"The Many Worlds of Black New York" - Application Deadline is One Week Away!
The application deadline for Columbia University's Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS) 2016 Summer Teachers and Scholars Institute (STSI) is one week away! Convening for one week between Monday July 11 and Friday July 16, this year's STSI is themed "The Many Worlds of Black New York" and will focus on the history, cultures, and institutions of African-descended peoples in New York City. We encourage you to apply!
This Summer Institute offers what few others are able:
- The opportunity to study African-American art, photography, history, culture, politics, and life through the lens of New York, and in New York
- Attend seminars facilitated by today's leading scholars in African-American Studies
- Visit and tour historical landmarks and institutions around the city
- Receive instruction in the latest research methods and,
- Enjoy afternoon and evening cultural excursions throughout New York City
This year's lecturers will include Samuel K. Roberts (STSI Director), Cheryl Hicks, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Brian Purnell, and Christina Greer. STSI seminars will explore various themes including:
- The Struggle for Civil Rights in Brooklyn
- The New Negro Movement and the Harlem Renaissance
- Educating Harlem: Activism for Equality in the Mid-20th Century
- Race, Policing, Gender and Criminal Justice
- Black Immigration since 1965
- Health/Medical Rights
In addition to serving as a space for collaborative thinking and skills training, STSI will offer a unique opportunity to explore the tremendous richness and vast scope of African-American Studies.
The fee for the STSI is $1,800 and a limited number of partial fellowships are still available. Please submit your application by June 15th.
Please go to
www.columbiastsi.com
for more information or contact us at
[email protected]
.
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CALL FOR MANUSCRIPT CHAPTERS
Sub-Saharan African Migrations: Challenges, Failures, and Coping Strategies
We are seeking original chapters for a collection tentatively titled "Sub-Saharan African Migrations: Challenges, Failures, and Coping Strategies". While there are numerous examples of successful migration experiences, the aim of this collection is to explore the nature and frequency of the lack of success that too many sub-Saharan Africans encounter once they make the decision to emigrate. The amount of empirical research focusing on the link between migration and integration in the destination countries rose significantly in recent years. The variety of empirical methods that researchers employ is impressive, ranging from qualitative interviews to diverse questionnaire surveys with highly sophisticated statistical methods. However, apart from some isolated studies (Colomb & Ayats, 1962; Breuvart & Danvers, 1998; Chomentowski, 2010; Sfm, 2005, Thorsen, 2009; Zeleza, 2009), little is known about the lack of success in African migration dynamics.
Most studies on African migration report on the migration benefits, but leave out the social disappointment of migrants on economic, psychological, and political levels. We now know that the inability to achieve goals in a migration context can have different adverse impacts on individuals and the family group. Finally, structural racism in the countries of destination, in particular against African migrants, can significantly impede their professional, educational and personal development and have severe psychopathological impacts. The old "immigration culture" of Africans must be placed in the local and international contexts in which several factors overlap: social and economic disruption, conflicts of various kinds, dissatisfaction in conflict with aspirations towards new horizons that arise every day.
Possible topics might include:
- Modern Diaspora out of Sub-Saharan Africa and into a specific region of the World and the problems that migrants encounter. These regions would include Europe, Asia, Middle East, all of the Americas --including the USA, Canada, and Latin America--where there is a growing population of Africans now choosing to immigrate directly to countries like Brazil and Argentina;
- Internal migration within the continent of Africa;
- Representations of migration failures in performance such as popular culture, movies, literature, art, and exhibitions;
- Symbolic and emotional elements related to migrant lack of success as well as narratives and representations linked to the central topic;
- Disillusionment with the migration effort and its related psychopathologies, mental health and trauma due to any number of factors like: structural, institutional and individual racism or other causes in the destination country";
- Further consequences of the migrant experience in the form of linguistic isolation, lack of harmony or integration within the destination country;
- The ways in which these elements are narrated, visualized and often politicized;
- "The self-interested actions of politicians, pundits, and bureaucrats" (Massey, 2015);
- Gender and Migration;
- The Syrian effect on Sub-Saharan African migration;
- The inter-linkages between African migrations, identity, citizenship and social inadequacy;
- Papers that address possible solutions to any of the problems that appear above or that the author cares to address.
This list of suggestions is not restrictive, and we encourage likely participants to consider their own topics for a chapter.
Book description and Chapter Details:
The book will have two major sections: one descriptive and the other prescriptive. The first section will concentrate on the broad overview of the subjects tied together as one the greatest population movements out of Africa since the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. The second section suggests alternatives to what currently happens and provides a pro-active stance towards the problems that receive attention in Section One.
