CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: People of the Global “Backyard”: Africans and the Quest for Identity in the Twenty-First Century

KUJUA, the Journal of the African Studies Students’ Association (Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan) is calling for abstract for the 1st edition of its online academic journal. 

The African Studies Students’ Association invites abstracts for the maiden edition of its journal KUJUA. Abstracts for already completed papers or papers being written are to engage the topic: People of the Global “Backyard”: Africans and the Quest for Identity in the Twenty-First Century.

The concept of the “backyard” as here used, interrogates the inefficiencies of the traditional and euphemistic terms used to describe Africa and the rest of the developing world. These terms such as periphery and third world often cast the African experience as a foil to Western experiences, yet this is not necessarily true. Many Africans lead their lives in complete disregard of Western ideals, they take what the modern world gives them, and then thrust upon these uniquely African interpretations. As such, the “backyard” becomes not just a place of lack, but also an extremely creative plane, intentionally demarcated and protective of the African from the caprices of globalization. As a place of both lack and protection, the “backyard”, like Africa itself is self-contradictory and it is this very dual nature that should inform our enquiry into it.   

Submitted abstracts should not exceed two hundred and fifty (250) words.

Preferred Areas of Research Include: African Diaspora Studies, Cultural and Media Studies, African Religious Studies, Gender Studies, Transformation Studies in Africa, Literature-in-English and Literary Studies, African History, Visual Art, Anthropology and Archaeology, Sociology, Human Geography, Migration Studies, Political Science and African Religious Studies.

Deadline for abstract submission: December 15, 2019

Deadline for paper submission: January 30, 2020

Abstracts should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For Enquiries call Ugochukwu on 07014830818 or Segun on 07069569920