File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2001/postcolonial.0112, message 110


Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 00:14:46 -0500
From: Daniel Mengara <mengarad-AT-mail.montclair.edu>
Subject: Call for Papers: Internalist vs. Externalist Interpretations of



--Boundary_(ID_4kRId1iFv2vk3HxvdPW3Tw)

  SORAC 2002: CALL FOR PAPERS

"INTERNALIST vs. EXTERNALIST INTERPRETATIONS OF AFRICAN HISTORY & CULTURE"

OCTOBER 17, 18 & 19, 2002

Deadline: Abstracts must be submitted by May 15, 2002.
Place: Montclair State University, New Jersey

Keynote Speakers

- Professor Ali Mazrui, Binghamton University
- Professor George Ayittey, American University

Note: For those with email systems that cannot read HTML, please visit 
our conference page at:

  http://picard.montclair.edu/~sorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/

Internalist vs. Externalist Interpretations of African History and Culture
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SORAC 2002 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
CALL FOR PAPERS

Date: October 17, 18 and 19, 2002
Deadline: Abstracts must be submitted by May 15, 2002.
Place: Montclair State University, New Jersey

Shorcuts

    * Keynote speakers
      <http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#Keynote>

    * Abstract Submission Procedure & Requirements
      <http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#Abstract>

    * Registration Deadline & Procedure
      <http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#Registration>

    * Registration Form
      <http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#FORM>

    * Directions & Accommodations
      <http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#Accommodations>

    * Contacts
      <http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#CONTACTS>


Keynote Speakers

    * Professor Ali Mazrui, Binghamton University
    * Professor George Ayittey, American University

In the past twenty years or so since the 1980's, two schools of 
Africanist scholarship have slowly developed that, today, are dividing 
scholars and intellectuals of African descent all over the world.

The first school, that of the externalists, has continually blamed the 
general debacle of Africa and the people of African descent on the West. 
In Africa, this group has argued that Africa's socio-cultural, economic 
and political-institutional problems can be directly linked and 
attributed to the past and current actions--some overt, others 
hidden--of the West, actions that have had long-lasting and debilitating 
effects on the continent. In the diaspora, this group has seen the White 
man and his explicit and/or insidious racism as the root cause not only 
of African people's enslavement, but also of their dehumanization and 
exclusion at the cultural, economic and political levels.

However, due to a general disillusionment that has left many 
disappointed at African leadership and its corrupt ways, a new school, 
that of the Internalists, has gradually voiced its opposition to a view 
that sees only external forces behind all the problematic issues facing 
African people around the world today. In Africa, this school has argued 
that the causes of Africa's challenges at the cultural, economic and 
political levels are to be found in Africa itself, not in the West. 
Their argument is that the historically-negative role that the West 
played in Africa is not sufficient to explain the corruption, civil wars 
and power struggles that are going on in Africa today because of African 
peoples' own actions and greed. In the diaspora, this group argues that 
Africans alone must be held responsible for the slave trade because they 
freely sold their own into slavery. The group also opposes Reparations 
claims and Affirmative Action policies in the US, and suggests that 
African people should start to acknowledge their own historical and 
contemporary failures and wake up to the multifarious challenges of the 
third millennium. 

SORAC calls for papers in all fields of African and related studies 
(history, anthropology, literature, language, culture, sociology, 
politics, gender, black studies, religion, etc. Cross-cultural and 
comparative approaches are also welcome) that would critically look at 
the history of Africa and its diaspora with a view to shedding light on 
either one of these positions. All periods of African and diasporic 
histories and their interactions with the outside world (ancient, 
precolonial, colonial, post-independence, etc.) may be explored. It will 
also be good for speakers to offer possible solutions to the various 
issues raised.

Deadline for Receipt of Abstracts:        

If you propose to give a paper, we must receive your abstract by May 15, 
2002.    

Abstract   Requirements:

Submit a 300-500 words abstract summarizing the content of your 
presentation. Acceptance notices will be sent out to submitters as 
abstracts are received. Speakers will be given 30 minutes, including 
question time, for their talks. 

- Include your contact information and affiliation (address, title, 
university or institution, phone, fax, email, etc.)

- Acceptance notices will be sent out to submitters as abstracts are 
received.

Note: We usually seek to publish papers presented at our conferences 
either in our own SORAC Journal of African Studies , or in a collective, 
edited book. If your paper is ready at the time of the conference, 
please bring it with you on a computer disk. Provide three (3) copies of 
your paper alongside your disk. Follow the MLA guidelines for your 
paper. Notes must be endnotes, and paper must include a section of Works 
Cited.

Abstracts May Be Submitted By:

E-mail: mengarad-AT-mail.montclair.edu - Post mail: in the form of both a 
computer disk and a hard copy (Microsoft word or WordPerfect). If 
sending abstract by email, do not send email attachments as we will not 
open these (danger of viruses). Simply cut and paste your text in your 
email. Mail your abstract to: Dr. Daniel Mengara, Executive Director 
SORAC, French Department, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, 
New Jersey 07043 (USA). Check our Web site for updates: 
http://chss2.montclair.edu/sorac . If mailing your abstract, please be 
sure to include a self-addressed envelope with appropriate postage.   
Abstracts submitted without a self-addressed (stamped) envelope will not 
be considered (except when mailed from outside the US.)

Registration Fee & Procedure:

For planning purposes we ask that you (accepted speakers or attendants) 
pre-register (early) for the conference (and banquet) by returning the 
form on the reverse of this flyer, along with the registration fee, by 
September 15, 2002.   Mail both to: The Institute for the Humanities, 
Montclair State University, Room 101 Dickson Hall, Upper Montclair, New 
Jersey 07043.   The registration fee for this conference is US$75.00 for 
Non-SORAC members and US$65.00 for current SORAC members . The fee 
includes the banquet dinner with the guest speakers and attendance at 
all of the conference sessions.   The registration fee for students , 
which does NOT include the banquet is US$35.00. Make checks or money 
orders (U.S. or Canadian) payable to SORAC/MSU.  If you are coming from 
abroad, please pay by check drawn on a U.S. bank or by international 
money order.
See the registration form 
<http://picard.montclair.edu/%7Esorac/events/conferences/upcoming/sorac2002/#FORM> 


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