Feed
-
CFP: Decolonizing Environmental Imaginaries: Climate, Heritage, and the Postcolonial SouthCall for Papers Edited Volume (Brill) Decolonizing Environmental Imaginaries: Climate, Heritage, and the Postcolonial South Editors: Paweł Piszczatowski (Hg.) Neha Khetrapal (Hg.) Book series: Culture – Environment – Society. Humanities and beyond Publisher: Brill About the Volume Recent debates in the environmental humanities — including works by Macarena Gómez-Barris (The Extractive Zone, 2017) and Farhana Sultana (“The Unbearable Heaviness of Climate Coloniality,” Political Geography, 2022) — have made it increasingly clear that climate change, heritage discourses, and environmental imaginaries cannot be understood apart from the colonial legacies of extraction, epistemic exclusion, and uneven modernities. Postcolonial and decolonial approaches have demonstrated that contemporary ecological crises are inseparable from histories of displacement, enclosure, and structural inequality. Foundational contributions such as Global Ecologies and the Environmental Humanities: Postcolonial Approaches (DeLoughrey, Didur & Carrigan, 2015) and S. Rahman’s “The Environment of South Asia: Beyond Postcolonial Ecocriticism” (South Asian Review, 2021) underscore how environmental thought emerging from the Global South foregrounds questions of justice, mobility, cultural survivance, and more-than-human relationality. Farhana Sultana’s concept of climate coloniality further exposes how ostensibly universal discourses of climate responsibility continue to reproduce geopolitical asymmetries between the Global North and the Global South. Complementary perspectives from disability studies, feminist theory, and critical heritage studies — for instance Disability Studies and the Environmental Humanities: Toward an Eco-Crip Theory (ed. Sibara & Ray, 2017) — have further expanded this field by interrogating the colonial, ableist, and anthropocentric assumptions embedded in dominant Western notions of the body, resilience, and environmental agency. Together, these frameworks signal a profound epistemic realignment: a shift away from Eurocentric universalism toward plural, situated, and relational ecologies. This decolonial turn has also gained increasing traction in Central and Eastern European scholarship, which situates local semi-peripheral contexts within broader global debates. Volumes such as Non-Western Approaches in Environmental Humanities (ed. Jarzębowska, Ross, Skonieczny, 2025) contribute to this dialogue by juxtaposing perspectives from Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, asking how environmental thought might evolve once Western modernity is no longer treated as its epistemic center. This edited volume seeks to extend and deepen these conversations by bringing together contributions that critically examine environmental imaginaries, heritage practices, and climate narratives from postcolonial, decolonial, and semi-peripheral perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the Global South. Scope and Topics We invite original contributions that explore the intersections of decolonial critique, environmental imagination, and heritage practices. While the volume places particular emphasis on South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and semi-peripheral regions of Europe, comparative and theoretically innovative approaches are especially welcome. Possible topics include (but are not limited to): Postcolonial and decolonial approaches to the environmental humanities Cultural, spiritual, and religious responses to climate change in the Global South Colonial legacies and epistemic asymmetries in heritage, conservation, and sustainability discourse Orientalization and Western appropriations of Asian philosophies, religions, and spiritualities Environmental imaginaries in literature, film, and visual arts from postcolonial contexts Intersections of religion, ecology, and material heritage (e.g. temple architecture, ritual space, olfactory heritage) Environmental mobility, migration, displacement, and climate-induced precarity Indigenous epistemologies and situated ecological knowledges Feminist, queer, disability-informed, and subaltern ecologies Comparative ecologies of postcolonial and semi-peripheral modernities Climate fiction, speculative imaginaries, and narrative strategies of resistance Submission Guidelines and Timeline Extended abstracts (700–800 words, in English) 📅 Deadline: February 28, 2026 Authors will be notified of acceptance by March 15, 2026. Full chapters (approx. 6,000–8,000 words) 📅 Deadline: September 30, 2026 The volume is planned for publiation with Brill in 2027 as part of the Culture – Environment – Society. Humanities and beyond series. Please submit abstracts together with a short biographical note (approx. 100 words) to: 📧 p.piszczatowski@uw.edu.pl 📧 nkhetrapal@jgu.edu.inBy: Aaron DornerMonday, Jan 26, 2026CULTURE AND SOCIETY+1
No Preview Available -
