Contact us      Members Login     Join ASG

African Studies News and Events

No Images? Click here

Upcoming Events

In 2001 Africa was declared “a scar on the conscience of the world”. When The Economist declared Africa a “Hopeless Continent” the writer observed that African societies were “for reasons buried in their cultures especially susceptible to brutality, despotism and corruption”. A decade later, The Economist decided Africa was both Hopeful and Rising. Partly because shops were stacked with goods and China was on the continent. Now Africa Rising is being questioned. What do we really know about the continent?

Dr. Alex Awiti is the Interim Vice Provost, East Africa​ and the founding Director of the East African Institute (EAI) of Aga Khan University, Nairobi Kenya. Mr. Awiti holds a PhD in Ecosystems Ecology from University of Nairobi and is an alumnus of the prestigious Earth Institute post-doctoral fellowship at Columbia University in New York. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York and was also an adjunct assistant professor at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He worked under the mentorship of Jeffery D. Sachs, world-renowned professor of Sustainable Development and Health Policy and Management.

Date: Friday, November 23, 2018 | 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Location: Discovery Centre, MacOdrum Library, Carleton University.

See more details here

TRACES

Professors Erin Baines and Pilar Riaño-Alcalá (The University of British Columbia The Liu Institute for Global Issues and The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies).

We speak of traces as the affective imprints of the missing on the social fabric; the sense/feeling disappearance generates; an imprint that is imperceptible but compels. Traces are haunting, hopeful, and coextensive: imbrications of the absent and present. What does it mean to write of, and with, traces? Pilar reflects on exhumations of the victims of a massacre, of lives mourned and relationships restored through the identification of bones and ceremonial protocols of burial. Erin reflects on the reappearance of persons who went missing during the war in northern Uganda, and the violent fragments that bond them to one another, and to persons they have never before seen or met. In this talk, we take a pause from international investigations, trials,

When: Thursday November 22, 2018 | 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm
Where: Room 2017 Dunton Tower, Carleton University

To Register and for further Information Email: bgins@carleton.ca

Upholding land rights in Oaxaca, Mexico: The experiences of two prominent Human Rights Defenders

At this speaker series, you will hear about the lived experiences of Salvador Martinez Arellanes and Neftali Reyes Mendez, two prominent human rights defenders in Oaxaca protecting land and territory rights in a context of widespread violence and insecurity, and about the actions of Fortuna Silver Mines, Canadian public silver mining company in Santa Catarina Minas Community.

When: Thursday November 22, 2018 | 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Where: Room 2017 Dunton Tower, Carleton University

Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-Century Halifax

This presentation examines a century of planning history in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Focusing on a series of planning initiatives that sought to protect or improve human life, is shows how planning’s conception of the human being relied on particular distinctions between the normative and the pathological, and how Black life – and, thus,

Halifax’s longstanding Black population – was continually placed outside planning’s vision of human flourishing. Drawing connections between the history of urban planning and emerging scholarship on anti-blackness, this presentation locates an anti-Black conception of the human being at the core of modern planning practice. Displacing blackness, expelling blackness from the sphere of the human, is integral to the operation of modern planning – not just in black neighbourhoods, but across the urban terrain.

Presenters:
Ted Rutland is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University.

Heather Dorries is an Assistant Professor at Carleton University, where she teaches in the Indigenous Policy and Administration Program.

More about the book:
https://utorontopress.com/ca/displacing-blackness-2

Date: Thursday November 22, 2018 | 7:00 PM
Location: 25One Community, 2nd Floor, 251 Bank Street,  Ottawa

This event is free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

For more info: Jennifer Ridgley at jennifer.ridgley@carleton.ca

Patterns in Time

Come join us for  a Concert with Traditional drum & dance music from Ghana, and percussion compositions from Steve Reich and Bob Becker

Featuring Baobab Youth Performers , Carleton University West African Rhythm Ensemble and the Laurier University Percussion Ensemble

with special guest Nani Agbeli  Director of West African Arts, Cal Arts USA

Date and Time: Saturday November 24, 2018 7:30 PM

Location: Kailash Mital Theatre, Carleton University

Admission at the door: $20 Students and Seniors $10

La troisième conférence de notre douzième année scientifique du CERCLECAD 2018/2019 se déroulera ce samedi  le 24 novembre 2018, comme d’habitude à 15H00, dans la salle du Sénat de l’Université d’Ottawa, au sous-sol du Pavillon Tabaret, (Salle 083, 75, Avenue laurier Est ou 119, Rue Wallers ou 550, Rue Cumberland).

