Conference: Northeast Workshop on Southern Africa,04/07
This is the second call for papers and participation for the Seventh
Northeast Workshop on Southern Africa (NEWSA). We encourage scholars
from all disciplines who are currently working on southern Africa
(Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia,
South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe) to submit proposals.
The meeting will be held at the Bishop Booth Conference Center in
Burlington, Vermont (US), between April 13 and April 16, 2007.
The NEWSA conference is organized around intensive discussion of pre-
circulated papers. There are also many opportunities for informal
conversation of work-in-progress. Located on 130 acres of forest with
its own secluded beach, the center is an ideal location for
discussion and conversation. Drawing on the successful precedents of
the former Southern African Research Program at Yale and the Canadian
Research Consortium on Southern Africa, this program is designed to
give southern Africanists the opportunity for close and intensive
discussion of work across a wide variety of scholarly fields. We
encourage the presentation of previously unpublished work, and
submissions from graduate students and junior faculty in particular.
- - - 2007 Conference Themes - - -
We aim to encourage and prioritize scholarship, regardless of
discipline or topic, that is grounded in an analysis of African
language and concepts, and which elucidates local worldviews and
experience.
We want especially to encourage discussion of the following three
topics across disciplines:
1.Migration / Displacement. Migration has been a long standing
feature of the southern African social landscape, predating the rise
of large-scale labor migration beginning in the late 19th century.
In recent decades, however, the directions and scales of population
movements have been shifting in novel ways, with implications for
socio-economic change and the course of the regional HIV/AIDS
epidemic. Political changes in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and
Zimbabwe, as well as points further north (e.g. Burundi and Congo/
Zaire) have led to unprecedented patterns of movement. Large scale
infrastructure projects (e.g. the Lesotho Highlands Water Project),
the creation of new trans-border protected areas, and the continuing
effects of civil conflicts (including the recent clearance of
informal settlements around Harare) have also involved large-scale
population displacement. In South Africa and Botswana in particular,
new migration has given rise to xenophobic anti-immigrant reactions
that highlight tensions between nationalism and universalist notions
of human rights. The demographics of existing migration channels are
also changing; women are no longer those 'left behind', but are
themselves migrating for work, both in the formal and informal
economies.
2. Environment. Papers in this theme may offer new perspectives on
established topics pertaining to the environment in southern Africa,
such as the social consequences of soil conservation programs and
veterinary interventions, the creation of protected areas, and
drought and coping strategies. We also seek papers related to
underresearched aspects of the environment, areas of innovation in
policy and practice, and unprecedented issues. Topics might include
local/indigenous environmental movements, environmental justice,
pollution and toxins, urban environmental issues, efforts to
decentralize / community-based natural resource management, and/or
climate change. Papers on other topics related to the environment
are welcome.
3. Music. The musical heritage of southern Africa is diverse, rich
and dynamic. Recent decades have seen the rise of kwaito and the
indigenization and transformation of hip-hop and house, paralleling
the local reconfiguration of jazz, country and gospel musics earlier
in the 20th century. The unprecedented popularity of Y-FM has also
highlighted the cultural and economic significance of African youth.
At the same time, the rise of inexpensive computer-based recording
technology has begun to break the stranglehold that the recording
industry has long held over local artists. We particularly seek
papers that examine music in its social contexts, in relation to
political, economic and cultural change.
We especially encourage participation from professionals, scholars
and graduate students in Africa as well as those located in Canada
and the United States. If you are interested in attending please
contact Gary Kynoch (gkynoch at dal.ca) by email. Indicate whether
you would like to:
-
present a paper for one of the regular panels
-
serve as a discussant
-
attend the workshop
The deadline for proposals is December 15, 2006. Send proposals to
Gary Kynoch (gkynoch at dal.ca).
If you wish to give a paper, your proposal should include a title and
one- to two-paragraph abstract. Completed papers, not to exceed forty
pages, will be due March 15, 2007, so that the papers can be pre-
circulated on a conference website ahead of the meeting.
If you wish to serve as a discussant, your proposal should indicate
the areas of southern African studies on which you are most prepared
to comment. Once the conference participants are selected and
organized into panels, each panel will be assigned a discussant.
Discussants thoroughly read the pre-circulated papers by the
participants in their session, and at the conference give a 10-15
minute constructive criticism/comment on the papers individually and
collectively. Discussants also coordinate discussion of the papers
amongst those attending the panel.
- - - Accommodation, Registration and Travel - - -
All participants are housed at the Bishop Booth Conference Center
<http://www.dioceseofvermont.org/Orgs/BishopBooth.html>, which offers
inexpensive accommodation and meals in a beautiful setting. The
conference facility can sleep up to a maximum of 50 people. Single
and double rooms are extremely limited and most rooms sleep 3 people
with shared bathrooms.
The estimated costs are as follows:
Rooms (sharing):
Double: $40 per night
Triple: $30 per night
All meals for the weekend (Friday lunch â€" Sunday breakfast, excluding
Saturday night dinner):
$50
Registration:
| Full time faculty at North American or European Institutions |
$110 |
| Graduate Students at North American or European Institutions |
$30 |
| Attendees traveling from Southern Africa are not required to |
pay |
registration.
Burlington is easily accessible. By car it is 90 minutes from
Montreal, 3½ hours from Boston and approximately five hours from New
York. In addition to its airport Burlington is served by AMTRAK
(train) and several bus lines.
- - - For Further Information - - -
If you would like to receive direct notices about this and future
NEWSA meetings, please subscribe to our e-mail list. To do this, send
an email to majordomo@southwestern.edu. The body of your email should
read:
subscribe su-newsa
For the latest updated information on the conference, see the NEWSA
web site at http://www.southwestern.edu/~greenmue/newsa-07-
program.html .
Derick A. Fay, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Union College
Schenectady, NY 12308
(518) 388-8747
Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.