Asian Studies in Africa: Challenges and Prospects of a New Axis of Intellectual Interactions
Inaugural conference organized by the Association of Asian Studies in Africa (A-Asia) in cooperation with the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS). The conference, through panels and roundtables, will seek to assess the prospects for Asian studies in Africa in a global context
A-ASIA INAUGURAL CONFERENCE
Accra, 24-26 September 2015
Organized by the Association of Asian Studies in Africa (A-Asia) in cooperation with the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS)
Organized by A-Asia in cooperation with the International Convention of Asian Scholars (ICAS), "AFRICA - ASIA" will be the first ever conference held in Africa bringing together a multi-disciplinary – multi-sector ensemble of scholars and institutions from the continent and the rest of the world with sharing 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 and African Studies in Asia? 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? What are the historical origins of this transregional connection? What is the current state of research on Africa-Asia (transnational) linkages?
The working languages of the conference will be English, French and Portuguese, but all power point presentations must be in English.