July 6, 2016
Table of Contents:

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 ProjectMigration17@gmail.com 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.




Tenure-Track Position in Africana/Black Performance Studies - Bucknell University    

 Bucknell University invites applications for a full-time, open rank, tenure-track faculty position in Africana Studies beginning fall semester of the 2017-18 academic year. Bucknell University seeks to hire a dynamic educator who is committed to teaching and creative practice that integrates Africana (African, African-American, and/or African diasporic) studies with performance studies. Our chief concern is not with a specific arts disciplinary specialization, but rather with attracting an artist-teacher-scholar with an Africana Studies orientation, who is eager to work with students and faculty in creative, collaborative, interdisciplinary, imaginative, and original ways. Expertise of the successful candidate includes but is not exclusive to one or more of the following areas: theater, dance, museum studies, creative writing, cultural studies, music, ethnomusicology, multi-media performance, performance art, performance pedagogy, community-based performance, digital storytelling, performance for social change, and/or mediated communication in art, film, and transmedia.

The successful candidate will be charged with contributing to curriculum development and student practice in Africana Studies and arts with an interdisciplinary focus and community-engaged research and pedagogy. S/he will have engaged in interdisciplinary teaching, research, and learning in experimental ways, ideally in a liberal arts setting, and will be prepared to offer courses that uphold and challenge traditions. The ideal candidate will show evidence in his/her performance, scholarly work, and/or teaching of an ability to bring diverse perspectives to bear on questions of justice and equality. S/he will be dedicated to pursuing appropriate professional career objectives. Appropriate professional and/or academic credentials and experience required. An MFA or Ph.D. is required. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Application materials must include a cover letter (including a link to a creative portfolio), CV, and three confidential letters of recommendation. Review of applications will begin in late summer and will continue until the position is filled. For additional information and to apply,  http://apply.interfolio.com/35700.

Bucknell University is a private, highly selective, unique national University where liberal arts and strong professional programs in engineering, business, education and music complement each other. Apart from its excellent academic departments and programs, it boasts the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, which supports faculty teaching and scholarship in these areas, and the Griot Institute for Africana Studies, which provides faculty and student intellectual and creative engagement with the interdisciplinary investigation of the cultures, histories, narratives, peoples, geographies, and arts of Africa and the African diaspora. In the Spring of 2014, Bucknell also introduced a 5-Year Diversity Plan aimed at enhancing the diversity of the faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum of the university. Bucknell University, an Equal Opportunity Employer, believes that students learn best in a diverse, inclusive community, and is therefore committed to academic excellence through diversity in its faculty, staff, and students. We seek candidates who are committed to Bucknell's efforts to create a climate that fosters the growth and development of a diverse student body, and we welcome applications from members of groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education.

Apply Here: http://www.Click2apply.net/49fh57d85r



Call for Papers
The 30th Annual Symposium on African American Culture & Philosophy

EXTENDED DEADLINE, JULY 15, 2016

Exploring the "Humanity" in the Digital Humanities: Africana/Black Studies' Perspectives on the Digital Humanities

Keynote Speaker: Abdul Alkalimat, University of Illinois-Urbana Champagne
Plenary Speakers: Marisa Parham, UMass-Amherst & Kenton Rambsy, University of Texas-Arlington

African American Studies and Research Center
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
December 1-3, 2016

The African American Studies and Research Center invites scholars, practitioners, and graduate students to submit proposals for papers, panels and digital presentations for "Exploring the "Humanity" in the Digital Humanities: Africana/Black Studies' Perspectives on the Digital Humanities," its 30th Annual Symposium on African American Culture & Philosophy to consider the relationship between the digital humanities and Africana/Black epistemological frameworks that ask, "What Does It Mean to Be Human?"

Work that is closely associated with the theme will be given preference during the review process. We seek papers and panels from across the disciplines on such sample topics as:
  • Africana/Black Studies & Digital Recovery
  • Africana/Black Digital Genealogies
  • Africana/Black Studies & Spatial Humanities
  • Africana/Black Studies & the Digital Arts
  • Data Visualization in Africana/Black Studies
  • Text & Data Mining in Africana/Black Studies
  • Africana/Black Studies & Digital Scholarly Communication
  • Africana/Black Studies & Digital Humanities Pedagogy
  • Creation and Curation of Africana/Black Studies Digital Resources
  • Africana/Black Studies & Software Design and Modeling
  • Africana/Black Studies & New/Social Media
  • Game Studies, Digital Humanities & Africana/Black Studies
  • Africana Studies: Intersections of the Humanities and Social Sciences
The deadline for individual and panel abstract submission is June 6, 2016. Abstract submissions of up to 250 words should be sent to: EXTENDED DEADLINE, JULY 15, 2016

Ronald J. Stephens, Director, African American Studies and Research Center
Purdue University
College of Liberal Arts, School of Interdisciplinary Studies
30th Symposium on Philosophy & Culture
Steven Beering Hall, Room 6176
100 North University Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098
Or email: aasrc@purdue.edu with abstract in the subject line.


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