Call for Papers: Movements, Migrations and Displacements in Africa, 10/05/05

Movements, Migrations and Displacements in Africa
March 24-26 2006
University of Texas at Austin
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa

We are pleased to announce a three-day conference (March 24-26, 2006) centered on the theme of Movements, Migrations and Displacements in Africa with the objective of examining population shifts within Africa, and the movement of people from Africa to the rest of the world. We welcome papers that pose new, cultural, historical, sociological, methodological, and theoretical questions, whether addressing relevant, recurring and urgent issues or raising neglected topics. Papers are invited on virtually all themes, inclusive of time, period and space parameters as well as interdisciplinary perspectives.

Among the themes of interest are the following:

Migration and shifting identity
Hybridity, transculturation
The impacts of wars and military systems, ancient and modern Trans-Atlantic migrations, forced and voluntary
Cultural and ethnic accommodation of newcomers
Case studies within Africa (e.g., Rwanda, South Africa) Case studies of Africans in other continents (e.g., Nigerians in Dallas; African churches in London)
Impact of Western and Asian settlers
Trans-national struggles and ideas
The African diaspora in other continents
Refugees
Representations in literature, films, and media
Exile and homecoming narratives
Sociological issues as crime, juvenile delinquency, unemployment, family structures
Gender and generational disparities
Intellectual movements such as Pan-Africanism, Negritude, etc. memoirs of migrancy
displacement: plot, characters, setting

The deadline for submitting paper proposals is October 1, 2005. Proposals should include a 250-word abstract along with author's name, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. Please submit all abstracts to:

Toyin.Falola@mail.utexas.edu
It is expected that participants will raise the funding to attend the conference. The University of Texas at Austin does not provide participants with any form of funding support, travel or boarding expenses. If a small fund comes our way, we will use it to cover the administrative expenses of running the conference and to pay for the hotel rooms (food not included) for those coming from Africa and graduate students.

Selected papers from the conference will be published in book form.

Toyin Falola
Department of History
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712-0220
USA
512 475 7224
512 475 7222 (fax)
www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa

Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.