First African and African American Studies Conference: "African Identities in the Age of Obama"

To provide a critical forum for the continued examination of African identities, the African and African American Studies program at George Mason University will host a multidisciplinary conference titled "African Identities in the Age of Obama."

On January 20, 2009, the first African-American president Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as the President of the United States of America.

His inauguration as the 44th president reminds us that beliefs about persons of African ancestry based on their phenotypical appearance are precarious at best.

We should not assume, for example, that the black skin of the newly-elected leader of the United States signifies a descendant of an American slave.

Instead, President Obama's rise to power alerts us, once again, to the complexity of African identities in the modern era, particularly now that the 21st century is being heralded as the "post race" era.

While African Americans, African immigrants, Caribbean immigrants, Afro-Latino immigrants, and Afro-European immigrants may have black skin, their cultural perspectives, historical experiences, and evolving identities should suggest different conceptions of "Africanness."

The "African Identities in the Age of Obama" conference will be a meeting of scholars and students held on October 8-10, 2009, on the Fairfax campus.

The objective of this conference is to create opportunities to explore the complex ways in which African identities are constructed, expressed, and represented.

AAAS seeks a broad range of papers representing diverse methodological approaches.

Papers from scholars in the fields of African, African American and African Diaspora studies are encouraged. Contributions that engage critically with notions of African identity in the age of Obama are especially welcome.  

The deadline for proposal submissions was July 5th, 2009. Proposals are no longer being accepted.