The Black Atlantic: Colonial and Contemporary Exchanges
2011 Annual Meeting of the Stanford Forum for African Studies
Stanford University, California
October 28-29, 2011

The Stanford Forum for African Studies (SFAS) invites proposals for papers by graduate students, scholars, and faculty on the topics of slavery, migration and the African Diaspora, and how each of these affect social, economic, and political development in Africa in the past and present. Interested participants should submit abstracts by email to stanfordfas@gmail.com. Please also include your name, affiliation and contact details. DEADLINE: June 10, 2011 (extended from June 1st)

This interdisciplinary conference aims to examine the vestiges of the slave trade, along with the resulting economic and cultural exchanges, both within and from Africa. Scholars and activists have traditionally addressed matters relating to economic inequality, hierarchical racial segregation and ideology, and the transfer of cultural realities presented in art, music, and rituals, to mention a few major topics. Consistent with the theme of exploring the triangular interaction (involving Europe, Africa and the Americas) of the Black Atlantic, the symposium seeks to shed light on the effect of forced and voluntary migration on identity and culture, on social, economic, and political development in Africa and in the African Diaspora. We are soliciting proposals that combine insights, methods, and research from both the social sciences and the humanities, including the fields of anthropology, art history, economics, history, literature, political science, and psychology among others.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
· Identity formation in the Diaspora
· The spread and influence of African culture, art, and music
· The role of technology in connecting migrants to their home countries
· Regional integration and the economic effects of migration within Africa
· Brain drain out of Africa
· Migration and its relation to political and economic development in Africa
· Europe and its acknowledgment of the slave trade
· The role of remittances in modern day Africa
· The slave trade present in literature and/or music

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