All chapters must be in English and should not have been published previously. Authors should follow the APSA guidelines for writing book chapters. Each final chapter will be between 6,000-7500 words, including references. Images with previous written authorizations and rights for publication are welcome. Authors are responsible for obtaining the rights of any images as well as research interviews that appear in the text. Editors will provide forms later including a contract upon acceptance of the manuscript.
Interested scholars and practitioners of migration efforts should submit the following materials by July 30, 2016:
A) An abstract of no more than 300 words;
B) A biographical sketch of no more than two pages, including complete contact information;
C) An example of previously published work in the case of scholars or a sample of field work in the case of practitioners.
Timeline:
July 30, 2016: Send abstracts of no more than 300 words, together with a short bio including contact details, and one example of previously published work in a relevant field. In the case of practitioners, an example of the field work will suffice.
October 20, 2016: Acceptance letters will be sent to authors after selection.
April 28, 2017: Submission of chapters.
Please submit all expressions of interest, abstracts and bios to [email protected] Preferably with the subject line: "African Migration"
About the Editors:
Professor Yvonne Captain: Prof. Captain is an Associate Professor of Latin American and International Affairs at George Washington University. In addition to her expertise on Africa and its Diaspora, she researches and integrates into her teaching the relationships of South-South nations in Africa and Latin America. Her publications reflect these two areas of focus.
Doctor Papa Sow: Dr. Sow is a senior researcher at the Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany. He is currently working on the WASCAL project - West African Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use - funded by the German Ministry of Education. His research focuses on population dynamics issues with special links to African migrations (Senegal, The Gambia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Morocco) and climate variability and uncertainties.
Dr. Elina Marmer: Dr. Marmer is a researcher, author and lecturer at the University of Hamburg, Institute of Intercultural Education and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Work. She is mainly concerned with the nexus of racism and education, specifically focusing on hegemonic knowledge production and its impact on students of African descent in Germany.
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JMDI and IOM to Organize a Project Lab Entitled "Migration for Local Development - Exploring the Key Role of Cities in Implementing the Migration Related Targets of the SDGs" at the European Development Days
Brussels, 16TH JUNE, 9:15am-10:30am, Tour & Taxis on Avenue du Port 86
Dear M4D Net members,
We hope this email finds you well.
It is our pleasure to inform you about the project lab entitled "Migration for local development - Exploring the key role of cities in implementing the migration related targets of the SDGs", as part of the European Development Days to be held in Brussels on June 15-16th.
The project lab follows on JMDI's efforts to promote local and regional authorities as key players in managing migration for local development and is being jointly organized by the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Objective:
This Project Lab aims to showcase and share the knowledge, good practices and practical and policy recommendations collated through the work of the Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support local and regional authorities thrive in this role. The Project Lab will also encourage participants to share their own experience and feed into the recommendations that will result from the Project Lab.
What to expect:
The Project Lab will bring key actors to share their experience and expertise in managing migration for local development as well as share and discuss the policy and practical evidence from the main knowledge documents produced by the JMDI and IOM as per the below:
Agenda:
Moderator
- Mr. John Bingham, Head of Policy, International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC); Coordinator of the civil society activities of the Global Forum on Migration and Development; partner in MADE project: Migration and Development Civil Society Networking
Confirmed Speakers
- Ms. Cecile Riallant, Programme Manager, Joint Migration and Development Initiative
- Ms. Lorena Ponce, International Cooperation Advisor, Directorate for International Relations, Municipal Government of Quito, Ecuador
- Alice Concari, Tuscany Region, Euro-African Partnership, Italian National League of Municipalities (ANCI) - Communication Manager, Global Health Centre, Region of Tuscany
- Mr. Olivier le Masson, Head of partnerships Europe-Africa, GRDR
Venue:
European Development Days, 16TH JUNE, 9:15-10:30am, Tour & Taxis on Avenue du Port 86, B-1000 Brussels
Registration:
Please note that registrations to the EDD are now closed.
More information:
For more information on the side-event, click here.
For more information on the European Development Days, click here.
To know more about the European Commission's action for International Cooperation and Development, click here.
Help us share and disseminate
We kindly ask you to help us disseminate this via your own networks, social media and partners.
We hope to see you there on June 16th at 9:15am.
Background:
The positive contribution of migrants towards inclusive growth and sustainable development is now prominently recognized and reflected in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Looking forward, the key role of local authorities in managing migration is also set to be an important theme for the New Urban Agenda that will arise from the current Habitat III dialogues on sustainable urban development. In addition, the United Nations Secretary General has also recognised this in his 5 Point Agenda for Humanity for the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit to take place in May, 2016 in Istanbul, calling for no-one to be left behind, including 'reducing displacement, supporting refugees and migrants'. The High Level Plenary Meeting on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants to take place in New York will also be a key event in steering migration management.
