Call for Papers(Re)generation in African Studies: Scholarship, Pedagogy, and Activism
The 11th Annual LSA Conference
June 15-19, 2027
Trinity University (Sabo/Yaba, Lagos) and Zoom
Abstract Deadline: December 1, 2026
Over several decades of scholarly research and intellectual activism, different generations of scholars and practitioners, representing diverse chronological eras, pose new questions about how to conduct and disseminate research, what constitutes knowledge, how to frame research problems, or even who should be part of knowledge and scholarly creative activities. These questions respond to different intellectual climates, broaden the field of engagement in African studies, and redefine scholarship, pedagogy, and intellectual activism.
How do different moments generate “new” and “revolutionary” questions and practices that constantly reimagine the field of African studies? Over time, “new” and “revolutionary” questions and practices of a generation become stale and anachronistic, either because their exponents and the ideas they advocated for have refused to evolve with the tide of time, or they became self-absorbed and rigid. New cycles of (re)generation emerge only to be supplanted or sidelined by another wave of people and ideas, challenging the status quo.
Conversations about cost, location, theme, and composition of academic associations and their gatherings and the notion of crisis in different fields, which gave birth to new professional networks, are part of this long-standing tradition of querying dominant wisdom and practices of the past and the present. Such questions are asked again by a newer generation of scholars and practitioners who want changes, whether radical or subtle, fast or slow.
We invite participants to reflect on what (re)generation means in the diverse and diversely located fields of African studies. We encourage presentations that reflect on how shifting questions and practices (or epistemological, pedagogical, ideological crises) serve as a force of (re)generation in African studies. We welcome submissions that grapple with (re)generation as the propellant of new ways of knowing, of intellectual activism, and of a new beginning, that draws inspiration from the old or the past. What makes (re)generation fascinating is not just the reference to chronological age and generational difference among scholars and activists, all of which shape reception towards technology and other kinds of adoption that frames research and intellectual culture, but because it could be elusive. The concept of (re)generation organically builds new perspectives and protocol; it is regenerative because it does all these through a rebirth or redirection of the same norms it critiques.
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/3J59nMciyLw5vwS79
International participants: https://forms.gle/ActFkZboRpnYZEb77
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
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2026. Notification of acceptance of abstracts on January 1, 2027. Payment Deadline: February 1, 2027
Registration Fee:
Local (Nigeria-based academics and practitioners) (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: Info@lagosstudies.org, lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/431357430001497
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lagos-studies-association/?viewAsMember=true
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies
Website: Lagosstudies.org