The Alter-Lives of Independence Movements: Frustrated Hopes, Renewed UtopiasCarmina UntalanLocationPortugalDecades after formal decolonisation, anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism have remained a wellspring of inspiration and contestation. Studies about anticolonial thought, the 1955 Bandung Conference, and transcontinental solidarity movements have proliferated in academia and activist networks, providing the basis of theories and practices of resistance in contemporary times. Nevertheless, the ideas and the movements they inspired did not perish with the epoch that produced them. They evolved and acquired alternative lives in the period of nation-building and world-making, whether in extended or distorted forms. On the one hand, there were local and transnational efforts to sustain and enrich the revolutionary impulse through embracing the anticolonial spirit in various areas such as development, education, and diplomacy. As international institutions such as the UN welcome additional member states, Europeans and non-Europeans travelled to decolonised states like Algeria and Angola to learn and further cultivate ideas in building new societies. On the other hand, some dominant groups that took over the independent states capitalised on the anti-colonial pride to justify authoritarian and anti-democratic rule. Their utopian visions led to the systematic oppression of opposing forces and reproduced the hierarchical international state model. The fear of neocolonialism and disillusionment propelled both the former coloniser and colonised to reorganise their strategies and desires in the face of an emerging world order. This two-day conference on the alter-lives of independence movements explores the evolution and transformation of anti-colonial and anti-imperial struggles. It focuses on the events and reflections about the early years of independence, a period of turbulent transition from colonial domination to self-governing nation-states, and of tumultuous beginnings of a new international order. We introduce the concept “alter-lives” to denote the process of altering imaginaries and practices that emerged during the colonial period in responding to uncertain futures, including the political uses of anticolonial memories and/or histories. It also refers to alternative relations forged between and among the former colonisers and colonised after independence. Thus, using “alter-lives” as a conceptual ground, this conference engages in the following questions: first, how have anticolonial thinking and practices evolved domestically and transnationally? Second, what were the structural and agential forces behind these evolutions? Third, how were anticolonial memories and histories politicised to achieve certain ends? Fourth, what difficulties did these agents face in realising their envisioned future? Lastly, how have alterations and alternatives affirmed and/or challenged the revolutionary ideas of the independence struggles? We welcome theoretical and praxis-oriented proposals to gather scholars, activists, and artists from various disciplinary backgrounds and acquire a broad comparative perspective. Possibleareas include, but are not limited to: Transnational solidarities and resistance, such as North-South and South-South cooperation Nation-building Anticolonial thought and figures Diplomacy and international affairs Pedagogy and knowledge transmission Literary and artistic representations, such as documentaries, films, and novels Rhetorics of failure, frustrated political projects Please submit your abstract (300 words max.) by 13 February 2026 to jiw.hopesandfears@gmail.com. Decisions will be communicated by the first week of March 2026. Contact Email jiw.hopesandfears@gmail.com URL https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/en/events/alterlives-independence-movements/?fbclid=IwY… Attachments CfP Poster AlterlivesBy: Aaron DornerTuesday, Jan 13, 2026CULTURE AND SOCIETY+1
No Preview Available -
Call For Proposals: Virtual Workshop on "Subaltern Transnationalism"Jon KeuneThis announcement is for a Call for Proposals to participate in an experimental virtual workshop on "Subaltern Transnationalism," which will take place February 26 - March 6, 2026. As explained in the attached PDF file, we will gather a small group of scholars to discuss ways in which "subaltern" or historically marginalized people developed emancipative possibilities by envisioning themselves as belonging to worlds beyond their immediate locales. Mindful of how the terms "subaltern" and "transnationalism" carry different meanings in different global contexts, we hope that our call invites participants who work on relevant topics even if they do not typically resort to these terms to describe their research. Scholarship on transnationalism/transregionalism often takes for granted a high degree of financial, social, educational, or political status among participants who can engage the international world reciprocally. In contrast, we view subaltern transnationalism as reflecting marginalized people’s own imagination, agency, and uses of international knowledge according to their limited resources in their local contexts. In these cases, such knowledge may be rooted in partial information, rumor, media fragments, religious networks, political propaganda, or localized interpretations of rhetoric and events from elsewhere, which subaltern groups use to develop social imaginaries that give them hope and new forms of self-understanding. Our anticipated historical scope for the workshop is colonial and early postcolonial periods, but we will consider proposals that speak directly to the theme in other historical periods. To maximize engagement and feedback among participants, the workshop will have two parts. The asynchronous part will be facilitated through a private website hosting participants' shared materials February 26-March 5, 2025, followed soon after by a 2-hour group Zoom meeting that suits participants' availability and time zones. Work in progress is welcome; a full paper is not required. Please see the attached PDF file for more details, including how to submit proposals before the January 24 deadline, and how to contact the organizers. Contact Information Jon Keune, Associate Professor in Religious Studies, Michigan State University Surajkumar Thube, Visiting Faculty in Political Science, Ashoka University Contact Email subalterntransnationalism@gmail.com Attachments CFP & concept noteBy: Aaron DornerTuesday, Jan 13, 2026CULTURE AND SOCIETY
