SERSAS 2023

Foundations and Futures: 50 Years of SERSAS

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, Virginia

March 3-4, 2023

Foundations and origin narratives are critically important elements to groups and institutions; they provide cohesion around shared ethics and a vision of purpose, just as they provide structure and a basis for custom and practice. However, foundations are also contested grounds and can obfuscate alternative narratives and pathways of knowledge, representation, and the production of meaning. These are dynamics that we recognize within African contexts ranging from issues of collective memory and commemoration to the politics of national belonging; these are pressing issues facing U.S. universities, as well as the inter-institutional professional associations that provide cohesion to our scholarly pursuits. Futurity and forward-looking expectations provide opportunities to examine the pathways that bring us to the present, just as they are the grounds for innovation and transformation. As well, temporality invites us to consider how and why certain phenomena – institutions, habits, tastes, values – have staying power, while others become obsolete or disintegrate in the face of changing conditions.

Spring 2023 marks the return of SERSAS to its origin site: the University of Virginia. In recognition of this milestone, we look back on fifty years of SERSAS in observation of the transformations and continuities that that have unfurled over the past half century. With this in mind, the coordinators of SERSAS/SEAN cordially invite you to present your work within the wide parameters of this conference theme. Submissions from any academic discipline are welcome but must be accessible to a diverse set of participants, which in the past have come from a variety of disciplines including anthropology, economics, geography, history, literary studies, maritime studies, music, theater, education, gender studies, legal studies, African and foreign languages (in translation), and political science.

Deadline for conference paper/panel submissions: December 9, 2022.

Please send proposals of 250 words to Emily Burrill: esburrill@virginia.edu

Proposals should include presenter's name, institution, contact email, and a paper title. For complete panel proposals, please have the chair of the panel submit all the individual paper proposals in one email to the organizer(s). Panels should not include more than four participants.

Applicants will receive confirmation of their submission and information regarding their acceptance and travel plans early in the new year.