Call for Papers

The State of African Studies in the 21st Century: The Lagos Studies Association@10

The 10th Annual LSA Conference

June 16-20, 2026 (Hybrid: Lagos/Zoom)

Abstract Deadline: December 1, 2025

When Abosede George, Saheed Aderinto, and Ademide Adelusi-Adeluyi organized the first LSA Conference in 2016, little did they or any of the participants know it would, within a decade, become one of the biggest African studies conferences in the world. How a modest 9-panel conference in 2016 became a massive 255 in 2025 underscores the enormous investment and commitment of scholars and practitioners from across the world.

While the Conference has significantly expanded in ten years, the LSA has maintained a consistent intellectual vision. Through its annual Conference, the LSA remains committed to building and sustaining a community of scholars and practitioners dedicated to the best practices in intellectual community building, and knowledge production and dissemination.

As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the LSA, we call for a critical assessment of the state of African studies in the 21st century. In addition to emerging directions in the subfields, we want to reflect on major thematic matters, including but not limited to academic publishing, academic freedom, Artificial Intelligence, COVID-19 pandemic, and political developments across the world that continue to shape what constitutes knowledge, and how scholars research and teach Africa.

What are or should be the new directions in African studies? How best should scholars and practitioners prepare or position themselves for these changes? How are developments, epistemic and otherwise, in one field of African studies influencing others, and vice versa. What are the limits of growth, and how do we assess the ambivalent consequences of transformations in our various disciplines?

Submission Rules

Individual Submission: Individual proposals should include a 250-word abstract, a short bio, and the email and phone contacts of presenters. Please do not submit more than one abstract. Abstracts cannot have more than two presenters. You cannot present more than one paper, either solo or joint.

Submit your abstract here:

Local participants/Nigeria-based: https://forms.gle/Sv2Rn6iD5NWrJLty9

International participants: https://forms.gle/Wc4LnQfrow6kNH5k7

 Panel Submission: Panel, roundtable, and workshop proposals should comprise a 250-word summary, and the email and phone contacts of all panelists. Please email panel proposals to LSA at lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com, latest December 1, 2025

  Submission Deadline: December 1, 2025. Notification of acceptance of abstracts on January 1, 2026. Payment Deadline: February 1, 2026

  Registration Fee:

Local (Nigeria-based) (N10,000)

International (Full-time academics and practitioners) ($150)

International Graduate Students ($100)

 Registration fee is required, whether presenting physically or virtually. The registration fee covers 15 full meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) throughout the five-day conference. Everyone listed on abstracts must pre-register by paying the registration fee after acceptance of an abstract.

 If you have any questions about the conference, contact LSA at:

 Email Address: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com   

Website: Lagosstudies.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lagos-studies-association/?viewAsMember=true

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/431357430001497 

Call for Panelists

1) Diaspora, Nativeness, and the Politics of Place in African Studies https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Proposed_Panel__LSA2026_OluwasanmiFagbadebo-1.docx

2) Art, Ecology, and Sustainable Futures in African Studies https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ajayi-Olayemi-LSA-2026-Panel-Proposal-1.doc

3)Rewriting Women, Rewriting Nations: The Trajectory of African Feminist Thought https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Omoh.docx

4) Rethinking Chaos: Mapping New Terrains in Conflict Studies in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Rethinking-Chaos.docx

5) Of Streets and Streeters: New Methods and Theories in Researching African Urban Spaces https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Wright-2mtj.docx

6) Counter-Stories/Maps of Epidemics and Pandemics in African Societies https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/LSA2026_Counterstories_Epidemics_PanelSession_OSAYOMI.docx

7) Decoding Urban Africa through Informal Spaces https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademowo1.docx

8) From the Heroes of Newspaper Stands to the Influencers of Social Media: Bodies https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademowo2-txwl.docx

9) Urban Imaginaries and Cultural Expressions: Insights from the Works of Olatunde Bayo Lawuyi https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademowo3-f5a8.doc

10) Technology and the Future of Art Education in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ajayi2.doc

11)  Grading Power: The Politics of Royal and Kingship Classification in Yorubaland https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ambali.doc

12) General Studies and the Decolonization of Knowledge https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Agidigbo-l6zn.docx

13) Hashtag Protests as Heritage https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Olukayode-g6b7.docx