No Preview Available -
Africa Global Partnership ScholarsIn an era where complex global challenges demand collective action, the need for international collaboration and knowledge sharing has never been more critical. Africa Global Partnership Scholars Program (Africa GPS) is a cohort-based program, designed for early to mid-career MSU faculty to create and deepen new scholarly partnerships with collaborators and peer institutions in Africa in support of MSU’s global mission. PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: Foster the development of a group of faculty members dedicated to establishing and enhancing international research connections, collaborating on solutions with African partners, and adopting a global perspective in their scholarly work Support MSU’s 2030 strategic plan goal of discovery, creativity and innovation for excellence and global impact Connect MSU faculty with potential collaborators and mentors in Africa, expand the scholars' international networks, and offer support for establishing long-lasting collaborations Heighten global awareness and research dialogue Elevate the status of MSU’s global mission Capitalize on opportunities to leverage external resources and form partnerships ELIGIBILITY FOR APPLICATION Tenure-stream or fixed term faculty at Michigan State University without prior scholarly experience in Africa are eligible to apply for Africa GPS. REQUIRED APPLICATION MATERIALS As part of the application process, the applicant must submit the following materials: Completed application questionnaire An up-to-date curriculum vitae (max 4 pages) A one-page statement that describes your reasons for applying, potential research focus, and if known, the AAP consortium institution and African country of interest for the collaboration. If needed, AAP can help identify the country, mentor and/or the collaboration partner based on the applicant’s interests. A letter expressing strong support from the Chair/School Director/Dean. The letter should affirm: The candidate’s international interest, experience, and/or research The candidate’s strengths as a researcher within the context of unit expectations The candidate’s proposed project will advance the mission and goals of the academic unit, be supported by the unit, and benefit international partners Applicants are encouraged to obtain a commitment from their unit or college to provide a 20% cost share. While cost sharing is not required, preference will be given to proposals that include this match. FUNDING To facilitate the participation of faculty members selected as Africa GPS Fellows, AAP will provide support for the following: Up to $10,000 in support of international travel and scholarly collaborations with a researcher and/or mentor at an AAP Consortium member institution. The $10,000 may be used to support the MSU faculty members’ individual travel, collaborative research activities or to bring an African partner to MSU. Connection with potential collaborators, mentors, and institutions in Africa Structured workshops on establishing and navigating international partnerships Financial Guidelines: The financial support must be expended prior to the end of the program (one year after awarded). Preference will be given to applicants who provide a 20% match from the applicant’s unit, department or college. PROGRAM EXPECTATIONS Africa GPS participants are expected to develop a sustainable collaboration with peer researchers at an AAP consortium institution. As a result, within two years of being selected for the program, the scholar is expected to achieve the following outputs: A collaborative research paper coauthored with their African collaborator to be submitted for publication. A concept note of a proposal submitted to a funding agency to sustain the partnership with the African collaborator. Progress reports submitted every six months to AAP documenting how the collaboration is progressing and any challenges that may have arisen. Attend program orientation, professional development workshops organized by AAP, and other relevant events as shared by the AAP team. SELECTION CRITERIA FOR GLOBAL RESEARCH FELLOWS The criteria below will be utilized to evaluate candidates for their selection to the Africa GPS program: Commitment Level: Applicants need to show a readiness to dedicate the necessary time to maximize the benefits of the Fellowship year, along with a proven scholarly potential that supports such a commitment. Research Interest: Candidates should demonstrate a strong commitment to international research and articulate how participation in Africa GPS will contribute to their personal and professional development Unit Support: Candidates must have strong support from relevant departmental or school and college administrators, indicated by enthusiastic recommendations. Alignment of Interests: The applicant’s international research interests should align with the Africa GPS’s mission to foster excellence in international research. Apply here: https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bIS1j4JJxUE2voq SELECTION OF FELLOWS Applications are due by January 30, 2026. Application materials will be reviewed by a selection committee in International Studies and Programs. Scholars will be announced by May 2026. Funds must be transferred to selected scholars by June 30, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact Justin Rabineau at: rabinea1@msu.eduBy: Justin RabineauMonday, Dec 22, 2025AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS+6
