Call for panel proposals for 4th Biennial Conference of the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA) now open

We are pleased to announce the launch of the call for panel proposals for the 4th Biennial Conference of the African Studies Association of Africa. ASAA2022 is hosted by HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and scheduled for April 11–16 2022. The programme is curated in partnership with research institutes, cultural and civic organisations across South Africa. The conference will be held as a hybrid event – that is both in person and virtually. While we look forward to gathering in person where the COVID-19 regulations permit, we also recognise the opportunities for broader participation and accessibility offered by the virtual format. The ASAA Biennial Conference is the largest gathering of African scholars in the world.

The ASAA2022 Organizing Committee invites panel and pre-conference workshop proposals to be submitted online by 30 June 2021. Please note that proposals will only be accepted through the ASAA2022 online Panel Proposal Submission interface. 

The Theme for ASAA2022 is Africa and the Human: Old Questions, New Imaginaries. Hosted by HUMA in collaboration with research centres and cultural organisations, the conference will aim to contribute to resurgent scholarly interest in questions of what we humans share – even while recognising our profound differences – as the basis for grappling with the contours of our collective futures. What new ideas can Africa bring to these questions and struggles, and what new spaces can be created for knowledge production?

We envision the conference as a carnival of ideas, a laboratory of concepts and a space for ideological experimentation about Africa and the human. ASAA2022 will aim to create an interdisciplinary space of conversations between the disciplines – SSH and STEMS – focusing on the production of new knowledges about Africa and the human, convening scholars, activists, artists, policymakers, students and intellectuals across different generations, disciplines and sub-fields. ASAA2022 will explore these issues through a diverse set of engaging and provocative panels.

The call for panel proposals and guidelines for submission can be found here.

For questions regarding the ASAA2022 conference, please contact: as-aa2022.org@uct.ac.za

On behalf of the ASAA2022 Organising Committee:

Divine Fuh
(Chair of ASAA2022 Organising Committee)
Director, HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa
University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa

Akosua Adomako Ampofo
(President of ASAA Executive Committee)
Professor of African and Gender Studies, Institute of African Studies,
Ag. Dean, International Programmes
University of Ghana (UG), Ghana