ASAUK Conference 2024: Generation and Regeneration

In this 60th anniversary year of the ASAUK’s existence, we have adopted a theme that invites reflection on the changes that have taken place in knowledge production about and from Africa. Generational divides and inter-generational disappointment are critical themes in the understanding of contemporary African cultural, social and political dynamics, and they feature in many scholarly works about and from the continent. These same generational divides are also a feature of the academic environments in which many of us work. The generational focus of the conference acknowledges the centre of gravity for knowledge production as necessarily led from the African continent, and also places the emphasis on a future-oriented date stamp for knowledge production. We welcome stream proposals regarding these and related questions, and are particularly eager to invite younger and early career scholars to submit proposals.

The ASAUK Conference will be held on 29 to 31 August 2024 at Oxford Brookes University.

Call for Conference Stream Proposals

ASAUK conferences have established a reputation as supportive and collaborative events. Our conferences bring together scholars of Africa from a broad range of disciplines and from around the world, and are attended by scholars at all stages of their careers. The conference theme is Generation and Regeneration, but we do not require that all proposals respond to this theme.

ASAUK conferences are organised around thematic streams. These streams can include between two and eleven panels. We will do our best to timetable these successively so that all those interested in a particular stream can attend all its panels.

Stream organisers are responsible for organising at least two thematically linked panels, with a panel normally consisting of a minimum of three paper presenters and one chair. Stream organisers are expected to respond to, and in some cases to recommend changes to, proposals from colleagues who wish to contribute panels or individual papers to their stream. We prefer proposals that bring together multi-located and inter-generational groups of speakers. We shall not accept proposals where all speakers are from the same institution. Stream organisers may also be expected to follow up with participants on the progress of their visa applications, and to relay this information to Carli Coetzee.

If you are interested in organising a thematic stream, please contact Carli Coetzee on the following email: asaofuk@gmail.com. Please write “ASAUK24 Stream Proposal” in the subject line.

The closing date for streams is provisionally 31 October 2023, but we shall evaluate stream proposals on an ongoing basis. The reason for this is to enable colleagues who need to apply for visas to have sufficient time to do so. We intend to send out visa invitation letters as soon as panels are accepted.

Your email should include a paragraph of up to 300 words describing your proposed stream and why you think it will make an interesting contribution to ASAUK24.

Please note:

• ASAUK conferences do not limit participants’ contributions, and conference participants are allowed to present as many papers as are accepted by the organisers. However, it is advisable to limit each person to 5 panels for the sake of time-tabling. Participants are allowed to take on multiple duties as chairs and discussants.
• We are not yet able to provide the final prices for conference attendance but we expect to publish an indicative price list in early 2024 and expect prices to be similar to previous ASAUK conferences.
• The officers of the ASAUK are not remunerated and all income from the conference is used to cover the costs of organisation, to offer subsidies and bursaries, and to continue the Association’s flagship Writing Workshops and Teaching Fellowships.
• Calls for single panels and individual papers will be published no later than 31 October 2023, and in some cases we shall suggest that you join a panel that is organised by one of the streams.