Tomorrow the 64th annual meeting of the African Studies Association (ASA) will convene from November 16-20, virtually. The theme is, Re-Centering Africa: Resistance and Renewal In A World Beyond COVID-19.
Click here for a full list of Wisconsin speakers.
According to their mission, ASA was “established in 1957…[and is the] flagship membership organization devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa.” Every year, the annual meeting brings together international scholars and professionals who share some of the most current research on Africa. Typically, 2,000 people attend the meeting of over 300 panels and roundtables. ASA also holds plenary events, an awards ceremony, movie screenings, and more! Please refer to the conference program. African Studies has also curated a list of Wisconsin-led panels and a few others that might be of interest.
We’ve curated a shortlist of some of the many stand-out panels below. You can find the full program here. All times listed are EST.
A SHORTLIST OF UW PANELISTS
November 17, 2:00-3:45pm
AfricaNow!: Entrepreneurship & Urbanism
“Eastern Africa’s startups now and then: unfolding regional and urban futures”
Allen Xiao, Geography
November 18, 8:00-9:45am
Local and Transnational Collaboration in the Age of African Post-Independence Possibility
“Ujamaa Knowledge Production: Decolonizing the University College, Dar es Salaam”
Carly Lucas, History
November 18, 10:00-11:45am
African Women, the Past, History, and Historiography
Jacqueline Mougoue as discussant, African Cultural Studies
November 18, 2:00-3:45pm
Monkey and the Hot Potato: Reflections of Emerging Black/African Scholars on Negotiating Pedagogies of “Africa”
“The Existential Contradictions of being Black/African and Teaching “Africa”
Harry Kiiru, African Cultural Studies
“Translating ‘Africa:’ Being Intelligible/Digestible to NonBlack/African Audiences”
Unifier Dyer, African Cultural Studies
November 19, 12:00-1:45pm
Roundtable: Voice, Media, and the Political Unrest/Activism during the Presidency of Macky Sall in Senegal
Astou Fall Guéye, African Cultural Studies
November 20, 12:00-1:45pm
African Masculinities in the Modern World, Part III Saturday
“Breadlosers: Nollywood, the Occult, and the Stakes of Masculine Melodrama”
Matthew Brown, African Cultural Studies
November 20, 12:00-1:45pm
Investigating Change in Contemporary Islam in Africa Saturday
“Islam in Post-Genocide Rwanda”
Vincent R. Ogoti, African Cultural Studies
November 20, 4:00-5:45pm
African Sound Studies Part II: Media and Literary Soundscapes Saturday,
“New Orality and African Literary Forms in the Era of Audiobooks”
Vincent R. Ogoti and Reginold Royston, African Cultural Studies
FURTHER PANELS OF INTERESTS
TUESDAY
12:00pm-1:45 EST
Resiliency in Health
Chair: Jeff Grischow, Wilfrid Laurier University
Tamuka Chekero, University of Cape Town
Ngozi U. Emeka-Nwobia, Ebonyi State University
Wesley Mwatwara, University of Zimbabwe
Jackline Owigo, United States University Africa-Kenya
Discussant: Gbemisola Animasawun, University of Ilorin
10:00-11:45pm EST
Responding to Population Growth: Labor, Equity, and Technology
Chair: Fumilayo Showers, University of Connecticut
Edwin Ngowi, Sokoine University of Agriculture
Min’enhle Ncube, University of Cape Town
Amina Alaoui Soulimani, The University of Cape Town
Henrietta Nyamnjoh, University of Cape Town
WEDNESDAY
10:00-11:45am EST
Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Lives: The Contributions of Women to Social and Political Development in West Africa
Chair: Atta Ceesay, Buffalo State University
Parakh Hoon, South Puget Sound College, Olympia, Washington
10:00-11:45am EST
Beyond Climate: Imagining Africa’s Environmental Sustainability Part I
Chair: Heidi Gengenbach, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Yunusy Ng’umbi, University of Dar es Salaam
David Ngendo-Tshimba, Uganda Martyrs University
Bright Nkrumah, University of the Witwatersrand
Suma Kibonde, Sokoine University of Agriculture
2:00-3:45pm EST
Roundtable: Where Does African Studies Belong? Institutional Experiences of African Studies and African-American Studies
Chairs: Emily Riley, El Colegio de México and Cherif Correa, Madison College
Wheeler Winstead, Howard University
Isaac Kalumbu, Michigan State University
Louis Chude-Sokei, Boston University
THURSDAY
8:00-9:45am EST
New Africa-China Research, Part One: Contested Framings of Africa-China Relations
Chair: Jamie Monson, Michigan State University
Academia Sinica (Taiwan)Alice Nicole Sindzingre, University of London
Jodie Yuzhou Sun, Fudan University
Suglo, The University of Hong Kong
Discussant: Vivian Lu, Fordham University
8:00-9:45am EST
Life in Urban Africa: Inclusion and Possibilities
Chair: Claudia Gastrow, the University of Johannesburg
Lino Ika, University of Pretoria
Chimaobi Onwukwe, Abia State University
Margaret Monyani, University of the Witwatersrand
Patience Adzande, Benue State University
4:00-5:45pm EST
Women’s Participation and Erasure in Political Spaces
Chair: Melinda Adams, James Madison University
Carnes Couvillon, Rutgers University
Melinda Adams, James Madison University and Lotsmart Fonjong, Independent scholar
Pamela Nwakanma, Harvard University
Phyllis Kyei Mensah, Miami University
FRIDAY
8:00-9:45pm EST
Emerging Work in Queer African Studies
Chairs: Brenna Munro, University of Miami and Wendy Belcher, Princeton University
Aminata Mbaye, Bayreuth University
Brenda Masanga, Universite de Paris
Saadia El Karfi, Princeton University
Esihle Lupindo, Rhodes University
Discussant: Brenna Munro, University of Miami
10:00-11:45pm EST
Ethnicity and Nationalism in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding
Chair: Dauda Abubakar, University of Michigan, Flint
Fred Niringiye, Makerere University
Missaye Mengstie, University of Gondar
John Mwangi Githigaro, St. Paul’s University
Hauwa Mohammed Sani, Ahmadu Bello University
SATURDAY
12:00-1:45pm EST
Political Parties in Africa: Party Building and Decay
Chair: Eloïse Bertrand, Warwick University
Jeremy Seekings, University of Cape Town
Amanda Clayton, Vanderbilt University and Pär Zetterberg, Uppsala University
Sarah Lockwood, Columbia University and Matthias Krönke, University of Cape Town
Robert Nyenhuis, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and Matthias Krönke, University of Cape Town
Discussant: Dominika Koter, Colgate University
2:00-3:45pm EST
Birth Control and Abortion in Africa’s Past and Present
Chair: Lynn Thomas, University of Washington
Ogechukwu Williams, Creighton University
Lynn Thomas, University of Washington
Aissa Diarra, LASDEL-Niger
Discussant: Barbara Cooper, Rutgers University
Produced by Eden Foster & Carly Lucas