Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa 2024 Call for ProposalsInfo session and Q&A slides The Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), a consortium of ten leading African universities, a distinguished research network for African research institute, and Michigan State University, is inviting proposals for its Partnerships for Innovative Research in Africa (PIRA) strategic funding program. As a consortium-wide initiative, PIRA is a tiered funding opportunity designed to cultivate and support multidirectional, collaborative research partnerships at any stage of their development, whether they are initiatives to explore and create new relationships or scale existing ones. One of the unique aspects to these grants is the expectation that organizations will establish and develop fair and equitable partnerships from conception to closeout of the project, involving local stakeholders throughout the project, respecting their knowledge and expertise, and taking an adaptive approach that is responsive to the local context. Proposals should outline processes to establish such partnerships. Fair and equitable partnerships must also be established among members of the consortium if multiple organizations are working on the implementation of the project. Proposed partnership activities may entail cooperative research, capacity building initiatives, outreach and/or other activities that align with AAP’s pillars of building bridges, transforming institutions, and transforming lives. Proposals must address at least one of AAP’s priority areas: agri-food systems; water, energy and  environment; culture and society; youth empowerment; education; health and nutrition; and, science, technology, and innovation. Proposals are encouraged from diverse disciplinary perspectives. Submitted proposals must include principal investigators from both MSU and at least one African AAP member university. The project implementation timeframe will be 18 months. FUNDING TIERS The tiered funding structure is designed to support partnerships at different stages of maturity to create and strengthen relationships among institutions and act as a catalyst for research teams in securing external funding that will allow for long-term engagement. Applicants should submit proposals for the funding tier that best fits the level of engagement established among the PIs on the research team. However, AAP management reserves the right to relegate proposals to a different tier if deemed more appropriate during review. To ensure broad impact, more awards will be given at the planning grant level than the scaling grant level. Proposed activities for each tier may include, but are not limited to: Planning Grants (up to $50,000), inception and early-stage partnership research activities, travel support for co-developing joint proposals (in accordance with all MSU travel guidelines), short-term capacity building trainings, network development, research symposia, or other activities that align with AAP’s priority themes and strategic objectives. Scaling Grants (up to $100,000), continuation of ongoing partnerships that have the potential to significantly scale their research, capacity building, or outreach activities, broader institutional linkages, or other activities that align with AAP’s priority themes and strategic objectives.  ELIGIBILITY The lead investigators for proposals must come from MSU and AAP African member universities. Proposals may also include partners from other institutions globally. Teams are encouraged to include partners from the private sector, governments, civil society organizations, and pan-African/global institutions. Individuals who were PIs or co-PIs on grants from the previous round of PIRA grants or AAP’s strategic partnership grants are not eligible to lead proposals under this call but may participate as team members. MSU ISP staff are not eligible to lead proposals. GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS All submissions must have a cover sheet and proposal narrative that includes the information listed below, a budget and budget narrative using the provided template, and letters of support. Please submit all application material via the application portal by Wednesday, August 14 at 11:59 PM EST. Application with the project's title as well as names, institutional affiliations, titles of all principal investigators, and a brief (about 100 words) project summary A proposal narrative, not to exceed 5,000 words with one appendix for references cited, that includes: A description of the partnership, containing: Capacity statements from each partner institution that outlines their respective strengths in relation to their proposed roles and responsibilities in the partnership A brief description of the past or ongoing partnership, if applicable The rationale for partnership and evidence that it will create or cultivate equitable, sustainable, and mutually beneficial partnerships A problem statement that identifies the shared challenges to be addressed by the program activities, the theory of change, their relevance to AAP’s themes and pillars Clearly defined objectives of the proposed partnership A description of program activities as well as a logical framework that connects the proposed activities with their intended outputs, outcomes, and programmatic objectives A timeline of activities A monitoring, evaluating, and learning plan that outlines proposed indicators and collection methods Identification of potential sources of additional funding that the partnership will pursue during the program’s period of performance A line-item budget and budget narrative using the template provided. Templates and more information on budgetary considerations are below in BUDGET. A letter of support from each partner’s department, institution, or organization; and A CV or resume of each principal investigator (1-page max). A letter of support for each PI from their dean or head of department that signifies buy-in from each partner at the institutional level. Please use the provided template SELECTION CRITERIA Program goals should align with at least one of AAP’s pillars: Building bridges: Bringing people and organizations together to work toward common goals. Illustrative activities under this objective include: sponsoring thematic symposia or workshops that bring people together across sectors and disciplines or travel for preparation of proposals for larger grant applications. This also includes network development, communications among research groups or networks (e.g. digital innovations and digital forums), dissemination of knowledge through online journals and/or sharing of best practices among partners Transforming institutions: Promoting sustainable and effective partnerships among institutions, enhancing resources, and increasing institutional capacity. Illustrative activities under this objective include: institutional capacity development at universities, NGOs, or in the public sector such as building financial management capacity, improving teaching and learning at universities, and/or increasing proposal development skills, among others. Transforming lives: Supporting research with real-world impact that improves African lives and livelihoods. Illustrative activities under this objective include: putting research into action through evidence-based outreach and engagement, conducting early-stage research that has obvious potential to impact lives and livelihoods, improving dissemination of research outputs to practitioners and policy-makers, and/or designing innovative research-into-practice methodologies.  