-
Call for Papers: History of Technology Conference“Engaging the History of Technology” International Congress of History of Science and Technology Annual Meeting Democritus University of Thrace Alexandroupolis, Greece October 8 – 11, 2026 The theme of this conference, “Engaging the History of Technology”, invites critical reflections on how history of technology can engage with evolving methodologies, theories and pedagogies, and other branches of historical study to demonstrate that understanding technologies’ pasts are essential to navigating contemporary challenges. The conference, therefore, seeks contributions across spatial and epistemic boundaries: from the everyday and local to the geopolitical and planetary; from archival practice to classroom teaching and public engagement; and from discipline-specific research methods to interdisciplinary collaborations. Contributors may engage with one or more of the following themes, or even suggest new ways of thinking about: 1. The History of Technology between the Local, the Regional, and the Global:• Circulation of technologies, expertise, and knowledge across borders• Adaptation and appropriation of technologies in different cultural contexts• Tensions between globalisation and localisation in technological change• Regional networks and their role in shaping technological trajectories• Colonial, postcolonial and decolonial dimensions of technology• Networks of maintenance and repair2. History of Technology, Historiography and Education:• Methodological innovations in researching the history of technology• Interdisciplinary approaches and their challenges• Teaching the history of technology in universities and schools• Public engagement and the communication of technological history• The relevance of technology history to contemporary policy debates• Digital humanities and new forms of historical scholarship3. Intersections between the History of Technology and Other Fields of Historical Study:• Technology and social history: class, labour, gender, and everyday life• Technology and cultural history: representation, identity, and meaning• Technology and environmental history: sustainability, resource use, and ecological change• Technology and economic history: innovation, industrialisation, and development• Technology and political history: governance, regulation, and power• Technology and the history of medicine: cultural values, therapeutic practice, and material conceptions about the human body4. Special Focus: Museums, Material and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and Public Engagement: Given our collaboration with the Ethnological Museum of Thrace, the planners particularly welcome proposals that engage with material and intangible culture, museum practices, and public history. They are interested in innovative session formats that:• Explore tensions and synergies between academic and museum approaches to technological history• Demonstrate object-based learning methodologies• Address the challenges of communicating technological history to diverse publics• Examine the role of museums in preserving and interpreting technological heritage• Study visitor engagements with intangible heritage, particularly those of marginalised and silenced ethno-cultural communities• Critically examine the funding relationships between private technological and industrial interests, and museum Proposals will be accepted in the following formats: Paper presentations Individual and author teams’ presentations.Please, submit an abstract of up to 350 words. Panel Sessions Thematically coherent sessions of 3-4 papers. Panel organisers should submit a panel abstract (up to 400 words) describing the theme and its significance; after approval the conference committee and the panel organisers will issue a specific call for proposals (individual or author teams’ paper abstracts up to 350 words each). Roundtables Discussion-based sessions with 4-6 participants addressing a specific question or debate. Organisers should submit a description of the topic and format (up to 350 words); names and brief bios of participants (up to 100 words each); key questions to be addressed. Graduate Student and Early Career Opportunities ICOHTEC is committed to supporting emerging scholars. We particularly welcome submissions from graduate students and early career researchers. The conference will feature:• Visual Lightning Talk Competitions for graduate students• Mentorship opportunities pairing students with established scholars• Book development workshops Submissions of abstracts through the conference website: December 15, 2025 - January 31, 2026 Official conferencewebsite: https://icohtec2026.hs.duth.gr - Peter Alegi, MSU Department of History -“Soccer as Work and Play: A Congolese Life Story, from Colonialism to Globalization” (co-sponsored by the MSU Department of African American and African Studies and the MSU African Studies Center) Monday, March 23 - Jenelle Thelen – “Smooth as Silk: Working Women of the Belding, MI Silk Mills (1902-1908)” (co-sponsored by the MSU Center for Gender in Global Context) Friday, April 3 - David Stowe, MSU Religious Studies – “The Musical Tanner: Negotiating Work, Music, and Belief in Revolutionary Boston” * TBD - Nicholas Sly, MSU Department of History - “Curing the Crisis of Masculinity: Calisthenics and Office Work in the Early Twentieth Century” Check out all the Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives brown bag presentation recordings available on the MSU Library website (over 125 and still counting!!