7th Africana Studies Annual Interdisciplinary Conference
Religion, Ruptures, Race and Global Peace
October 29-30, 2015

The theme of the 7th Africana Studies Annual Interdisciplinary Conference is entitled Religion, Ruptures, and the Race and Global Peace. We seek debates, ideas, and agendas on the topic. Scholars are encouraged to explore the topic broadly and take cognizance of its import, impact, and relevance to emerging issues around the world. It is also critical to locate the place of our discipline in the shaping of notions about race, ethnicity, and world peace order. Tangential too is the need to examine how the Africana world, African nations contribute towards the quest for global peace. We also invite conversations around ‘silent’ and silenced entities – those who fear to speak about their experiences, those who speak and are not heard and those whose voices are literally muted. Accent and skin color are pressure points in race conversations, thus the conference also seeks to tease debates on accent narratives in western academy. How do the narratives shape classroom and boardroom politics, and how do they impact policies in the academia?

The following sub-themes are central to the overall issues that the conference seeks to address. The conference is multidisciplinary in nature therefore proposals are welcome from different disciplines. Artistic presentations, and other performances exploring the theme are also invited.

Sub-Themes
Africana Studies in the context of Global Peace
What Unites and Divides Us: Africana Studies and other Ethnicities
The Tyranny of the Skin
The Accent Narrative: Mother-Tongue(s) on Trial
Aestheticizing Difference
Displacement and (Re) Centering
Decolonizing Minds and Structures
Re-Centering Difference
Bodies as Ruptures
Ruptures and Insurgencies in Africa
Race, Religion, and Ethnicity
Development in the Era of Peace
Peace Actors in Africana Discipline

Proposed conference dates: October 29-30, 2015

Submission of proposals will commence from May 2015. Please send 250-300 word paper and/or panel proposals to africanastudies@jmu.edu. Scholars who plan to propose panels should kindly constitute their panels and have the names and addresses/institutional affiliations of panelists included in their submissions. Submissions will be reviewed through August 30, 2015. Acceptance emails will follow through September 2015. Questions should be directed to Dr. Aderonke Adesanya, Africana Studies Conference at africanastudies@jmu.edu.