Submitted proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria: Evidence of a collaborative and equitable partnership that strengthens personal, professional, and/or institutional networks in a mutually beneficial and sustainable way. Other AAP principles that need to be demonstrated in the proposal and later in the implementation are mutual trust and respect, sustainability, innovativeness, co-creation, accountability, transparency, flexibility as well as multi-disciplinarity and trans-disciplinarity. Alignment of proposed activities and program goal(s) to AAP’s 3 strategic objectives and 7 priority areas. Potential for program deliverables to significantly contribute to their respective academic, technical, or technological fields. Potential to create innovative models of community engagement and development that positively impact people’s lives. Potential for principal investigators to attract and or leverage additional external funding to sustain program’s impact. A thorough monitoring, evaluating, and learning plan that links program activities to their intended outputs and outcomes and includes a clear description of the MEL tools that will be used, what indicators will be measured, and a timeline for evaluation and reporting. Gender equality, equity and inclusion are core values of AAP and are thus central to this call. All projects funded must demonstrate how they follow principles of gender and inclusion and should explain how applicants will integrate gender, equity, and inclusion issues in all stages of the project, including rationale, design, intended results, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and knowledge mobilization processes. BUDGET PIRA BUDGET TEMPLATE [.XLSX] Using the template provided, applicants must submit a line-item budget and budget narrative for the life of the program that details each institution’s requested budget as well as an overall budget summary. Suggested line items are provided as guidelines but are not comprehensive or required. Proposed budgets should be co-created by the partnership teams and reflect an equitable distribution of funds, with each institution completing a separate tab within the budget template to show the anticipated disbursement of resources and cost sharing broken down by yearly expenditures. The budget narrative should clearly explain how the line items are calculated and for what purpose they will be used in achieving the program’s objectives. Please note that the MSU PI and their home department will be responsible for the financial administration of the award. As such, it is required that the MSU PI involve their department’s fiscal officer in the development of the proposed budget to ensure all financial guidelines and reporting requirements are met. Please submit budgets as an Excel file or similar formatted version that allows the reviewers to view the formulas used in the calculations. Communications and Engagement10% of the total requested funds must be earmarked for communication and engagement efforts. For example, if a team is requesting a scaling grant for $100,000, at least $10,000 of that must be budgeted for communication and engagement efforts, such as developing creative projects that translate the research, engagement workshops and developing and utilizing dissemination tools such as video production, creation of digital resources, community engagement activities, etc. Cost Share 10% of the total requested funds must be matched with contributions (monetary and/or in-kind) from all partners. The Co-PIs’ colleges, faculties. and/or departments will be expected to contribute to the costs of the proposed activities to ensure that the commitment to long-term partnering is shared by these units.  Ineligible Expenses While funding may be used for a variety of activities, the following expenses are not eligible to be covered with the PIRA grants: Regular salary of MSU faculty (summer salary is allowable) Indirect costs (IDC) Equipment exceeding $5,000 Construction-related costs  Total project salary & fringe cannot exceed 30% of total combined project budget. SELECTION PROCESS Proposals will initially be reviewed by the AAP management team according to the guidelines and criteria above. Short-listed applications will be assessed by external peer reviewers for quality of technical content. Final selections will be made by the AAP management team in consultation with its internal partners and consortium members. SUBMISSION AND AWARD TIMELINE APPLICATION PORTAL Full proposal packages are due on Wednesday, August 14 at 11:59 PM EST and awards will be announced by early October. AAP management will work with awardees to finalize the plan and budget by November 20, 2024. Programs may begin according to their timeline but not before a final work plan and budget has been approved by AAP management. Programs must begin no later than January 22, 2025 and all program activities must be completed within 18 months of the start date. Progress will be due to AAP management at regular intervals throughout implementation. In addition, AAP will be conducting intermittent surveys of the awardees to evaluate the PIRA grant-making process and how successfully it embodies the AAP’s values of equity, transparency, and accountability. Read more

AAP seeks proposals from consortium members and their partners for projects that directly address AAP's Transforming Institutions pillar - transforming institutions to be better able to participate in sustainable, equitable, and research-driven partnerships that make a broader impact on transforming lives. Successful applicants will receive up to $20,000 USD in seed funding to develop international strategic partnerships with universities, institutions of higher education and research, and/or organizations in the public and/or NGO sectors.  