Second European Students’ Conference in African Studies: African Present
The Second European Conference in African Studies (SESCAS) is a project developed by students from both the African Studies Master of the University of Basel as well as that of the University of Geneva. It builds on the initial 2007 experience, which attracted almost 100 participants coming from diverse European universities. SESCAS aims to increase the exchange among master students from the African Studies programs at a European level. It incites critical discussion and the creation of networks within Switzerland and Europe.
This conference encourages master students in African Studies across the European continent to investigate Africa’s present through critical approaches. Africa tends to be discussed in binary temporal positions – past and future. As a result, we continuously repeat narratives of and about the past, subsequently lacking the possibility to dispute concepts such as Africa in crisis and Black futurism. With this conference, we aim to challenge the aforementioned dualities and think in notions of contemporaneity. Concretely it entails research on epistemological strands like decolonial practices in knowledge production (positionality, gatekeeping, othering, etc), critics of neo-colonial projects (humanitarianism, the continent as the world´s laboratory, Anthropocene and capitalist ecologies), questions of provenance and restitution, as well as studies on LGBTQIA+, gender, migration, labour relations, and land rights.
Considering that this event has a specific focus on master students and in order to debate this array of topics, we composed a diverse program with keynotes, roundtables, panels, talk sessions, and posters displays. Moreover, the conference includes workshops on reading and writing skills as well as on how to prepare and draft a master thesis. Alongside the already mentioned elements, other activities consist of touring the city of Basel, enjoying performances and exhibitions in addition to dining with colleagues.
The Second European Students’ Conference in African Studies committee is looking forward to receiving your numerous proposals and welcomes thought-provoking discussions.
Further information shall be disclosed promptly. In case of inquiries please contact us at sescas2022@gmail.com.
Further information and Panel Descriptions
Deadline for proposals: 5 January 2022