Nous avons la joie de présenter trois chercheurs actifs et membres fidèles et énergiques du Cerclecad qui vont nous nourrir avec trois conférences stimulantes pour nos intelligences, les voici :
* Monsieur Recxon Kabuasa Biko, traitera de : « La notion de l’étranger en Afrique ou la banalisation à outrance de la xénophobie. » ;
* Monsieur Hashimu Yahaya MALIKI traitera de : « Violences de l’Après-M23 au Nord-Kivu : continuation de la « guerre » ou implantation du « terrorisme international ? » et enfin,
* Monsieur Kakudji MBAVU traitera de : « Déconstruction philosophique et politique des concepts et discours utilisés dans l’analyse scientifique des questions africaines dans la Géopolitique mondiale du XXIème siècle. ».

La Conférence sera modérée par le Professeur Benoît AWAZI MBAMBI KUNGUA[1], Président du CERCLECAD. Je mets en Fichier joint les textes des argumentaires ainsi que les Notices autobiographiques de trois conférenciers ambitieux et déterminés.

Notice autobiographique 
Recxon Kabuasa Biko est diplômé en Leadership, communications sociales et animation de groupe de l’Université St Paul d’Ottawa et Diplômé en science politique comparée de l’École des Études Supérieures de l’Université d’Ottawa. Ancien assistant à l’enseignement et recherche à l’Université d’Ottawa,  il  a travaillé pendant plusieurs années comme Conseiller en gestion des ressources humaines à la Commission de la fonction publique du Canada et Conseiller sénior au Conseil Canadien des relations Industrielles.  Journaliste, poète, auteur et romancier, il a publié, entre autres, Le Zoo de Léopold II, aux éditions Elzévir, Paris, 2011. Son prochain ouvrage s’intitule : L’enfer au paradi.

Monsieur Hashimu Yahaya MALIKI est doctorant en Sciences Politiques à l’Université d’Ottawa et un membre actif et déterminé du Cerclecad dont la fidélité est exemplaire. Il prépare sa thèse doctorale sur les guerres en République démocratique du Congo.

Kakudji MBAVU est Maître en criminologie et possède un baccalauréat en sociologie (Université d’Ottawa). Il a été assistant à la recherche et à l’enseignement à l’Université d’Ottawa. Il a travaillé comme chercheur à la gendarmerie royale du Canada, comme agent de probation et de parole au service correctionnel d’Ontario et au Ministère de la Défense: en tant que ‘’Providing support to research director’s team’’). Il s’intéresse aux questions de la police, du maintien de l’ordre, de la criminalité économique et aux questions de l’État en Afrique noire.

Date: Saturday November 24, 2018 | 3:00 PM
Location: Salle 083, 75, Avenue laurier Est ou 119, Rue Wallers ou 550, Rue Cumberland

Extractive Industries, Governance and Indigenous Rights: Spaces of Struggle and Social innovation
International Conference-Workshop
University of Ottawa, November 29 – 30, 2018

Fully engaged in national and international debates on the natural resource extraction industry, the Interdisciplinary Research Group on the Territories of Extractivism (GRITE) includes 12 researchers and more than 20 graduate students from various units in the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Social Sciences (International Development and Global Studies, Political Studies, Sociology, and Anthropology) and Faculty of Law (Civil Law and Common Law). The primary objective of GRITE is to stimulate the exchange of critical knowledge between various sectors on the many issues that the growth of the extractive industry raises, both in Canada and abroad.

The GRITE 29-30 November 2018 international conference-workshop has two key objectives: 1) an in-depth analysis of the nature of the socio-environmental conflicts and governance challenges that the extractive industry raises, and of the strategies and practices that impacted communities have developed to face them; and 2) the formulation of policy recommendations to address these conflicts. It will bring together world-renowned academic experts on indigenous rights in extractive contexts, governmental and civil society representatives, and Indigenous leaders.

When: Thursday November 29 – Friday November 30, 2018
Where: Room 4007, Social Sciences Building, 120 University Private

See more details here

Call for Papers | 2019 FSAC Graduate Colloquium 
March 1 – 3,  2019 Ottawa, Canada

The 2019 FSAC Graduate Student Colloquium will be hosted by Carleton University on the Carleton University campus in Ottawa.

The organising committee is excited to announce a call for proposals from students across Canada and and abroad, studying at the graduate level in film and/or media studies. The conference is not strictly organized around an essential theme and as such we are seeking papers that encompass a broad number of topics within the discipline(s).

This Colloquium is sponsored by the Film Studies Association of Canada. Support is also provided by the Film Studies program, in the School for Studies in Art and Culture, at Carleton University.
This year the Canadian Journal of Film Studies will co-sponsor the Colloquium, and will host a special panel discussion on the topic of academic publishing.