Proposed projects should focus specifically on institutional and capacity strengthening. This could include projects that: aim to reinforce institutional strengths; contribute to individuals’ capacity strengthening, which will lead to institutional strengthening; plan for the creation of new units or institution-wide initiatives; and/or pilot new approaches to support research, teaching, or outreach that can be scaled up across the institution(s).Some specific examples of the types of programs that could fall under this funding initiative: developing plans or programs to improve institutional financial management structures, building capacity of administrative units or leaders, improving structures for outreach and research dissemination, creating new and innovative curricula or pedagogical approaches in priority areas, strengthening student service units focused on various aspects of student success, or institutional programs to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (for faculty staff, and/or students). Proposals that solely focus on research topics unrelated to institutional capacity strengthening and do not directly address how the work contributes to institutional strengthening will not be considered. I. Guidelines Proposals may be submitted in one of the following three project categories in support of institutional strengthening and capacity development: Exploratory Projects to support initial-stage partnership development. This funding is meant for new partnerships that have not previously worked together Proposal Development Projects to support partners to develop a proposal in response to a specific funding opportunity  Pilot Workshop Projects to support short-term training activities or workshops We highly encourage projects that incorporate South-South collaboration. This has been identified as an AAP priority and will be factored into the selection process. We also encourage collaboration across Francophone and Anglophone countries/consortium members. Proposals that address at least one of the following focus areas will receive priority in review: student success financial management systems diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) science communication  Details on funding and development of applicants’ project budget: Applicants can request a maximum of $20,000 USD.  Funding can cover travel and/or associated meeting or workshop costs. The budget may also cover salary/fringe expenses up to a total of $5,000 USD. Travel can include any of the following—within Africa, to Africa from external locations, from Africa to the US, or to other locations outside of Africa. Virtual engagement is highly encouraged as it can be cost effective. Applicants are required to contribute 20% in cost share for the project, in addition to the amount that AAP awards. For example, if an applicant requests $20,000 from AAP, the applicants will need to contribute a total of an additional $4,000 in cost share to the project, so that the total budget for the project would be $24,000.  Cost share refers to the resources a recipient contributes to the total cost of an agreement. Cost share can be cash, in-kind contributions (such as donated time of a faculty member) or a combination of the two.  The cost share required is a combined 20% contribution across all the partner institutions, with each institution contributing some amount. It must be verified in a letter of endorsement from the applicant partner institution leadership (e.g., Dean). Please see the link to the template that AAP has provided under Section IV. Proposal Requirements. MSU PI’s should identify the relevant fiscal officer within their department and verify within the budget template    Indirect costs are not allowed. This is because AAP is an entity directly funded by Michigan State University. Projects funded by AAP do not allow for indirect, administrative, or contingent costs. AAP policy allows funding only for those activities that can be directly attributed to the funded project. Applicants are responsible for communicating with and receiving approvals from appropriate administrative, research, or finance offices at their institutions and to verify that they understand that indirect costs are not allowed under this grant program. II. Eligibility Proposals should include co-PIs (project leads) from each of the partner institutions included in the proposal. Proposals must include PI(s) from MSU and PI(s) from at least one other AAP consortium member (Egerton University, Makerere University, University of Dar es Salaam, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Botswana, University of Nigeria-Nsukka, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Université des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako, University of Pretoria, United States International University – Africa, and ANAPRI). As mentioned above, AAP highly encourages South-South collaboration and proposals with multiple consortium members and/or additional partners are welcomed.  Priority will be given to PIs who have not received funding from AAP previously through any AAP-funded program. Faculty members may only be listed (as PI or as team member) on one proposal submitted to AAP for each round of funding. AAP will work with successful applicants to verify a timeline for when activities will be completed. (Partnership teams should carry out projects between June 3, 2024 and August 29, 2025). Awarded funds must be transferred to the MSU PI's department by June 30, 2024. III. Evaluation Criteria Criteria that will be used to evaluate the proposals includes: Evidence of a shared vision and mutually beneficial interests among the partners, and   a joint commitment to the success of the proposed partnership Clarity of the connection of proposed activities to AAP’s Transforming Institutions pillar Demonstrated integration of gender, equity, and inclusion principles Quality of short-term outputs/outcomes of proposed activities Potential for a sustained, productive partnership; quality of long-term impacts of proposed activities Potential for leveraging significant external funding Indicators used to evaluate the outputs/outcomes of completed projects include: Evidence of continued productive collaboration among partner institutions around transforming all organizations involved in the partnership The number and quality of institutional improvements that stem from partnership activities Symposia or conferences held to disseminate work stemming from partnership activities Collaborative grant applications submitted and awarded Collaborative research publications completed Other measures of institutional transformation as proposed by the implementing teams Reporting: A follow-up report including data on these criteria will be required 30 days after the project end date. IV. Partnership Activities Proposed partnerships should center on capacity strengthening activities, including external funding proposal development and dissemination of outputs, which contribute to transformation at all partnering institutions. Proposed activities should ultimately lead to potential long-term collaborations among the partner institutions. Follow-on funding may be allocated for continued support to develop these partnerships depending on the outcomes of the initial budget and availability of funds. V. Partnership Funding Transforming Institutions partnership funds will provide partial support of travel, meeting, and workshop costs for AAP consortium faculty members and their partners. The Co-PIs’ colleges, faculties. and/or departments will be expected to contribute to the costs of the proposed activities to ensure that the commitment to long-term partnering is shared by these units. A total of 20% match (monetary and/or in-kind) is required with contributions from all partners. These awards should ultimately result in the development and submission of a collaborative funding proposal (including partner institution faculty) for external funding, as well as having positive impacts on other indicators of institutional transformation. VI. Proposal Requirements Proposals must be submitted in English via the online submission form linked below and should include the following documents: Narrative (maximum of five pages), which addresses the specific areas below. Please use these as section headings in the proposal, which will help applicants organize their proposals and help the reviewers score the proposals.  