Call for Papers

The 9th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association

June 17-21, 2025

 Theme

Continuities and Discontinuities in African Studies

Format

Hybrid (In person, University of Lagos and Zoom)

Date

June 17-21, 2025

Abstract Deadline

December 1, 2024

Across global African studies, from the social sciences to the humanities, scholars, writers, artists, and commentators, among other knowledge producers have been preoccupied with questions of continuities and discontinuities in the societies they study and in their own disciplines. To understand what changed and what did not about a particular topic, society, and idea is to come to terms with major shifts in how communities and people understand the complexities of their world. From science to politics, from technology to art, major changes have always been shaped by a strong understanding of what the past gave, what the present holds, and what the future promises.

Continuities and discontinuities are relative. What constitutes a change in a society is always in a state of flux. This is because the idea of change is often based on competing interpretations by people occupying different strata within a society and influenced by varying ideologies and have a diverse emotive connection to the subject and communities. Also, what constitutes change is shaped by how events of the past continue to resurface at major turning points. Continuities and discontinuities are not rigid binaries, but shades and iterations of change. Consequently, the overlapping realities of continuities and discontinuities then offer more than an avenue to engage progress and regression, but also to reflect on the future.

For the 9th edition of its annual conference, the LSA welcomes submissions that offer new ways of thinking about continuities and discontinuities in African studies. What practices, ideologies, and power regimes shape how ideas about continuities and discontinuities are framed? What exactly should be the parameters for measuring transformation?

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/wx25exmy9dthmvi46

International participants: https://forms.gle/zgn1XxcLakfFEBfa7 

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, 2024. Notification of acceptance of abstracts by January 1, 2025. Payment Deadline: February 1.

Registration Fee:

Local (Nigeria-based) (N10,000)

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

International Graduate Students ($100)

The registration fee covers nine full meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) throughout the 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/205111409881162/

Call for Panelists

You may submit your abstracts to the general pool or any of the organized panels:

1) Bridging the Past and the Future: African Information Science in Transition: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Adebayo-dpj7.docx

2) Lagos Na Wa, I Swear: Connecting the Auto/Ethnographies of Lagos Peculiar Memories, Tales and Conjectures as In/tangible Heritage: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademowo.docx

3)  From Beats to Activism: Engaging the Transformative Power of Fuji Music in Eco-political and Social Reorientation: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademowo2.docx

4) Epistemicide, African Narratives of Struggle and the Question of Knowledge and Identity in the Works of Ayotunde Ishola Bewaji: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademowo3.docx

5) Ololade Asake: The ''Lungu Boy'' Album: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Folajimi.docx

6) Sákárà Music Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ogunnaike.docx

7) Being neither here nor there: Continuity and Discontinuity in Wole Soyinka’s Works: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ojoniyi.docx

8) Navigating Identities: Migration, Belonging, and Identity Formation: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Oluwasanmi.docx

9) Rethinking African Popular Music: A Critical Celebration of the 35th Anniversary of Christopher Waterman’s  Jùjú: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Popoola.docx

10) Science, Technology, and Indigenous Knowledge in Africa since the Precolonial Period: Engaging the Scholarship of Gloria Emeagwali: https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Adebayo-and-Okpalaeke.docx

11)  Love in the Time of Likes: Dating and Matchmaking in Nigeria Digital Media https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Onanuga.docx

12) Everything is Imagined: Continuity and Discontinuity in Historical Nollywood Films https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Soetan.docx

13) “The Age of Concrete”: Rethinking Colonial and Transnational Architecture and Spatial Transformation in the Global South https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Isiani.docx

14) Of Streets and Streeters: Bodies, Expressions, and Identities in African Urban Space https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Wright.docx

15) Doing History with Films: Nollywood, History and Cinematic Truth https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Olaiya-and-Afolayan.docx

16) New Directions in African Dramatic Expressions: Discontinuities and Continuities https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Olukayode.docx

17) Is Theater Completely Dead in Africa? Celebrating 25 Years of Karin Barber’s The Generation of Plays https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Olokodana-James-sd2n.docx

18) Women and Corruption in Africa’s Politics https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Omotoso.docx