Please submit proposals of no more than 300-500 words, for a presentation of twenty minutes, on any topic in film and/or media studies. Include current or past university or institutional affilliation, degree level (MA or PhD), a brief description of research interests (no more than 50 words), and contact email address. Submit proposals, as an
email attachment, in a Word document (or Word-compatible file), to:
carletongsc2019@gmail.com

The deadline for submissions is Friday, November. 30, 2018.

See more information here

Call for Papers | Precarity and Insecurity in Africa
International Conference Fabien Eboussi Boulaga #1
16 – 20 July 2019 Yaounde, Cameroon

The current social and political experience in Africa could lead us to wonder whether the entire continent is, to borrow a phrase from Achille Mbembe, struggling to emerge “from the great darkness.” While the representation of a “nightmarish Africa” remains “dear to certain know-all Western intellectuals” (Ramonet 2005), supporting this very problematic stereotype remains out of the question. Instead, it is important to produce a realistic and objective examination of the facts, which demonstrates that even as Africa evolves, the tangible signs of liberation from its long “nightmare” are slow in coming. Wars and con- flicts continue to hinder development. Unemployment in its various forms as well as unde- remployment remain ever-present. On the political front, democratic change and consoli- dation are blocked because various forms of authoritarianism continue to harden and seek desperately to survive. Within such a context, addressing issues of precarity and insecurity requires a cautious approach and conceptualization as well as particular consi- deration.

This conference is bilingual and will be held at the Muntu Institute in Yaoundé in July 2019.

To submit a proposal : pic.africa@muntu-institute.org
For any query : contact@muntu-institute.org

Submission deadline 30 November 2018.

See more information here

Call for Papers | African Places, African Spaces
Finding Africa Seminar Series
University of Leeds 2019

In light of contemporary concerns with decolonisation and meditations on the meaning of the continent of Africa, both within the academy and beyond, we invite papers concerned with African Places, African Spaces as part of our 2019 seminar series hosted in collaboration with the Leeds University Centre for African Studies and Leeds School of English.

Proposals can also address the primary question in relation to any of the following:

  •      What place does Africa have in global literature?
  •      What are the material aspects of life in African cities and villages as depicted in  literature?
  •      How do explorations of these spaces inform how we view the relationship between individuals and their communities, and between the ‘local’, ‘regional’, ‘national’, ‘continental’, ‘diasporic’ and ‘global’?
  •      How does Africa occupy discursive, cultural and material spaces?
  •      How does Africa travel in film, journalistic, academic, literary and online spaces?
  •      Can we think of contemporary African travel writing (e.g. Noo Saro-Wiwa’s Looking for Transwonderland, Sihle Khumalo’s Dark Continent, My Black Arse & Chibundu Onuzo’s Welcome to Lagos) as examples of reflecting on the spatiality of Africa?

We are accepting proposals from any discipline and especially interdisciplinary work in this area. Proposals must be a maximum of 300 words (in Word format) and submitted to findingpocoafrica@gmail.comby 15 January 2019.

See more information here

Call for Paper/Panels | Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) 2019
University of Quebec, Montreal
May 16 – 19, 2019

We are excited to announce that the Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) 2019 is well underway. Our conference is scheduled to take place from May 16th– 19th* 2019 at the University of Quebec in Montreal. The title of this year’s conference is “Thinking Africa-World: Originality and Innovative Practices.” From an open and multidisciplinary perspective, the 2019 CAAS conference invites reflection on the question of originality and innovation, in relation to Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world. This call is for panel, paper, roundtable and poster proposals that question the Africa-World relationship by considering the concepts of originality and innovation.

Submissions of abstracts of no more than 200 words for paper proposals, and abstracts of no more than 300-600 words for panel and roundtable proposals are due by December 1st, 2018 and should be submitted via the following link: https://caas.ignitewebsolutions.com/.
If there are any additional questions, students are welcome to email: caasacea@carleton.ca.

Call for Papers | Memory in Africa: Transcultural Dimensions, Pretoria
October 17 – 19, 2019

Within Memory Studies, a rapidly growing, interdisciplinary field of research internationally, the African continent, its people, diaspora and global linkages constitute neglected areas of research. This is despite the efforts of selected individual scholars and the International Memory Studies Association’s explicit mission to move beyond the Euro/Anglo centrism that has defined the early development of the field. This conference aims to provide a platform for academic researchers in Africa and international scholars interested in Africa to network, share their research and begin developing an Afrocentric approach to memory studies.

