USA Africa Dialogue Series - Call for Papers: JMU Africana Studies Conference

Africana Studies @ James Madison University

5^th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference

 

REVOLUTION: Reclaiming Tradition, Redefining Change in Africa and the Diaspora

 

James Madison University, 17^th – 18^th October 2013

Proposals due by 30^th August 2013

 

The James Madison University Africana Studies Program invites your attendance and scholarly contribution to our annual conference, focused on the collective experiences and representations of Africa and its many conceptual and in-the-flesh descendants. The 2013 theme speaks to the idea of REVOLUTION as both change and cycle, and we are interested in how these two notions can be simultaneously useful descriptors for things-Africana.  To wit, revolution can refer to:

·       a dramatic, radical change, or at least the struggle toward such, that can occur on a variety of scales and may result in a new social order

·       a rotation, orbit, or completion of a cycle that can ensure the stability and resilience of a particular system

 

We call for your papers, panels (up to 3 speakers, summaries for each), artistic renderings, posters and other presentations on the theme of REVOLUTION.  We encourage submissions that are cross-disciplinary, multidisciplinary, collective, artistic, and engaging.  

 

Prospective presenters are invited to submit a 200-word abstract along with the type of submission, title, author's name, affiliation, telephone number and e-mail address.  Please send your proposal to the organizers at africanastudies@jmu.edu by 30^th August 2013.  We will announce accepted proposals via email no later than 13^th September.

 

Our 2013 Africana Studies Conference will include the following not-to-be-missed events:

·       Jazz REVOLUTION, Thursday, 17^th October: an evening jazz performance featuring renowned musicians David Pope and Barry Long

·       Keynote address by Agnes Fallah Kamara-Umunna, Liberian peace activist and author of And Still Peace Did Not Come

·       Featured presenter Dr. Chitja Twala of South Africa's University of the Free State

·       Roundtable "Revolution @ 50: The Legacy of Nkrumah as Stabilizing and/or Radicalizing African Governance," featuring scholars Michael West (Binghamton U), Olufemi Taiwo (Seattle U), David Owusu-Ansah (James Madison U), and Jackie Walker (James Madison U)

·       Blue Nile Ethiopian Cuisine and after party, Friday, 18^th October

 

 

 

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Africana Studies @ James Madison University: http://www.jmu.edu/africana/

Harrisonburg, VA 22807

USA