14) The Power of Names: Naming, Renaming, and African Identity https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Amoo2.docx

15) Writing the City: Linguistic Landscapes and the Politics of Representation https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Amoo.docx

16) Nature and the city - wildlife, natural environments and human spaces https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Owen.docx

17) Competitive Victimhood and Counter-Narratives of Victimhood https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/LSA-2026-2.docx

18) Beyond the Canon: Critical Re/Assessment of Chimamanda Adichie’s Oeuvre https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/LSA-2026-Panel-on-Adichie-ddxn.docx

19) Science and the Humanities in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/corrected-version.docx

20) Minorities and the Struggle for State-building in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Mathew.docx

21) Bodies/Buildings: Institutions, Memories, and Power in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Isiani-zlpn.docx

22) Performing Decoloniality, (Re) staging the Body https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Falade.docx

23) Staging Earth: People, Practice and African Performance of Eco-sustainability in the 21st Century https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Uzoji.docx

24) More than Hustle and Hustlers: Literary, Intellectual, and Creative Lives in Lagos https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/More-than-Hustle.docx

25) Internal Displacement in Africa: Past, Present, and Future https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Eweka.docx

26) Bride Price and the Shifting Landscape of Tradition in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Daniels.docx

27) Biafra Reimagined: Overlooked Histories, New Voices, Evolving Meanings https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Akinniyi.docx

28) Architecture During War, Violence, and Conflict Periods in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Isiani-fb37.docx

29) Digitality, Global Shifts, and the African Studies Agenda in the 21st Century https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Digitality-panel.docx

30) Technology, Borders, and Migration in Africa: Security, Sovereignty, and Human Mobility https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/IJAM1.docx

31)  The Changing Contours of Trafficking and Transnational Organised Crime in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/IJAM2.docx

32) From Open Access to Artificial Intelligence (AI) Algorithmic Control https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Adebayo1.docx

33) Platforms and Cultural Production in Africa: Poetry, Music, and Film https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Aniemeka.docx

34) Bilingualism, Biliteracy, and Translanguaging for Functional Education https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/AbdulRahman.docx

35) African History and the Questions of Technology https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Eze.docx

36) Rethinking African Womanhood in the Digital Era https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Bamidele-Nelly.docx

37) Generative AI and the Future of Applied Linguistics https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ajadi.docx

38) Animal History in African History https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Onike.docx

39) Ethnographies of Health https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Isiani2.docx

40) Histories and Historicity: Retelling the future from the past in 21st Century African Literature, Film and Theatre https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ifatimehin.docx

41) Detty December: Spectacle and the Political Economy of Leisure in Lagos https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Detty-December.docx

42) New Directions in Benin Studies https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ebuka-Onuoha.docx

43) Caring Masculinities in Africa: Beyond Western-Centered Research and Approach https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Manetta-gbwf.docx

44) Decoloniality and Public-School Curriculum in Nigeria https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Decoloniality.docx

45) Celebrity Environmentalism: Persons, Places and Animals in African Ecological Narratives https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/OnanugaTitus.docx

46) Yorubanising Scientific Knowledge https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Yoruba-Science.docx

47) Screening the Capitalocene: African Cinema and the Politics of Environmental (In)justice https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ugwanyi.docx

48) Sustainability: Achieving the Global Goals and the Future of African Education https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ofodu-meyb.docx

49) Research During COVID-19 https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Adenekan-j2hb.docx

50) Archaeology, Heritage, and the Creative Economy in Nigeria https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Mangut.docx

51) Nigerian Theatre, Drama and Film Beyond the Impact of Literature https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademiju-Bepo-xgg3.docx

52) Exploring ‘non-religion’ in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Lureau.docx

53) Health Humanities as a Co-traveller of/in Health Sciences https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Modasola.docx

54) African Textiles and Fashion in Global Modernity: Perspectives from the 21st Century https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Olisama-Osuporu-r6sj.docx

55) Staging Identity: Gender, Social Media and Performance Spaces in 21st Century Africa and Beyond https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Onyemuchara.docx

56) African Oral Art Epistemologies: Indigenous Knowledge, Memory, and Identities https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Al-Amin2.docx

57) New Approaches to Infrastructure Studies in Africa: Interdisciplinary Perspectives https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Adeyemi-ft48.docx