African Decolonization Conference

Perspectives on African Decolonization:
African Intellectuals and Decolonization

Ohio University -----------------------------------------
Athens, OH
2-4 October 2008

In 1958, Guinea, under Ahmed Sékou Touré, chose political independence over continued association with France. Focusing on African intellectuals and decolonization will allow for an interrogation of all three concepts as well as an opportunity to examine the roles intellectuals have played and continue to play in contemporary African efforts at liberation from economic neo-colonialism. This conference will also provide an opportunity to highlight the cutting edge work of contemporary African philosophers, the heritors of the intellectual traditions established by the generations who fought for the liberation of Africa.

Featured speakers include:
Oyeronke Oyewumi Department of Sociology State University of New York at Stony Brook The title of her keynote address is: "Decolonizing the Intellectual and the Quotidaian: African Intellectuals in the PostColonial Moment"
Elizabeth Schmidt Department of History Loyola College in Baltimore
Tsenay Serequeberhan Department of Philosophy Morgan State University

Selected papers will be published in an edited collection of essays to commemorate these significant moments in African history and to reflect upon the legacies of fifty years of “independence” in Africa.

Sponsored by: Center for African Studies and History Department with funds from 1804

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