African Mobilities: the Means and Modalities of Movement(s) Within and Beyond Africa:

SERSAS/SEAN 2021 Virtual Spring Conference

March 12 and 13, 2021

African Studies Center

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The 2020 Coronavirus pandemic has changed the way people move through the world in unprecedented ways. While many choose to shelter at home as a public health measure to prevent the spread of the virus, this is not possible, realistic, or desirable for others. Some states and institutions across the globe have implemented strict guidelines and regulations against movement and gathering, while others have not. Through the restrictions of movement and moral discussions about the choice to leave the home and circulate during a pandemic, power relations and the politics of difference are laid bare in tremendous ways. Strategies of movement and mobility, whether through large-scale migration patterns or quotidian pathways of circulation, have captured global attention, perhaps like never before.

The context of COVID-19 is an opportunity to interrogate the means and modalities of movement in Africa. One of the striking elements of the pandemic in African contexts is the power of social movements, in spite of – indeed, because of – the pandemic. Widespread public protests calling for the resignation of the president of Mali, the #EndSARS protests against police brutality and corruption in Nigeria, and demonstrations in Khartoum to protest poor living conditions and economic strife are examples of the power of social movement, physical gathering and marching even within the context of a pandemic. Examples such as these urge us to interrogate the multiple meanings of movement and movements in the context of Africa, from deep in the past to our volatile present.

The coordinators of SERSAS/SEAN cordially invite you to present your work within the wide parameters of the conference theme at our 2021 virtual conference. Submissions from any academic discipline are welcome but should be accessible to a diverse set of participants. The Spring 2021 SERSAS/SEAN Conference seeks to give faculty, independent scholars, and graduate students the opportunity to share scholarship within a collegial atmosphere. This includes providing opportunities for advanced graduate students to present their work and to win the SERSAS Prize for the best graduate student paper. We therefore encourage graduate students and their faculty mentors to consider putting forward paper and/or panel proposals.

Pre-conference publishing workshop

For the second year in a row, the African Studies Quarterly - an online, open-access, fully peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal published by the University of Florida – will sponsor a pre-conference workshop for emerging scholars (advanced graduate students or doctorate awarded in past 3 years). Participants will pre-circulate a draft article for review by other emerging scholar participants and a lead faculty critic for each paper. Each submission will then receive seminar-style discussion during workshop session, which will convene in advance of the conference sessions and the conference keynote. Article drafts must be submitted for circulation no later than Feb 26. Space is limited! Please contact Emily Burrill at eburrill@email.unc.edu if you are interested in participating in the pre-conference publishing workshop.

Deadline for conference paper/panel submissions and pre-conference workshop registration: January 29.

Please send proposals of 250 words to: Stacey Sewall sewall@email.unc.edu and Abbey Warchol abwarch@live.unc.edu Proposals should include presenter's name, institution, contact email, and a paper title. In the event that you are submitting an entire panel proposal, please have the chair of the panel submit all of the individual paper proposals in one email to the organizers."

Conference fee: Given the virtual platform for this year’s spring conference and budgetary constraints at many institutions, there will be no conference fee this year. For those who are able and inclined, SERSAS/SEAN accepts donations to the treasury, which will be used to support prizes and awards. https://www.sersas.org