We invite participation from established researchers and postgraduate students in a wide range of disciplines from anthropology, cultural studies, diaspora studies, geography, health, history, mobility studies, political science, psychology, religion, sociology and other relevant fields. Practitioners in museums, memorial institutions, archives, the arts and performance fields, as well as researchers working for NGOs and government organizations are also welcome to contribute insights from their field of expertise. While the majority of contributions will be formal academic papers, alternative forms of presenting research, e.g. in videos, visual art or performances will be possible in specially arranged sessions.

This conference is hosted Atabongwoung Gallous (University of Pretoria) and Sabine Marschall (University of KwaZulul-Natal) and will be hosted on the campus of the University of Pretoria. Send an abstract of 150 words for a 20 minute presentation, including affiliation and full contact details by 31 January 2019 to memoryinafricaconference@gmail.com Notification of acceptance by 15 March 2019.

Website: https://sss.ukzn.ac.za/conferences/memory-studies-conference

Call for Applications: Sassoon Visiting Fellowships in South Asian and Black History, 2019-20

The Bodleian’s collections reflect the fact of Britain’s imperial and colonial past and the role that the University of Oxford played in that history. These Fellowships encourage researchers to come to Oxford and use the resources collected by the Libraries to research the histories of South Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, as well as their diasporas broadly defined. The research may relate to any period of time. In addition to the partial list below, all of the materials within Bodleian Special Collections are open to examination by holders of these Fellowships. Fellowships may be awarded for a period of up to 3 months.

General information about the Bodleian Visiting Fellowships programme can be found at: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/csb/fellowships 

Call for Applications:  Junior/Senior Fellowships on “Parliaments and Democracy in Africa” from September to December 2019

The Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) is dedicated to the topic of ‘Sustainable Governance’. MIASA’s three research foci are: sustainable environmental transformation, sustainable conflict management, and sustainable democracy.

In its first call for short-term fellowships MIASA welcomes applications from excellent researchers to join the interdisciplinary fellow group (IFG) “Parliaments and Democracy in Africa” from September to December 2019. Fellowships are awarded for a period of 4 months. General application information can be found at: https://www.mias-africa.org/call-for-applications

Vacancy: Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology (Tenure Track) Arts, Sociology

The Department of Sociology invites applications for a tenure-stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor. The position will commence July 1, 2019 and is subject to final budgetary approval. The area of specialization is popular culture with an emphasis on Caribbean cultures. The successful candidate will have expertise in theories of popular culture and media representation, a rich analysis of popular culture through an equity lens, and a program of research focused on Caribbean cultural forms, current issues affecting Caribbean communities and popular cultures (both in the region and the diaspora), and a commitment to representation of the Caribbean in all its diversity and complexity. Preference will be given to candidates with a record of collaboration with Caribbean communities and organizations. The successful candidate will be able to apply research and scholarship on Caribbean cultural expression to their teaching in the area of popular culture, in order to teach in the Sociology Program and Liberal Studies courses at the undergraduate level.

Applicants are asked to submit their application online via the Faculty Recruitment Portal by November 30, 2018. The application must contain the following:

  • A letter of application and curriculum vitae
  • Three (3) recent research publications in accordance with suggestions in “Qualifications” paragraph above
  • Evidence of teaching skills, experience and achievement in accordance with suggestions in Qualifications paragraph above
  • Results of teaching evaluations (or equivalent evidence, such as a teaching dossier). The names of at least 3 individuals who may be contacted for reference letters, including one referee who can address the candidate’s connections to Caribbean communities and organizations.

Confidential inquiries can be directed to the Department Hiring Committee Chair Alan Sears at asears@ryerson.ca

Any inquiries regarding accessing the Faculty Recruitment Portal can be sent to Ms. Davina Chan, Senior HR Consultant at davina.chan@ryerson.ca

See website for more information.

Bestselling African American & Canadian authors come to Ottawa!

TOK Ottawa Symposium presents:
Writing the Future: Kidlit & Young Adult

Publishing a diverse range of appealing KidLit and TeenLit is good for everyone – good for young readers whose minds are rapidly opening up to the world around them, good for writers looking to access the fastest growing market sector in publishing, and good for publishers building successful businesses. So, what are the structural challenges that inhibit progress being made for black, Indigenous and writers of colour? How is it different or similar on both sides of our border? A mix of authors from the United States and Canada compare and contrast the differences and similarities in trends, industry and experiences and open up a spotlight on the future.

Speakers include writers L.L. McKinney, Tochi Onyebuchi, Zoraida Córdova and Nadia Hohn and more.

Date: Saturday December 1, 2018 | 2:00 PM
Location: Ottawa Public Library (Main Branch Auditorium) 120 Metcalfe St, Ottawa

This event is free but registration is required here – Eventbrite.

Translate »