The proposed topics or issues that the activities will address The activities being proposed for this funding. Please include a description of the activities, the role of each partner, and the timeline.  A general description of the partners and individuals who will take part in the project  The history of partnership among those involved and the potential for sustained future engagement A description of the partners’ shared vision and how each partner will benefit from the proposed activities Considerations taken for gender, equity, and inclusion (in terms of the team members and the project activities) How the activities will contribute to transforming all the institutions included in the partnership. Please describe the objectives of the activities, the anticipated short-term outcomes of the project, and their relation to the institutions’ needs The anticipated longer-term outcomes and impact of the proposed activities Identification of external funding opportunities that could support the proposed research/activities in the future Short project summary (200 words maximum) giving an overview of the work proposed including expected impacts, project outputs, etc. Letters of endorsement from each applicants’ deans, department chairpersons, or supervisors committing to a total minimum of 20% matching funds, providing a description of any monetary or in-kind contributions from each partner institution, and acknowledging that indirect costs are not allowed. Please use the provided letter of endorsement template. Proposed itemized budget. Please use the provided budget template. VII. Submitting a Proposal Please submit proposals via our online submission form. In addition to the information required on the submission form, be sure to include all required documents listed above in (narrative, letters of endorsement, proposed budget using the provided template). Submission deadline: March 1, 2024 (11:59pm EST)  Questions Please contact AAP Program Manager Justin Rabineau (rabinea1@msu.edu) or AAP Co-Director Amy Jamison at (jamisona@msu.edu) with any questions. Read more

Articles published in 2022 are eligible for the QASA prizes: The Queer African Studies Association Prize for Best Published Scholarly Essay by a Graduate Student The Queer African Studies Association Prize for Best Published Scholarly Essay by a Junior Scholar To nominate, use this form https://forms.gle/X1BoufgL5R4ZkZxS6 (self-nominations are encouraged). The full information is: These two prizes are awarded for the best published essays (i.e., journal articles or chapters in a multi-author volume) to appear in a scholarly publication (broadly defined, including peer-reviewed journals and university press books but not limited to them) in the previous calendar year (e.g., online or in print between January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022) in the field of queer African studies (broadly defined, including essays within any discipline, on any topic, on any African region, people, culture, etc.). The prizes go to, respectively, graduate students (at the time of the essay’s publication) and junior scholars (those who are, at the time of the essay’s publication, postdocs, adjuncts, independent scholars, activists, visiting untenured professors, or untenured faculty at the time of publication). Nominees need not be QASA or ASA members. The QASA Prize Committee selects the best essay from among the nominated essays. Essays must be nominated using the authorized Google Form at https://forms.gle/YcN93ACtzEeYhEV57. The award winners will be announced at the annual African Studies Association conference every November. Award winners will receive a small cash prize. Read more

Announcing the 2023 AIMS Graduate Student Writing Workshop October 5th and 6th University of Maryland - College Park The American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) invites doctoral and masters candidates to its annual Dissertation Workshop scheduled for October 5th and 6th hosted by the Department of History at the University of Maryland - College Park. The workshop provides the opportunity for current doctoral or master candidates to present, discuss, and receive valuable feedback on work related to North Africa. Accepted applicants will submit a piece of writing from their dissertations or theses at any stage (prospectus, dissertation chapter, or article draft). Participants will be organized into panels to present their work and read and discuss other participants’ work. Scholars working on North African studies in a variety of disciplines will offer feedback, as well as perspectives on publishing, job market conditions, and other topics germane to professional academic development. The workshop further affords the chance to meet, learn from, and develop relationships with colleagues in the field. Graduate students from all disciplines are welcome. In the past they have included: history, political science, sociology, anthropology, archaeology, comparative literature, psychology, public health, musicology, and more. Some funding will be available for travel expenses and lodging.   Additional details: This workshop is open only to AIMS members. To become a student member ($50) or to renew your membership, please visit www.aimsnorthafrica.org or email Terry Ryan at aims@aimsnorthafrica.org To apply, please submit your contact information, CV, and a short (300-word) abstract on your paper via this Google Form: https://forms.gle/iYcw7HjWCY85LDrP9 The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2023. Selected participants will be notified via email by August 15th and asked to submit a chapter, prospectus, or article draft for review by September 15th. Please share this announcement with interested colleagues and friends! If you have any questions, please contact Caroline Angle Maguire at cangle@umd.edu. This event is co-sponsored by the American Institute for Maghrib Studies and the Department of History at University of Maryland - College Park. https://aimsnorthafrica.org/annual-dissertation-workshop/ Read more

