"African Conflict and Public Memory" Fall SERSAS-SEAN Conference 24-25 October 2014

College of Charleston, Charleston SC

Hosted by the College of Charleston

This year's ASA conference theme is "Rethinking Violence, Reconstruction and Reconciliation."  The Fall 2014 SERSAS-SEAN Conference provides another opportunity to get at this theme, but from a more focused perspective.

Much of how we understand conflict in Africa concentrates on violence.

While this perspective is warranted, particularly given ongoing conflicts in places like South Sudan and Central African Republic, the focus on violence often misses a more recently developing form of protest and revolt. This sees young people taking to the streets rather than taking up arms and going to the bush. These two perspectives dovetail with a broader reflection on public memory in Africa and the way it shapes violent and non-violent trajectories.

This Fall's SERSAS-SEAN Conference will host authors Adam Branch and Zachariah Mampilly to discuss their forthcoming book, _Africa Uprising!

Popular Protest and Political Change_, which offers a broader comparative perspective of youth, violence, and non-violence. Branch and Mampilly are two up and coming scholars in African Studies and have spent a great deal of time on the ground doing research in Africa. Branch is Associate Professor of Political Science and Senior Research Fellow at the Makerere Institute for Social Research in Uganda, where he spends much of his time.

 Mampilly is Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Vassar College where he also serves as Director of Africana Studies.  In addition to a special session with Branch and Mampilly, we are also working to arrange a conference screening of the film of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Biafran War novel, _Half of a Yellow Sun_.

Furthermore, the proposed theme of our Fall SERSAS-SEAN Conference ties in with the College of Charleston Global Awareness Forum's "Global Conflict and Public Memory" theme, so we hope to appeal to an engaged undergraduate audience for some of the events.

We welcome interdisciplinary perspectives on violent and non-violent forms of protest and revolt, particularly those that consider the consequences of these events upon Africa's politics and society.  Faculty, independent scholars, and graduate students are all encouraged to participate.

Please send proposals of no more than 300 words that outline the main themes and issues of your paper to:

Simon Lewis: lewiss@cofc.edu;  Tim Carmichael: carmichaelt@cofc.edu; and Christopher Day: dayc@cofc.edu

Deadline for submissions is:  19 September 2014