Conference announcement: African Intellectuals and Decolonization

This one looks really interesting - blurb immediately below:

This conference is the second in a series of academic conferences at Ohio
University centered on the theme “Perspectives on African Decolonization,”
and focuses on African Intellectuals and Decolonization. In 1958, Guinea,
under Ahmed Sékou Touré, chose political independence over continued
association with France. The All-African Peoples Convention hosted by Kwame
Nkrumah in Ghana in the same year highlighted the links between and among
Africans and peoples of African descent in the Diaspora. 2008 is also the
sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the seminal journal Présence
Africaine by Alioune Diop. Focusing on African intellectuals and
decolonization will allow for an interrogation of all three concepts as well
as an opportunity to examine the roles intellectuals have played and
continue to play in contemporary African efforts at liberation from economic
neo-colonialism. Additionally, this conference will provide an opportunity
to highlight the cutting edge work of contemporary African philosophers, the
heritors of the intellectual traditions established by the generations who
fought for the liberation of Africa. The works of these scholars who are
developing systems of thought rooted in African vernacular concepts will
have significant implications for the Arts and Humanities and
interpretations thereof as well as the (Westernized) Academy more broadly.

Featured speakers include:
* Oyeronke Oyewumi
Department of Sociology
State University of New York at Stony Brook

* Elizabeth Schmidt
Department of History
Loyola College in Baltimore

* Tsenay Serequeberhan
Department of Philosophy
Morgan State University

Conference planners invite the submission of abstracts for papers and panels
from scholars and graduate students in any academic discipline.
Presentations that are interdisciplinary and/or transnational in scope will
be particularly welcome. Abstracts for individual papers should be 250-300
words and accompanied by a brief CV (no more than two pages). Panel
proposals should include abstracts and CVs for each presenter as well as a
250-500 word overview of the panel.

Topics for discussion include but by no means are limited to:
* Who is African?
* Who is an intellectual?
* What do we mean by decolonization?
* Colonialism and decolonization in Africa
* Neocolonialism and (neo)decolonization in Africa
* Women and decolonization in Africa
* Decolonizing the (Westernized) Academy
* African philosophies and decolonization
* African indigenous knowledge systems and decolonization
* The Arts and African decolonization
* African literatures and decolonization
* The Sciences and decolonization in Africa
* Conservation of natural resources in Africa and decolonization

As the conference will be held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of
Guinea’s independence on October 2, 2008 we will particularly welcome panels
and papers concerning Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinea, and decolonization.

Selected papers will be published in an edited collection of essays to
commemorate these significant moments in African history and to reflect upon
the legacies of fifty years of “independence” in Africa.

Please submit paper and panel proposals to: Acacia Nikoi, [email protected]

The deadline for submission of proposals is May 30, 2008. Limited travel
funding is available for graduate students. Please apply for a travel
stipend on the conference registration page by May 30.

A block of rooms is being held at the Ohio University Inn & Conference
Center, which offers complimentary parking, complimentary hi-speed wireless
internet, 24-hour business and fitness centers, Cutler’s Restaurant, and
Bunch of Grapes Tavern. The OUInn is less than five minutes from the
conference venue at the Baker University Center. The special conference rate
is $99.95 per room, per night plus applicable taxes (currently 12.75%).
Reservations may be made via the conference registration page or by calling
the hotel directly at (740) 593-6661 or accessing the link below.
https://reservations.ihotelier.com/crs/g_reservation.cfm?groupID=75492&hotel
ID=4598

For additional information about The Inn, please visit their website at
www.ouinn.com.

For further information on the conference, please contact Dr. Nicholas
Creary,Department of History, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701,
[email protected], 740-593-4334.