Asian Studies in Africa: the Challenges and Prospects of a New Axis of Intellectual Interaction
Call for panels, roundtables and papers for this first ever conference held in Africa to bring together scholars and institutions from the continent and the rest of the world with a shared focus on Asia and Asia-Africa intellectual interactions.
This inaugural and first biennual conference of the the pan-African Association for Asian Studies in Africa (A-ASIA) will take place from 15-17 January 2015 in Accra Ghana. The deadline for the call for panels, roundtables and papers is 15 June 2014.
Organised by A-ASIA in cooperation with the International Convention of Asian Scholars (ICAS), "Asian Studies in Africa" will be the first ever conference held in Africa to bring together a multidisciplinary ensemble of scholars and institutions from the continent and the rest of the world with a shared focus on Asia and Asia-Africa intellectual interactions.
The conference, through panels and roundtables, will seek to assess the prospects for Asian Studies in Africa in a global context by addressing a number of theoretical and empirical questions that such an enterprise will raise: How should Asian studies be framed in Africa? Is Asian studies relevant for Africa? What is the current state of capacity (institutional, intellectual, personnel, and so on) for Asian studies in Africa and can this be improved and how? How does (and must it?) Asian studies dovetail into the broader field of ‘Area studies’, as it has been developed mainly in Western institutions? Are new narratives required for understanding the very visible contemporary presence of Asia in Africa and Africa in Asia?
In addition, the conference will feature a special A-ASIA/ICAS Africa-Asia Book Prize.
Call for panels, roundtables and papers
We invite proposals for (institutional) panels, roundtables, papers and book presentations in the fields of Asian-African interactions studies.
Deadline and submission forms
Proposals should be submitted in English, French or Portugese by online submission form before 15 June 2014.
All panel, roundtable, and paper proposals should clearly outline the methodological approach(es) taken and whether they contribute to the theoretical and/or empirical objectives of the conference (for guidelines see the submission form).
The online submission forms and guidelines are availbale on the conference website.
Those whose proposals have been accepted will be notified by 31 July 2014.
The working languages of the conference will be English, French and Portuguese, but all power point presentations must be in English.
Further Information
Further information about registration fees, the venue, and logistics will be provided on the conference website once the panels and papers have been accepted.
Travel Fund
Very limited financial support may be made available to specific scholars residing in Africa and some junior or low-income scholars in other parts of the world. If you would like to be considered for financial support, please submit the Grant Application form (available on the conference website) in which you state the motivation for your request. Please note that the conference operates on a limited budget, and will not normally be able to provide more than a partial coverage of the conference expenses. The form should be submitted before 15 June 2014. Requests for funding received after this date will not be taken into consideration.
About the organisers
A-Asia was established in November 2012 in Chisamba, Zambia, on the occasion of the 'Asian Studies in Africa' roundtable which was organised by the University of Zambia (UNZA), the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS).
A-Asia is registered in Zambia. Its steering committee consists of: Lloyd Amoah (Ashesi University College, Ghana); Thomas Asher (Social Science Research Council, USA); Scarlett Cornelissen (University of Stellenbosch, South Africa); Webby Kalikiti (Secretary A-Asia / University of Zambia); Liu Haifang (Peking University, China); Yoichi Mine (Doshisha University, Japan); Oka Obono (University of Ibadan, Nigeria); Philippe Peycam (International Institute for Asian Studies, the Netherlands).
ICAS is the premier gathering of Asia scholars in the world. Since its foundation in 1997, ICAS has brought more than fifteen thousand Asia scholars from 60 countries together at 8 conventions which has resulted in new long term international research partnerships and many publications. The ICAS Secretariat is hosted by IIAS. The ICAS International Council consists of Maris Diokno (Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program, Philippines); Praesenjit Duara (Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore), Carol Gluck (Columbia University, USA); Michael Hsiao (Academia Sinica. Taiwan); Tak-Wing Ngo (University of Macau); Philippe Peycam (International Institute for Asian Studies, the Netherlands); Aromar Revi (Indian Institute for Human Settlements, India); Henk Schulte-Nordholt (Chair International Institute for Asian Studies, the Netherlands) Hiromu Shimizu (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, Japan); Paul van der Velde (Secretary ICAS).
Co-sponsors
Chiang Ching Kuo Foundation (CCKF), Taipei
Africa Studies Centre (ASC), Leiden
International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden
Social Sciences Research Council (SSRC), New York
Doshisha University, Kyoto
Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Programme (SEASREP), Manila
South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS), Rio de Janeiro
Please address all enquiries to: Ms Martina van den Haak at m.c.van.den.haak@iias.nl