Call for Papers International Conference: Online and In-Person Lisbon, 22-23 September 2023 Venue: NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal   In January 1963, the PAIGC (Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde – African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cabo Verde) engaged in an armed struggle against Portuguese colonial rule in Guinea-Bissau. Soon afterwards, the movement started to claim control over part of the Guinean territory, the so-called liberated areas. From 1965 onwards, liberated areas became a key concept and one of the linchpins of the PAIGC diplomacy and were linked by the movement to the attempt to establish a proto-state through state-building programs to provide health, economic, educational, technical, judiciary, and administrative assistance to the local populations. The movement conceived the liberated areas and state-building programs to fit into contemporary paradigms of statehood and to be used as means to gain the support of formal allies and informal networks of solidarity, as well as to place internationally the struggle and the demand for independence of Guinea and Cabo Verde. This becomes evident in the way the PAIGV endeavoured to delegitimize the Portuguese rule and to convince the international community that the situation in Guinea was comparable to an independent state with a portion of its territories, namely the urban areas, occupied by foreign armed forces.   Claiming that Portugal was no longer capable of ruling over most of the Guinean territory, the PAIGC leader, Amílcar Cabral, started in May 1968 to contemplate the unilateral proclamation of independence as part of his strategy to win the war. The proclamation was postponed several times and only in the early 1970s the idea came to fruition. The progress of the armed struggle coupled with the United Nations (UN) visiting mission to Guinea, held between 2 and 8 April 1972, became a strong stimulus to the intention of unilaterally proclaiming independence. After securing recognition by the UN as the sole and authentic representative of the Guinean population, the PAIGC held elections to the People’s National Assembly and established the Republic of Guinea-Bissau on 24 September 1973. Soon, many countries recognized the unilateral declaration of independence, and 50 UN member states requested a General Assembly debate on the situation in the territory. From the beginning, the intention behind the request was clear since the wording of the issue in the agenda reproduced the PAIGC rhetoric of “illegal occupation by Portuguese military forces of certain sectors of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau and acts of aggression committed by them against the people of the Republic.”   Resolution 3061 (XXVIII), of 2 November 1973, approved by the General Assembly took the independence of Guinea-Bissau for granted, although Portugal denied the existence of the Republic and argued that it did not meet the criteria of a nation. Nevertheless, the resolution only welcomed the accession of the people of Guinea-Bissau to independence, failing to recognize the formation of a new sovereign state. This was a symptom of how divisive the recognition of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau was for member states, with the United States and the United Kingdom threatening to use the veto power in case of a request for admission at the UN. No attempt was made for the membership of the Republic at the UN, but resolution 3061 (XXVIII) deeply influenced the future of the independence struggle in Guinea-Bissau. The document established that since the PAIGC held control over part of the territory, a unilateral proclamation of independence was a legitimate action. Moreover, the resolution refused Portugal’s claim to represent the colony, branding the country as an aggressor that was violating the sovereignty and integrity of an independent state.   The proclamation of independence significantly increased the international notoriety of the PAIGC and of Guinea-Bissau. The event played a crucial role in the process of recognition by Portugal of the independence of Guinea-Bissau that occurred on 10 September 1974. Overall, the Guinean anticolonial liberation struggle transformed the face of the world politics: it worked as a catalyst for the regime change in Portugal. It was one the driving forces behind the Carnation Revolution (25 April 1974), that brought the Estado Novo dictatorship to an end. The Guinean anticolonial struggle also influenced the whole Portuguese decolonization in Africa and opened pathways to establish state partnerships and placed Guinea-Bissau as a global political actor. This is why, as a local historical fact, the proclamation of Guinea independence should be scrutinized through the lens of connected histories, to consider its local, regional, international and transnational dimensions and scopes in order to shed light on the multiple aspects, dynamics, impacts and ramifications the event generated in Africa and elsewhere.   Although the unilateral proclamation of independence has been highlighted in the scholarship regarding the struggle for the independence of Guinea-Bissau, there is a need to explore the subject in greater depth. To expand the parameters of inquiry on the Guinea-Bissau rise to statehood (and taking into account the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Unilateral Proclamation of Independence), the Institute of Contemporary History–NOVA University of Lisbon and the CEIS 20–University of Coimbra will organize an international conference to be held online and in-person on 22 and 23 September 2023.   Proposals for 20-minute presentations on issues related to the unilateral proclamation of independence will be accepted, including but not limited to the following topics: -comparison with other cases of unilateral declarations of independence; -the PAIGC’s strategies for internal legitimacy and international recognition of the unilateral declaration; -the recognition of the state of Guinea-Bissau by other countries around the globe; -how the proclamation impacted the work of networks of international solidarity with the PAIGC; -the intersection of the unilateral proclamation with the Cold War and the Third-Worldism dynamics; -the narratives about the proclamation of the state of Guinea-Bissau created by different actors (journalists, filmmakers, writers, artists, diplomats, and so on); -the reactions of Portuguese authorities; -how the Guinea-Bissau’s unilateral proclamation contributed to the Carnation Revolution and to the end of Portuguese colonial rule; -the recognition of the proclamation by Portugal after 25 April 1974; -the transfer of powers after the recognition and the relations of Guinea-Bissau with neighboring countries, namely Senegal and Guinea-Conakry; -the impacts of the proclamation on the negotiations for the independence of Cabo Verde and the other Portuguese African colonies. Abstracts of presentations (300 words) and biographical notes (250 words) should be sent to: unilateralindependence@gmail.com   Deadline for submission of abstracts: 30 June Notification of acceptance: 30 July Working language: Portuguese, English and French. The organizers foresee the publication of the communications.   Organizing Committee Aurora Almada e Santos – IHC-IN2PAST-NOVA University of Lisbon Julião Soares Sousa – CEIS 20-University of Coimbra Víctor Barros – École des Hautes Études Hispanique et Ibérique–Casa de Velázquez and IHC- IN2PAST-NOVA University of Lisbon   Scientific Committee Carlos Cardoso – Center of Social Studies Amílcar Cabral  Rui Jorge Semedo – National Institute of Studies and Research Odete Semedo – National Institute of Studies and Research Miguel de Barros – Center of Social Studies Amílcar Cabral   Patrícia Godinho – Federal University of Bahia P. Khalil Saucier – Bucknell University Read more or reply Read more