At the same time, given the estimated 232 million international and 740 million internal migrants and the fact that some 60% of the total 14.4 million refugees and 80% of the 38 million IDPs are thought to live in urban areas, human mobility plays a crucial role in today's world of increasing urbanization, and local authorities find themselves at the forefront of managing the positive and negative impacts of migration.
Local and regional authorities should therefore play a key role in ensuring an integral and holistic approach to harnessing the development potential of migration. However, lack of competencies, capacities, resources and support at the national level can severely hinder their efforts. For this reason, both IOM and the JMDI are working to support local and regional authorities and other local actors to maximize the potential of migration for local development and thus contribute to the implementation of the SDGs.
Kind regards,
The JMDI Team
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Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Literatures of the Black Americas
University of Oxford - Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages
Location: Oxford
Salary: £30,738 to £37,768
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Contract / Temporary
Placed on: 25th May 2016
Closes: 27th June 2016
Job Ref: 123656
41 Wellington Square, Oxford
The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities and the Faculties of English and Medieval and Modern Languages seek to appoint a 2-year Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in 'Literatures of the Black Americas'. The Mellon postdoctoral fellowships are funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation to provide an intensive and supported career development opportunity for outstanding academics at an early stage of their career.
Applicants should be doing genuinely comparative work on Black writing in the Americas and/or the Caribbean in English and one (or more) additional language(s), and will need to submit a two-page proposal outlining the proposed research project (which must differ substantially from the doctoral project) as part of the application process. The period of specialisation is open.
The Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow will conduct research in the stated field; s/he will also teach an average of 2 - 3 hours per week during term in her/his subject area. Applicants should show outstanding promise in their research field, and should possess a masters degree and have completed a PhD in a relevant discipline.
Further information is available in the further particulars, available below, which all applicants are advised to consult.
The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on Monday 27 June 2016.
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Afro-Digital Connections: Afro-Latino and Afro-Descendant Cultural Production in the Digital Age
Editors: Eduard Arriaga and Andrés Villar (Western University, Ontario)
Two decades ago, scholars in fields such as communication and information studies questioned the way social relations would be adapted to the increasing importance of global digital networks and to the tools used for digital communication. Maizies (1999) has inquired whether universal access, if granted, to processes of communication and representation that incorporate other processes of production, distribution, and consumption within global digital networks will be negotiated or imposed. This issue remains current because of the ubiquity of paradigms such as those of Big-Data, Cultural Analytics, and the Digital Humanities. These paradigms are fuelled by the increasing importance of digital networks (for example, social networks, financial corporations, etc.) and the centrality of their users as sources of information.
In the Americas (North, Central and South) and the Caribbean, the issue becomes more nuanced due to the central role played by race and ethnicity in the construction of political and social relations that are reflected in people's daily lives. Over the last two decades or so, the region has witnessed the emergence of 'minority' artists, activists, and organizations that take advantage of digital tools that are now more accessible: mobile technologies and social media tools increasingly allow these actors to supply their own images and self-representations. This edited book will explore the way Afro-Latin@, Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean writers, artists, activists and organizations -NGO's, grassroots communities, etc.- have adopted online digital tools and mobile technologies to create self-representations, question traditional images, and connect with communities around the globe that share similar ethno-social perspectives. This book also seeks to shed light on contemporary processes of memory creation, artistic representation, ethnic connection, digital cultural production and resistance/reparation in order to understand how ethnic communities -particularly Afro-descendant ones- are adapting these tools to their own cultural and political practices. To that end, we invite manuscripts that address Afro-Digital Connections topics including the following:
- African and Afro-descendant digital activism
- African and Afro-descendant digital art, digital performance, and digital literature
- Digital humanities and reparations for Afro-descendant communities
- Oral histories and digital archives
- Theoretical interventions exploring ethnicity/race and digital technologies
- Digital interventions that reconfigure African and Afro-descendant symbolic imaginaries.
- Critical perspectives on digital inclusion
- Digital actions against police brutality and government violence
Submission Guidelines:
If interested, please submit proposals in Spanish, English or Portuguese (300-500 words) and (one-page) CVs to Eduard Arriaga (
[email protected] or
[email protected]) or Andrés Villar (
[email protected]) by June 15 th , 2016. When submitting your abstract, please use "Contribution Volume Afro-Digital Connections" as the subject line.
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