- JPB) Did you miss a brown bag presentation that you really want to hear? Or perhaps you may want to explore the listing of past presentations that you didn't even know about. There's an answer to both quests. Thanks to all our friends at MSU Vincent Voice Library, there is a new home for all our recorded brown bags. Follow these links and you should be able to tap into all of the recordings we have cataloged thus far: Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives Channel or https://mediaspace.msu.edu/channel/channelid/209060293. Easy Peasy!! Thanks to everyone for setting us up this way!!! The deepest note of Thanks to all of the folks at the Vincent Voice Library who have worked with us to create this archived set of recordings. Thanks to Shawn, James, Mike, Rick and the late John Shaw for their work over the years on our behalf. For over thirty years, "Our Daily Work/ Our Daily Lives" has been a cooperative project of the Michigan Traditional Arts Program and the Labor Education Program.By: Aaron DornerThursday, Dec 4, 2025CULTURE AND SOCIETY+1
No Preview Available -
Student Research FellowshipThe Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) and the MSU African Studies Center (ASC) are pleased to announce our Student Research Fellowship. This award supports: MSU graduate students’ travel to any African country for research. Graduate students from AAP’s ten African consortium members to travel to MSU for research. MSU graduate students’ travel in the U.S. to present their research on Africa at an academic conference. AAP and ASC recognize that graduate students may have limited opportunities to apply for grants and fellowships to conduct international research and to access funds for conference travel to disseminate their research results. To address this issue, AAP and ASC have established the Student Research Fellowship. Funding Each research fellowship will be up to $2,000, awarded for travel and/or fieldwork expenses. Each conference travel fellowship will be up to $1,000 and will be on a reimbursable basis. Applicants for research and conference travel fellowships should specify all other funding sources, if applicable. For students from AAP consortium members, funds will be provided to the MSU host faculty member to pay for travel costs directly. For students from MSU, funds will be provided either via the home department or via another method; AAP and ASC will work with students on a case-by-case basis on fund transfer. Eligibility All applicants must be graduate students currently enrolled in a degree-granting program at one of AAP’s ten African university consortium members or at MSU. MSU applicants for research funds must secure affiliation with an African university, institution, or organization for the time in which they will conduct their research and in the country to which they are traveling. Applicants from the ten AAP African university consortium members must be supervised by an academic at their home institution who is collaborating with an MSU faculty member. The student must be hosted by the MSU faculty member/department. All applicants for research funds must complete their university requirements related to doing research (e.g., approved research plans, ethical conduct of research (or IRB) training and approvals, etc.). All fellowship recipients must return to their home university as registered students in the semester or term following the award. All fellowship recipients must be in good academic standing, and priority will be given to underrepresented students and those with demonstrated financial need. All fellowship recipients must write and submit a report (3 to 5 pages) on their research and experiences within one month of their return from the research trip or conference travel. The report template will be provided to students upon their award. To learn more about the program, including how to apply, visit:https://aap.isp.msu.edu/funding/student-research-fellowship/By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-MajorTuesday, Nov 18, 2025EDUCATION
No Preview Available -
Faculty Global Engagement FundAAP is pleased to announce that the Faculty Global Engagement Fund is now available to Michigan State University (MSU) faculty members conducting research in Africa. This fund is designed to support: Collaborative research travel Conference/workshop travel Capacity-building and training travel This fund supports MSU faculty members in strengthening and developing collaborative partnerships with African institutions through strategic travel. AAP seeks to help faculty maintain momentum in their research endeavors and international collaborations by providing travel support to engage with African partner institutions and/or to present their research at conferences or other public forums. For travel and/or fieldwork expenses: $5,000. For international conference travel: $5,000 For domestic conference travel: $1,000 Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through May 31, 2026, subject to funding availability. The application process may close early if all funds are awarded before May 31, 2026. All funding must be transferred to recipients by June 13, 2026. To learn more about the program, including how to apply, visit:https://aap.isp.msu.edu/funding/faculty-global-engagement-fund/By: Baboki Gaolaolwe-MajorTuesday, Nov 18, 2025EDUCATION
No Preview Available
Leave a comment