GRFDT

African Diasporas: Old and New

CALL FOR PAPERS

The University of Texas Africa Conference

African Diasporas: Old and New

April 3-6, 2014

We are now inviting scholars to submit conference papers and full panel proposals for the 2014 conference on African Diasporas: Old and New. The goal of this conference is to create an interdisciplinary dialogue concerning Africa and Africans throughout the world from both historical and contemporary approaches. This conference seeks to bring together a vast array of scholars on a variety of academic levels to discuss the complex experiences of African descended peoples across the globe.

What is the African Diaspora? How are old and new diasporas discussed in a variety of disciplines? How can we conceptualize the African Diaspora? What is the role of the African Diaspora in modern politics? How do various groups within old and new African diasporas conceptualize themselves in relation to others? How do diasporic voices shape conceptualizations of individual and collective identities? What will the African diaspora look like in the future?

Some potential topics may include:

- Human rights in the African Diaspora

- Identity politics in the African Diaspora

- Conceptualizations of Diaspora

- The concept of homeland

- Reverse migrations

- Transnationalism, immigration, and citizenship

- Expressive culture in the African Diaspora

- Historiographical debates on the African Diaspora

- Religion, traditional culture, and creolization in the African Diaspora

- New Media and social media in the African Diaspora

- Slavery and the African Diaspora

- Kinship

- Indian Ocean networks

- Trans Saharan Trade

- Colonialism, labor, and the African Diaspora

- New Diaspora history

- Migration and memory

-International politics in the African diaspora

- Cultural expressions of political realities, including political protest in the forms of music, literature, film, art, etc., both in Africa and throughout the Diaspora

- Forms of transnational political protest in the African Diaspora.

As with all our previous conferences, participants will be drawn from different parts of the world. Submitted papers will be assigned to particular panels according to similarities in theme, topic, discipline, or geographical location. Papers can also be submitted together as a panel. Additionally, selected papers will be published in book form.

This conference also has a commitment to professional development which will be fostered through workshops in writing, publishing, and conference presentation. The conference will also provide ample time for professionals from various disciplines and geographical locations to interact, exchange ideas, and receive feedback. Graduate students are especially encouraged to attend and present papers and will be partnered with a senior scholar to encourage their own growth as scholars.

The deadline for submitting paper proposals is November 31, 2013. Proposals should include a 250-word abstract and title, as well as the author's name, address, telephone number, email address, and institutional affiliation.

Please submit all abstracts to Cacee Hoyer/Danielle Sanchez: [email protected]

A mandatory non-refundable registration fee of $150 for scholars and $100 for graduate students must be paid immediately upon the acceptance of the abstract. This conference fee includes admission to the panels, workshops, and special events, as well as transportation to and from the conference from the hotel, breakfast for three days, dinner on Friday night, lunch on Saturday, and a banquet on Saturday evening.

The University of Texas at Austin does not provide participants with any form of funding support, travel expenses, or boarding expenses. If the conference obtains outside funding this will be used to help subsidize graduate students' accommodations on a competitive basis but it is not guaranteed.

Convened by Dr. Toyin Falola

Coordinated by Cacee Hoyer and Danielle Sanchez

Time and Place: