Call for Papers: Institute for the African Child, 04/03

CALL FOR PAPERS

Children & Islam: Faith and Social Change in Africa and Southeast Asia April 10 -12, 2003 Ohio University, Athens, OH

The experience of childhood in, near, and around Islamic societies is the topic to be explored in the fifth annual conference of the Institute for the African Child, April 10-12, 2003 in Athens, Ohio. The Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Ohio University is the co-sponsor. Our interests extend across two rapidly growing and changing regions of the Muslim world, Africa and Southeast Asia.

The organizers seek papers of high quality, which address childhood and youth issues in Islamic contexts, comparatively or within societies. Islam provides a central focus for socialization in Africa and Southeast Asia, affecting family and community life, education, the arts, politics, the world of work and the wider economy, and inter-group relations. Presentations should be no more than 20 minutes in length. You may also bring materials for display at the conference information booth.

Panels, individual presentations or poster sessions may be proposed and themes may include, but are not limited to: * Islamic youth movements in Africa/SEA * Islam & education - in and out of school * Muslim girls and contemporary social change * The religious life of children * Muslim children at work/ urban and rural life * Islamic NGOs and their impact on children in Africa/SEA and the Diaspora * Majority/Minority relations and Islam in Africa/SEA * Children's health in Muslim societies * Human Rights, Children and Islam

The conference will commence on Thursday evening with a keynote presentation and reception. Dr. W. Stephen Howard, Director of the Institute for the African Child, is the Conference Convener. K-12 teachers and social service providers are encouraged to participate as well and special sessions may be organized to address curricular and intervention issues.

Abstracts should be one page in length and submitted by February 1, 2003. Those who need additional time for visa processing or for locating funds should submit their abstract by January 15, 2003. Please include a paper title, theme of the paper, author contact information including e-mail address, and brief author bio. Accepted one-page abstracts will be printed in the conference program. Final papers may be submitted for consideration in the "Working Papers in African Child Studies" series. Presenters will be expected to pre-register for the conference by March 14, 2003.

Send a one-page abstract to: Attn: Acacia Nikoi, Conference Coordinator, Center for International Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701 USA or by e-mail: nikoi@ohio.edu.

Institute for the African Child

The Institute for the African Child was founded in 1998 to promote collaboration between Ohio University's Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Communication, Education, Health and Human Services and Osteopathic Medicine on every dimension of children and child survival across Africa. Previous conferences have focused on the African girl child, child soldiers, and children's health and education. The Institute sponsors a series of courses during the Summer Quarter, attracting graduate students and professionals from all over the world. The theme for Summer 2003 will be media and communication and the African Child. Southeast Asian Studies Program The Center for Southeast Asian Studies was designated a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education in 2000. The Center serves as the home of both a master's degree program in International Affairs and an undergraduate certificate program in Asian Studies since 1967. The academic program is intended to give students freedom to pursue interests best suited to their professional and academic goals within an inter-national context. The library holdings on Indonesia and Malaysia are among the most extensive in the world. In addition, the endowed Tun Razak Chair for the study of Malaysia is the only one of its kind in the United States.