhaps Africa’s most significant and most widely dispersed group, the Yorùbá.” The Yorùbá people have a long history of producing remarkable cultural forms, intellectual traditions, and influential historical narratives. The history of Yorùbá civilization is exemplified by precolonial urbanized city-states such as Ilé-Ifẹ̀, Ọ̀yọ́, and Ibadan, each of which had administrative structures in place. As Yorùbá people dispersed globally, their religious beliefs, languages, and cultures were foundational to forming Afro-diasporic identity in Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti, and the United States. Yorùbá legacy, both within the African continent and among members of the global diaspora, has intensified in the contemporary period, as seen in the vibrancy of the religious expressions of Santeria and Candomblé, the explosion of Afrobeats, Yorùbá films, and transnational repatriation projects, among others. Yorùbá Worlds is a multidisciplinary series that aims to showcase this vibrant legacy by compiling various perspectives. In addition to rigorous analyses of Yorùbá contributions to global intellectual, political, and cultural histories, the series will collapse some distance between academic inquiry and the wider world. The series will also be essential for understanding how African epistemologies continue to shape contemporary conversations about identity, spirituality, decolonization, and transnationalism. Editor in chief Dan Crissman notes, “The University of Wisconsin Press is a recognized leader in publishing groundbreaking and essential work in African studies. We are very pleased to partner with Dr. Falola to shine a spotlight on Yorùbá history and culture.” Series editor Toyin Falola is Distinguished Teaching Professor and Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas at Austin. Falola is the author or editor of more than 150 books on African history, politics, and society. He is the recipient of twenty-eight honorary doctorates from around the world as well as more than forty lifetime achievement awards. The series advisory board includes Olufunke Adeboye (University of Lagos), Akintunde Akinyemi (University of Florida at Gainesville), Andrew Apter (University of California, Los Angeles), Matt D. Childs (University of South Carolina),Henry Lovejoy (University of Colorado Boulder), Akin Ogundiran (Northwestern University), Bola Sotunsa (Babcock University), Aribidesi Usman (Arizona State University), Olufemi Vaughan (Amherst College), and John Thabiti Willis(Grinnell College). The first book in the series, Joseph Odùmósù’s Book of Healing, edited and translated by Michael Ọládẹ̀jọ Afọláyan and Helen Tilley, will be published in January 2026. For more information about submissions, please contact Dan Crissman, editor in chief, at dcrissman@wisc.edu. For other inquiries, please contact the series editor, Toyin Falola, at toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu. About the University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press is a not-for-profit publisher of books and journals. With more than 1,500 titles and 8,000 peer-reviewed articles in print, its mission embodies the Wisconsin Idea by publishing work of distinction that serves the people of Wisconsin and the world. Contact Information Dan Crissman, Editor in Chief, University of Wisconsin Press Contact Email dcrissman@wisc.edu
    By: Aaron Dorner
    Friday, Nov 21, 2025
    CULTURE AND SOCIETY

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