Applications are now open! #VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards - WAYA 2023 The VALUE4HER Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (WAY) recognizes African female agripreneurs who have excelled in the agricultural value chains and have demonstrated remarkable innovation by contributing positively towards food security, climate resilience, women and youth empowerment.The awards aim to create visibility for successful women and promote them as positive role models, trigge innovation, ana spur ambition among women agripreneurs   Award Categories 1. Young Female Agripreneur (Rising Star) recognizes high potential young females <35 years demonstrating innovation and leadership in agribusiness 2. Female Ag-Tech Innovator ReRecognizesemale agripreneurs championing technological advancement in agrousiness. 3. Outstanding Value-Adding Enterprise Recognizes female-owned agribusinesses that are increasing the economic value and/or consumer appeal to agricultural products.   The winners will each receive a cash prize of USD 20,000 at the AGRF Summit in September 2023.   The DEADLINE for Application is Wednesdav 31. Mav 2023.   Begin Application: Women Agripreneurs of the Year Awards (awardsplatform.com) Read more

Deadline: Jun 27, 2023 Donor: Swarovski Foundation Grant Type: Grant Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000 Countries/Regions: All Countries Area: Archaeology, Arts & Culture, Leadership, Sustainable Development, Youth & Adolescents The Swarovski Foundation has launched an open call for the Creatives for Our Future, a global mentorship and grant program designed with advisor the United Nations Office for Partnerships to identify and accelerate the next generation of creative leaders in sustainability. For more information, visit https://www.sfcreatives.org/ Premium Link: https://grants.fundsforngospremium.com/opportunity/op/Creatives-for-Our-Future-Grant-Program-2023 Read more

Call for Paper, Panel and Roundtable Proposals   (On-site and Virtual)   July 16-20, 2023 Faculty of Arts Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria   Confirmed Speakers Prof. Karin Barber University of Birmingham, United Kingdom   Prof. Carole Boyce Davies Cornell University, USA    Prof. Tunde Bewaji University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica   ‘‘New Theories of Africa: Diversities, Divergences, Dreams"   How has theory advanced critical discourse in Africa? Is a unified theory of Africa possible or desirable? Should the reticence toward theory in African Studies be validated now that the age of theory is receding? These are some of the questions that have prompted and necessitated this conference. Theoretical approaches to understanding Africa have ranged from the holistic to the metonymic, seeking knowledge as a whole or partially and incrementally. Perhaps, the significance of Mudimbe’s The Invention of Africa was identifying precisely how anthropology functioned as the first producer of systematic and totalizing grand récits of Africa. Anticolonial discourses had dispensed critiques of anthropological and ethnological truths by this time. In the decades since its less acclaimed sequel, The Idea of Africa, a long and eminent list of scholars, have attempted to compress and capture Africa as an object of knowledge outside the “idea” constructed by the Western world.   In his charge against Conrad, Achebe teased an imperative that aims “[to] suggest from my privileged position in African and Western cultures some advantages the West might derive… to look at Africa [with open minds].” More recently, about a decade into the twenty-first century, Wole Soyinka stated in Of Africa that Africa is a “continent yet waiting to be truly discovered.” How could Africa be so familiar but yet unknown? As Christopher Miller posits in Theories of Africans, can we have theories, philosophies, and representations of Africa that do not appreciate or are not entangled by the question of Africa’s opacity, différance, and differences? The relationship between difference and knowledge on the one hand and difference, otherness, and alterity on the other constituted a basis for the dispute between Ken Harrow and Simon Gikandi in the aftermath of Miller’s provocation. This conference attempts to resurrect these debates taking into account the daunting and elusive nature of theorizing Africa. We ask delegates to ponder these challenges from historical, ethical, and futuristic perspectives. What are the current attempts to characterize intellectual trends, name practices, define identities, produce understandings, rediscover genealogies, and enunciate African futures?    Suggested topics include but are not limited to the following: The theory question in African studies •           African Gnosis and sacred knowledges •           Divination, Fractals, and the new computer age  •           Demographic change, youth population, and the future of Africa •           The resurgence of theories of Decolonization •           Conflict and African humanism •           Epidemiology and global narratives of Africa •           Deviant skills, cyber warfare, and criminality  •           Africa in the age of disinformation •           African Political economy in the 21st century •           Impact of the rise of global neo-nationalism and ultranationalism in Africa •           Englishness, Francophonie, and other specters of colonialism •           Afrobarometer: the pendulum of democracy vs. autocracy  •           The form vs. content, theory vs. practice dichotomy  •           New Fusion energy and climate change: the post-fossil fuel ecology and African economies    We invite scholars and graduate students to submit abstracts for individual paper presentations, panels or round tables. Panels and roundtables are to accommodate a maximum of four participants and those proposing them are to make proposals after constituting them. Panel and round table abstracts are not to exceed 350 words, while individual paper abstracts are not to exceed 250 words.   Send all proposals to: artsconference@oauife.edu.ng by May 13, 2023. The covering letter should state the institutional affiliation and contact email of the scholar making the proposal.   The conference organisers plan to publish selected papers from the conference, some in special issues of Scopus-indexed journals and others as chapters in a book.   Conference Registration Fees: Participants from Nigeria – N25,000.00 (Early bird: N20,000.00) Graduate students from Nigeria – N15,000.00 (Early bird: N12,500.00) Participants from Africa – $80.00 (Early bird: $75.00) International participants - $120.00 (Early bird: $100.00)   For enquiries, contact:  artsconference@oauife.edu.ng ‘ Contact Info:  Obafemi Awolowo University Faculty of Arts, , Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria   Contact Email:  Oyeniyi Okunoye - ookunoye@oauife.edu.ng Professor of English & Dean of Arts Department of English Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, 220005 Osun State, Nigeria   Editor, Nigerian Journal of Oral Literatures   Section Editor, Anglophone African Literature, Postcolonial Text   Alternate emails: ookunoye@yahoo.com, ookunoye@gmail.com Read more

