14th ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOUTHEAST AFRICAN LANGUAGE
AND LITERATURE FORUM (SEALLF) AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, ATHENS, GA.
The 14th annual meeting of the Southeast African Languages and Literatures Forum (SEALLF) is scheduled for September 27-28, 2024, at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens.
SEALLF is a group of scholars whose work focuses on studying African language and literature, language pedagogy, linguistics, culture, and African language policy.
CALL FOR PAPERS SEALLF 2024
Theme: African Languages, Literatures and Community Building in the Digital Era.
The conference organizers invite individual papers and panels that examine the roles of African languages, cultures, and literatures both as mediums as well as imprints of community building among African people inside and out of the continent. We approach community building as bringing people together and creating a sense of belonging from cultural, geographical, historical, and political perspectives. From 2021, we saw a major shift in communication among community members, schools, businesses etc.; this trend is going to continue. As the world becomes increasingly digital, we define community broadly to include online communities. We direct our attention to ways in which African societies have managed to foster strong communities in various eras of their existence. By community building we also mean the physical actions, traditions, customs, cultural norms, and languages of African people across local, national, continental, as well as temporal contexts; but also, their virtual communities as mediated by the internet and internet technology, both of which have increasingly played part in bringing African peoples in contact with other nationalities, birthing new communities wherever they reside. At this conference, we hope to explore how both physical and virtual African communities have thrived and/or struggled to maintain a sense of connectedness; how African literature illustrates creating, strengthening, maintaining, and even challenging aspects of community building. Furthermore, we wish to explore how African languages have been affected by the evolving aspects of communities locally and globally. What, if any, can the world learn from Africans within the continent and those in the diaspora about community building and vice versa. Is it time for new ways of communicating, learning, reading, and translating to thrive and have a sense of belonging in today’s digital era? What would our African ancestors say about how we live today? Would we be guilty of living in such ways that welcome and allow others to feel accepted and belonging? This conference, we hope, will be an opportunity to think seriously about the centrality of community building and the primacy of African languages and literatures as two important vehicles for developing and imagining a connected Africa historically, contemporarily, and futuristically.
By foregrounding community building in African language studies, literatures, and cultural studies, we hope to foster and create space for reflection regarding the place of language and literature as mediums that illustrate community building not only historically, but more importantly contemporary African identity in the global age. We welcome theoretical and/or practical approaches to the study of African languages and literatures around community building. We invite papers and panels addressing any related topics, especially:
● Language and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
● Language and literary creativity
● Language and Community
● Language, literature, and pedagogy
● Language and recreation
● Social media and community building
● Language, literature, and health
● African languages, literatures, and the Covid-19 pandemic
● African language policy and emerging economies
● African languages, cultural heritage, and community well-being
● African culture and community building
● World languages and the global village
● African languages, literatures, and identity crisis
● African languages, literatures, and violence in K-12 US schools
● African languages, cultures, mental health, and black lives matter
● African languages and the “All Lives Matter” movement
Abstracts/Panel Proposals:
Deadline for conference paper/panel submission: Friday, June 28th, 2024.
Please send proposals of 200 words maximum to ugaseallf@gmail.com. Proposals should include the presenter’s full name, institution, contact email, paper topic, and abstract. If submitting a panel proposal, please have the panel chair submit all the individual paper proposals in one email to the organizing committee. Acceptance of abstracts will be sent out on a rolling basis but not later than Friday, July 26th, 2024. The first 15 responses received by the June 30th deadline are guaranteed paid accommodation.
More information about the conference:
It is with great pleasure that the Seallf leadership shares the exciting details of the upcoming conference, including the captivating theme, location, important dates, and comfortable accommodation. Click here for details on the:
As our annual conference draws near, the organizing team would like to provide you with important updates to ensure everyone is well-prepared for the event. Please pay attention to the following announcements.
1. Fee Breakdown- SEALLF 2024: Use the following categories to know the appropriate amount for you.
MEMBERSHIP: Use the categories:
Regular membership: $30 , Students: $15 , Students in Africa and non-western countries: $10
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION: Use the categories below:
For members in western countries $30 (pay a total of $80- includes membership)
For members-students in western countries $25 (pay a total of $40 - includes membership)
For members-students in Africa and non-western countries $10 (pay $20 includes membership)
If you are not a member, you are welcome to pay the same amount in the above categories to become a member instantly. If you don’t wish to become a member but want to participate in this conference, use the following categories:
Non-members: $100 (in western countries)
Non-member from Africa: $60
Non-member student in western countries: $50
Non-member student in Africa and non-western countries $30 .
2. ACCOMMODATIONS
For this conference, we will be staying at the Holiday Inn Express, downtown Athens. See the link below. Codes will be sent out to participants to get a special rate when reserving. Please, send a message to Dr. Maganda if you will be paying for accommodations through your institution. This will help the LOC to plan accordingly.
Address of Hotel:
513 West Broad Street Athens, Georgia 30601 United States
Link to the Hotel:
Holiday Inn Express in Athens, Georgia