CALL FOR PAPERS
The 11th Annual Africa Conference
Welcome to the homepage of the Annual Africa Conference at Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee. Each year the department hosts academics, independent scholars, policymakers, professionals, and graduate students in an international conference on various themes on African and Diasporan African history and related subjects. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit abstracts relevant to the theme of this years's conference.
Theme for the 2025 Conference
Belief Systems and the Black Experience: Exploring Religion and Spirituality in African and African Diasporan Cultures
Conference Dates: April 3-4, 2025
Format: In-person
Religion, spiritualism, and other forms of faith expression play a significant role in shaping and defining societal and cultural identities. Christianity and Islam, in their varied denominations and sectarian units, are the dominant religions in Africa. However, indigenous or traditional religious practices continue to exist, although they are sidetracked to the margins.
In the diasporan cultures of the Americas, Christianity, and to some extent, Islam, have also played dominant roles in Black people's religious and spiritual spaces. But in the Caribbean and Latin America, and some parts of the United States, African spiritual traditions are integrated into Catholicism and other faiths, creating unique syncretic religions such as Santería, Candomblé, and Voodoo.
Religion has not only shaped Black cultural identity but has also played a pivotal role in cultural preservation, resilience, and solidarity among people of African descent in their pursuit of liberation and justice. Faith-based organizations served as a foundation for spiritual activism and community building during both the civil rights movement and the anti-colonial liberation struggles across Africa and the African Diaspora. The intersection of faith and politics cultivated a strong sense of collective identity, empowering communities to confront systemic oppression and advocate for social justice and equality.
The theme of the 2025 conference provides an opportunity for critical dialogue, in broad terms, on the multifaceted dimensions of religion, religious beliefs, and spirituality in the context of Black culture, highlighting not only spiritual scopes, but how they intersect with historical and contemporary cultural, social, economic and political realities. Sub-themes and potential topics around which the conference is organized may include but are not limited to the following:
· Mythology and religion
· Spiritual expressions: art, rituals, music, dance, and ceremonies
· Religions and interfaith coalitions
· Indigenous or African traditional religions and belief systems
· Religious syncretic practices in the Diaspora
· Slavery and religion in antebellum South
· Histories of religions in Africa and the Diaspora
· Spiritual practices in pre-colonial Africa
· Impact of Arab and European conquests on African spiritual traditions
· Religion, politics, governance, and social justice
· Fundamentalism, extremism, and religious conflicts
· Pentecostalism in Africa and the Diaspora
· “Reverse” evangelism: African immigrant churches in the Diaspora
· Religion, health, and well-being
· Traditional healing practices, modern medicine, mental health, and spiritual well-being
· Religion, Black struggle, resistance, and empowerment
· The civil rights struggle in America and the Black church
· Spiritual activism, community building, and cultural identity in the Black freedom struggle
· Liberation theology, religion, and social justice
· Islam and Islamic culture in Africa
· Islam and Black Muslims in America
· Race, gender, sexuality, and religion
· Traditional gender norms and women’s roles
· LGBTQ+ identities and experiences in Black faith communities
· Globalization, mass media, digital media, social media, and religion
· Radical Islam and terrorism in Africa
· African independent churches in colonial Africa
· Past and present religious leaders
· Gospel music and popular culture
· Orthodox Christianity: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Coptic Church, etc.
· Religion and science and technology
· Religion and legal frameworks: Sharia, etc.
· Minority religions in Africa: Christian Science, Hare Krishna, Guru Maharaj, etc.
· Religion, governance, the state, and civil society
· Religious landmarks, sacred sites, and pilgrimages
· Comparative studies of belief systems
· Contemporary Black religious movements, social issues, and future direction of Black spiritual empowerment
Submission Guidelines
Each prospective presenter should electronically submit an abstract/panel proposal of no more than 500 words by Feb. 28, 2025. Abstracts prepared as Microsoft Word document should include the following information:
1. Presenter’s first and last (surname) name
2. Title of paper
3. Institutional affiliation of each presenter
4. Contact information (mail address, phone number, and email address).
Abstracts should be sent to tsuafricaconference@tnstate.edu or submitted through the Conference website. Note that the submission of an abstract automatically grants conference organizers the right to publish it in the conference program and website.
Note that the submission of an abstract automatically grants conference organizers the right to publish it in the conference program and website.
Registration
Mandatory non-refundable registration fees for the conference are:
Regular: $100 by Feb. 28, 2025; late: $150 by Mar. 15, 2025
Graduate Students: $50 by Feb. 28, 2025; late: $75 by Mar. 15, 2025
REGISTER HERE
Follow the instructions on the link to make your payment.
Conference Program
TBA
Conveners
Dr. Adebayo Oyebade,
Professor of History & Department Chair
aoyebade@tnstate.edu
Dr. Gashawbeza Bekele, Professor of Geography
gbekele@tnstate.edu
Conference Venue
Tenneessee State University
Avon Williams Campus
330 10th Avenue North
Nashville, TN
37203
Hotel Accomodation
Rooms have been reserved at a discounted rate for conference participants at Quality Suits Nashville Airport, 2615 Elm Hill Pk., Nashville, TN 37214. Click here for hotel booking.
Publication of Selected Papers
Conference papers will be eligible for publication in the bi-annual international academic journal, Global Africa: Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies. All submitted articles are subject to peer review.
Questions
Please, direct all questions to tsuafricaconference@tnstate.edu