Publishing in highly ranked international academic journals is increasingly seen as a marker in personal career advancement and development, as is citation, which is more common from higher ranked journals. These journals are usually linked to institutions in, and normally dominated by scholars from, the Global North, resulting in significant barriers to publication for scholars from the Global South. This intentional and unintentional silencing of scholars and perspectives from the Global South perpetuates the dominance of outlooks and understandings grounded in the Global North across most subject areas.   With a goal to increase publication of African sports histories by scholars in Africa within The International Journal of the History of Sport and Sport in History, the editors of the two journals, with support from the British Academy, are organizing a writing workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa. The writing workshop on History of Sport, Leisure, and the Body in Africa would take place over two years. This writing workshop invites Early Career Scholars based in Central and Southern Africa who are working on sport history broadly conceived to transform their research into articles that will be published in special issues of The International Journal of the History of Sport and Sport in History.  Individuals selected will participate in a series of three workshops held in November 2023, April 2024, and January 2025. The workshop aims to bring the emerging African sport historians together, have their articles workshopped, prepare scholarship for English-language publications in top sport history journals, and build potential collaborations among an engaging group of sports scholars. The workshop is intended to be practice-based with a view to developing high quality outputs and facilitate publication. It is our hoped that this will provide the basis of an enduring scholarly network. This workshop will support up to 12 scholars who reside in the 23 countries of Central and Southern Africa (please see the list of eligible countries below) who work on sport history conceived broadly, including the histories of physical education, leisure, and the body. Selected participants will be expected to submit a 5,000-word draft of an article by 1 October, 2023. The draft will be workshopped at the three-day workshop in Johannesburg in November 2023, with participants reading another participant’s article prior to the workshop. The organisers will work with the participants to develop their articles at this workshop with time allocated to discuss, reflect, write, and revise with their peers.  The organisers will also devote time to developing future publication and funding opportunities for participants to further advance their careers.   The second workshop will be a one-day online event in April 2024 will present their near complete manuscripts and will receive comments on how to get them ready to submit to the journals in the summer of 2024.  The final event will be a 1.5-day workshop in Johannesburg to discuss the writing, editing, peer-review and publication process and future publication opportunities for participants.   All travel, accommodation, subsistence, and visa costs for the two trips to Johannesburg will be covered for all participants.  To support scholars with caring responsibilities, the organisers are also able to pay for childcare (either in the participant’s home country or on site in Johannesburg) for up to five participants.  The organisers are also able to support up to two scholars for whom English is not their primary working language with the full editing service from Taylor and Francis.   Applicant requirements:--must be late stage doctoral student or have received the PhD within the previous five years (from 2018-2023)--must reside in one of the following countries:  Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe Applicants should email the following by 15 June 2023:•    1 page abstract of research for proposed article•    2 page curriculum vitae•    if residing outside of South Africa, please note the passport held and whether a visa for South Africa is required, along with the preferred airport departure•    please note in application if childcare is needed Timeline:Application submission deadline: 15 June 2023Announcement of selection: late June 20235000 words First Draft due: 1 October 2023Workshop #1 (Johannesburg): 20-23 November 2023Workshop #2 (online): April 2024 (date tbc)Workshop #3 (Johannesburg): January 2025 (dates tbc) Any questions should be directed to Dr. Heather Dichter at heather.dichter@dmu.ac.uk Organisers:Dr. Heather Dichter, De Montfort UniversityDr. Tarminder Kaur, University of JohannesburgDr. Malcolm MacLean, University of Gibraltar and De Montfort UniversityProfessor Kay Schiller, Durham University Read more

We hope this email finds you all well. We are writing to remind you of the opportunity to publish your writing through the Association for Feminist Anthropology in Anthropology News. We are looking for essays, interviews, or photo essays for our section's column in AN from all subfields of anthropology written in an accessible, journalistic style that draw on your scholarly sensibility and expertise as feminist anthropologists. Pieces may focus on, but certainly be not limited to, interesting research, fieldwork experiences, current events, career advice, or hot topics in the profession. Essays and interviews should have a maximum length of 1,600 words and be accompanied by 1-3 images. Photo essays should have a maximum length of 750 words for the introductory text and be accompanied by 6-8 images.    We publish four columns per calendar year, one per quarter. We will accept pieces from current AFA members on a first come, first serve basis by the following deadlines:    Submission deadline for publication in Quarter #3 2023 (July-September): May 1st 2023 Submission deadline for publication in Quarter #4 2023 (October-December): August 1st 2023  Submission deadline for publication in Quarter #1 2024 (January-March): January 7th 2024   Please send us your pitch for your piece at least 1 month prior to the deadline for the quarter in which you intend to publish with us at mlbaiocchi@flacso.org.ar or at lsavloff@elon.edu. For more information about publishing with us, please refer to the AN Guidelines for Section Authors.    We look forward to receiving your ideas for contributions to our section's column in AN.   Thank you for your consideration and best wishes,    María Lis Baiocchi and Leyla Savloff   -- Dra. María Lis Baiocchi Becaria Postdoctoral Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de América Latina Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Tucumán 1966 (C1050AAN) Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina (+ 54 11) 5238-9300 – Interno: 441 mlbaiocchi@flacso.org.ar  Read more