19) Gender and the Patriarchy in Nollywood Films

https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Taiwo.docx

20) Exploring the Impact of Platformization Across Sectors: Labour, Cultural Production and Economic Transformations https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Etemah.docx

21) Lagos as a Text in African Literature and Popular Media https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ugor.docx  

22) Lionheart’s Disqualification: The English Language, and (Dis)belonging in the Postcolonies https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Aboh.docx

23) Bridging the Gap: Technology, Indigenous Knowledge and the Transformation of Education in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Omordion.docx

24) Exploring Continuities and Discontinuities in African Visual Arts, Education, and Cultural Histories https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ajayi-9as6.docx

25) Journey through time: The evolution of women in the Nigerian film industries https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Anulika.docx

26) GenZee Culture: Disruptive Creativity, Sex, Music/Gaming, Mental Health, and Social Media (DC-SMMS) https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Agidigbo.docx

27) Indigenous Knowledge: Ecology, Culture and Politics of Resistance in Colonial Africa Indigenous Knowledge: Ecology, Culture and Politics of Resistance in Colonial Africa

28) Aquatic Africa: Water and Marine Life in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Yusuff.docx

29)  Uncovering Hidden Histories: Continuities and Discontinuities in African Historiography https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Audu.docx

30) AI, Folklore and Cultural Sustainability: Leveraging African Indigenous Knowledge Systems https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Oyigbo.docx

31) Identity and Conflict: Exploring the Nexus Between Intergroup Relations and Violence in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Olusanjo.docx

32) Women's Performance Art as Cultural Expression in Africa: Learning from the Past, Shaping the Present, and Defining the Future https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Epochi-Olise.docx

33) Violence in Africa: Political Legacies and Modern Challenges in Governance https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Giwa.docx

34) Nollywood Film Remakes: Digital, Thematic, and Narrative (Dis)Continuities https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Okwuowulu.docx

35) GenZee Culture: Disruptive Creativity, Sex, Music/Gaming, Mental Health, and Social Media (DC-SMMS) https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Agidigbo-wl97.docx

36) Triangulation: Language, Orature, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in the Works of Akintunde Akinyemi https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Soetan2.pdf

37) Mobility in African Cultural Productions: Navigating Dis/Continuities and Exploring Transnational Networks https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ogunmuko.docx

38) Grieving Suicide, Murder, and Lost Bodies in Africa https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ekeh.docx

39) When two economies co-exist: The creative economy and the creator economy—Nollywood and that other new Nollywood https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ekwuazi.docx

40) Multinational Corporations and the Economy of Lagos State: The History, The Challenges, and the Changing Patterns https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Boge.docx

41) China's Strategic Partnership with Nigeria: Bridging Economies and Engagement in Resource Environment Conflict https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Orji-99a2.docx

42) Teaching by Design Panel: The Role of Educators in Shaping African Education https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Amao-Taiwo.docx

43) ‘Japa’ and ‘Japada’: Migration and Return in African Contexts https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Isa-k6hg.docx

44) Science and the Humanities in Africa: Interdisciplinary Perspectives https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Omilani-nznm.doc

45) Dance and African Performances in the 21st Century: Continuities and Discontinuities https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Rasaki.docx

46) Riding on the Shoulders of ‘Giants’: Critical Engagements on the Dramaturgy of Emergent Nigerian Playwrights https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Okorie.doc

47) Historical Legacies in Kannywood: Dis/Continuities https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Banjo.docx

48) African Extractive Industries: Colonial Legacies, Current Challenges and Future Directions https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Okpalaeke.docx

49) Critics, the Drama of the Post-Osofisan Generation and the NLNG Dramaturgy: Continuities and Discontinuities https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ademiju-Bepo.docx

50)  African Migration Dynamics and Visa Policy Regimes. The Case of Nigeria https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Orji2.docx

51) Beyond Physical Infrastructure: The Intangibles of China-Africa Relations https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Nomeh.docx

52) Reshaping the Narratives: African Women’s Feminist Philosophy https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ipadeola1.docx

53)  African Philosophy Through the World-Sense of African Women https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Gama.docx

54) “Free Cesarean Sections in Nigeria”?! Critical Conversations on Maternal Health Approaches https://www.lagosstudies.org/s/Ajayi-Lowo.docx