[URBANTH-L]CFP: North Eastern Workshop on Southern Africa (NEWSA)

[Angela Jancius]

Call for Papers

This is the first call for papers and participation for the 7th North 
Eastern
Workshop on Southern Africa (NEWSA). We encourage scholars from all 
disciplines
who are currently working on southern Africa (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and
Zimbabwe) to submit proposals. The meeting will be held at the Bishop Booth
Conference Center in Burlington, Vermont (US), April 13-16, 2007.

The NEWSA conference is organized around intensive discussion of 
pre-circulated
papers. There are also many opportunities for informal conversation of
work-in-progress. Located on 130 acres of forest with its own secluded 
beach,
the center is an ideal location for discussion and conversation. Drawing on 
the
successful precedents of the former Southern African Research Program at 
Yale
and the Canadian Research Consortium on Southern Africa, this program is
designed to give southern Africanists the opportunity for close and 
intensive
discussion of work across a wide variety of scholarly fields. We encourage 
the
presentation of previously unpublished work, and submissions from graduate
students and junior faculty in particular.

- - - 2007 Conference Themes - - -

We aim to encourage and prioritize scholarship, regardless of discipline or
topic, that is grounded in an analysis of African language and concepts, and
which elucidates local worldviews and experience.

We want especially to encourage discussion of the following three topics 
across
disciplines:

1. Migration / Displacement. Migration has been a long standing feature of 
the
southern African social landscape, predating the rise of large-scale labor
migration beginning in the late 19th century. In recent decades, however, 
the
directions and scales of population movements have been shifting in novel 
ways,
with implications for socio-economic change and the course of the regional
HIV/AIDS epidemic. Political changes in South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia 
and
Zimbabwe, as well as points further north (e.g. Burundi and Congo/Zaire) 
have
led to unprecedented patterns of movement. Large scale infrastructure 
projects
(e.g. the Lesotho Highlands Water Project), the creation of new trans-border
protected areas, and the continuing effects of civil conflicts (including 
the
recent clearance of informal settlements around Harare) have also involved
large-scale population displacement. In South Africa and Botswana in
particular, new migration has given rise to xenophobic anti-immigrant 
reactions
that highlight tensions between nationalism and universalist notions of 
human
rights. The demographics of existing migration channels are also changing;
women are no longer those 'left behind', but are themselves migrating for 
work,
both in the formal and informal economies.

2. Environment. Papers in this theme may offer new perspectives on 
established
topics pertaining to the environment in southern Africa, such as the social
consequences of soil conservation programs and veterinary interventions, the
creation of protected areas, and drought and coping strategies. We also seek
papers related to underresearched aspects of the environment, areas of
innovation in policy and practice, and unprecedented issues. Topics might
include local/indigenous environmental movements, environmental justice,
pollution and toxins, urban environmental issues, efforts to decentralize /
community-based natural resource management, and/or climate change. Papers 
on
other topics related to the environment are welcome.

3. Music. The musical heritage of southern Africa is diverse, rich and 
dynamic.
Recent decades have seen the rise of kwaito and the indigenization and
transformation of hip-hop and house, paralleling the local reconfiguration 
of
jazz, country and gospel musics earlier in the 20th century. The 
unprecedented
popularity of Y-FM has also highlighted the cultural and economic 
significance
of African youth. At the same time, the rise of inexpensive computer-based
recording technology has begun to break the stranglehold that the recording
industry has long held over local artists. We particularly seek papers that
examine music in its social contexts, in relation to political, economic and
cultural change.

We especially encourage participation from professionals, scholars and 
graduate
students in Africa as well as those located in North America and Europe. If 
you
are interested in attending please contact Gary Kynoch (gkynoch at dal.ca) 
by
email. Indicate whether you would like to:

a) present a paper for one of the regular panels
b) serve as a discussant
c) attend the workshop

The deadline for proposals is December 15, 2006. Send proposals to Gary 
Kynoch
(gkynoch at dal.ca).

If you wish to give a paper, your proposal should include a title and one- 
to
two-paragraph abstract. Completed papers, not to exceed forty pages, will be
due March 15, 2007, so that the papers can be pre-circulated on a conference
website ahead of the meeting.

If you wish to serve as a discussant, your proposal should indicate the
areas of
southern African studies on which you are most prepared to comment. Once the
conference participants are selected and organized into panels, each panel 
will
be assigned a discussant. Discussants thoroughly read the pre-circulated 
papers
by the participants in their session, and at the conference give a 10-15 
minute
constructive criticism/comment on the papers individually and collectively.
Discussants also coordinate discussion of the papers amongst those attending
the panel.

- - - Accommodation, Registration and Travel - - -

All participants are housed at the Bishop Booth Conference Center
<http://www.dioceseofvermont.org/Orgs/BishopBooth.html>, which offers
inexpensive accommodation and meals in a beautiful setting. The conference
facility can sleep up to a maximum of 50 people. Single and double rooms are
extremely limited and most rooms sleep 3 people with shared bathrooms.

The estimated costs are as follows:

Rooms (sharing):
Double: $40 per night
Triple: $30 per night

All meals for the weekend (Friday lunch - Sunday breakfast, excluding 
Saturday
night dinner): $50

Registration:
Full time faculty at North American or European institutions: $110
Graduate Students at North American or European institutions: $30
Attendees traveling from Southern Africa are not required to pay 
registration.

Burlington is easily accessible. By car it is 90 minutes from Montreal, 3½
hours
from Boston and approximately five hours from New York. In addition to its
airport Burlington is served by AMTRAK (train) and several bus lines.

 - - - For Further Information - - -

If you would like to receive direct notices about this and future NEWSA
meetings, please subscribe to our e-mail list. To do this, send an email to
majordomo at southwestern.edu. The body of your email should read:

subscribe su-newsa

For the latest updated information on the conference, see the NEWSA web site 
at
http://www.southwestern.edu/~greenmue/newsa-07-program.html

--
Elizabeth Green Musselman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History &
Chair of the Feminist Studies Program
Southwestern University
1001 E. University Ave.
Georgetown, TX 78626 USA
tel: 512.863.1595; fax: 512.863.1535
e-mail: greenmue at southwestern.edu
web: http://www.southwestern.edu/~greenmue/

just published - Nervous Conditions: Science and the Body Politic in Early
Industrial Britain - http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61237