Recent scholarship attests not only to the viability of biographical accounts in writing Zimbabwean history and politics on an academic basis, but also the need to develop further this genre. Taking a closer and more systematic look at the actors’ experiences, motivations and actions allows us to reconceptualise both colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwean politics and society. The biographical approach engages particularly well with the enduring quest to understand, in particular, liberation era dynamics (1960s to independence), early post-independence developments (1980 to the 1990s), and from 2000 onward, the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF)’s power-retention politics and the opposition’s counterhegemonic endeavours. Histories of the individual help capture the broader and largely contradictory social ideas and struggles at play during the different epochs, in addition to establishing connections across time and space. The volume will contribute to the development of the biographical genre in historical studies. In the context of Zimbabwean history, society, and politics, it strives to trigger the rethinking of academic orthodoxies and traditions, the adoption of new sources, and the reimagination of old stories. Historical and interdisciplinary biographical accounts of particular interest include (but are not limited to): ● Trade unionists● Student leaders● Public intellectuals● Diaspora figures● Chiefs● Opposition politicians● Military officials● Bankers/economists● ZANU-PF dissenters● War veterans● Female politicians● Artists● Religious officials● Media/journalists● Propagandists and ideologues● Indigenous business people● Philanthropists● Matabeleland disturbances actors● Youth activists Those interested in contributing a piece on a figure active in Zimbabwean politics and society between 1960 and the present, should submit an abstract of 150 to 300 words by 30 April 2023 to zimbiographies2023@gmail.com. A draft, ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 words, should be in place by 1 November 2023. If funding allows, an in-person conference to present the papers may be held in the first half of 2024 at the University of the Free State, South Africa.  Lotti Nkomo, University of the Free StateBrooks Marmon, The Ohio State UniversityMelusi Nkomo, University of Zurich Read more

There has been a surge of scholarly interest in the Ghana of the 1950s and 1960s, under its charismatic independence era leader Kwame Nkrumah. These works tell a new story of that era, focusing on the possibilities of independence by looking anew at Pan-Africanism, socialism, new histories of the Cold War and Black internationalism (Alhman 2017; Getachew 2019; Iandolo 2022; Osei-Opare 2023).   In contrast, Ghana’s 1970s are often reduced to an afterthought. Military coups dominate the narrative. Indeed, the 1970s are a decade characterized by military rule, economic decline, emigration, and hardship (Hutchful 1979; Pellow & Chazan 1986). This hardship is reflected in the relative lack of scholarship on the period. The body of work that does exist tends to reinforce a top-down narrative, with a strong focus on the state. It is only after 1981, when J.J. Rawlings comes to power and stays, that Ghana again attracts significant scholarly interest (Herbst 1993; Nugent 1995; Brydon & Legge 1996).Forty years on, it is high time to return to the 1970s. Inspired by the interest in the Nkrumah years, and motivated by the availability of new archives in Ghana and elsewhere, we invite historians to reconsider the 1970s with us. Building on recent scholarship that begins to probe the 1970s anew (Hart 2016; Murillo 2017; Wiemers 2021), we seek contributions that engage with the following questions: How might our understanding of this decade change if instead of focusing on disjuncture, we looked for continuity? How did this period of transition between two defining political regimes (between Nkrumah and Rawlings) shape contemporary Ghana?  How did ordinary Ghanaians navigate this tumultuous decade? What does a focus on everyday lives, rather than a state-centric approach, reveal about these years? What new methods and sources might we turn to, to recover histories of a decade when state institutions supposedly collapsed? To what extent can the framing of “Ghana’s long 1970s” (1966–1981) help us reconsider the history of postcolonial Ghana? We are particularly interested in contributions that de-center political narratives, but are open to a wide array of approaches. We welcome expressions of interest and further conversations regarding potential submissions (write to: claire.nicolas@unil.ch).   Submission Guidelines Abstracts (200 words) should be submitted to Claire Nicolas (claire.nicolas@unil.ch) and Elisa Prosperetti (elisa.prosperetti@nie.edu.sg) by 1 April 2023. Contributors will be notified by 15 April 2023. Full papers (8000 words) are to be received by 15 September 2023. All articles will undergo peer review. Those accepted for publication will appear in a special issue of Ghana Studies, scheduled for publication in 2024.   About Ghana StudiesGhana Studies is the peer-reviewed journal of the Ghana Studies Association, an international affiliate of the African Studies Association (U.S). Its current editors are Victoria Ellen Smith (University of Bristol) and Nana Yaw Boampong Sapong (University of Ghana). Since its first issue in 1998, the journal has published significant work by leading scholars based in Ghana, the United States, Canada, and Europe. It is published annually by the University of Wisconsin Press. https://gs.uwpress.org/content/call-papers   About the editors of the special issueClaire Nicolas is a Research Fellow from the Swiss National Science Foundation, at SOAS (University of London). She specializes in the history of sport, citizenship, and gender.Elisa Prosperetti is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She specializes in the history of education, development, and nation-building.   BibliographyJ. Alhman, Living with Nkrumahism: Nation, State, and Pan-Africanism in Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2017).L. Brydon and K. Legge, Adjusting Society: The World Bank, the IMF, and Ghana (London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1996).A. Getachew, Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019).J. Hart, “‘NIFA NIFA’: Technopolitics, Mobile Workers, and the Ambivalence of Decline in Acheampong's Ghana,” African Economic History, 44 (2016): 181–201.J. Herbst, The Politics of Reform in Ghana, 1982-1991 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993).E. Hutchful, “A Tale of Two Regimes: Imperialism, the Military and Class in Ghana,” Review of African Political Economy 14 (1979): 36–55.A. Iandolo, Arrested Development: The Soviet Union in Ghana, Guinea, and Mali, 1955–1968 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2022).B. Murillo, Market Encounters: Consumer Cultures in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2017).P. Nugent, Big Men, Small Boys, and Politics in Ghana: Power, Ideology, and the Burden of History, 1982-1994 (London: Pinter, 1995).N. Osei-Opare, “Ghana and Nkrumah Revisited: Lenin, State Capitalism, and Black Marxist Orbits,” Comparative Studies in Society and History (2023): 1-23.D. Pellow and N. Chazan, Ghana: Coping with Uncertainty (Boulder: Westview Press, 1986).A. Wiemers, Development and Rural Statecraft in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2021). Read more