The Sixth International Congress of African and African Diaspora Studies (ICAADS)
Why: To reinvigorate the extraordinary transformational momentum in African Studies globally that began at the first International Congress of African Studies in Ghana in 1962. Subsequent convenings were in Dakar(1967), Addis Ababa (1973), and Kinshasa (1978), but no Congress meeting convened after Ibadan (1985). ICAADS would convene on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Organization of African Unity and the50th anniversary of the Third International Congress—in the city where it all began. ICAADS aims to bring together African & African Diaspora Studies to formally mark the intellectual and political unity of Africa and the African Diaspora and to serve as a forum to reflect on the broadly shared histories, contemporary realities, and to affirm the future destinies of continental Africans and African-descended people across the globe.
Format: The “Congress” format facilitates the dual purpose of an academic conference with policy implications addressing urgent contemporary issues impacting Black communities across the globe. These include, but are not limited to:
- Reparations
- The Repatriation of African Artifacts
- Neocolonialism & Pan-Africanism
- Gender & Sexuality
- Re-engaging the 6th Region of the African Union
- Citizenship
- The State and Policing
- Environment and Public Health
- The Status and Treatment of African Migrants Inside and Outside of the Continent
- Africa’s Positions Regarding International Conflicts
- The State of the Study of Africa and its Diasporas in the World Today
**Please see the websites of: ASAA (as-aa-org); ASWAD (aswadiaspora.org); ASA (africanstudies.org); and “Africa Is A Country” (africasacountry.com) and follow us #ICAADS2023 for more details this coming August!
ICAADS Joint Steering Committee Members (in alphabetical order):
- Ousseina Alidou: ASAUS President (2021-2022)
- Jean Allman: ASAUS Board Member (2003-2006); ASAUS President (2017-18); ASWAD Treasurer (2007-11) andASWAD Board Member (2005-2011)
- Akosua Adomako Ampofo: ASAA President (2014-2022) and ASAUS Board Member (2019-2022)
- Divine Fuh: Chair, Current ASAA Vice-President
- Sean Jacobs: Founding Editor, “Africa Is A Country” and ASAUS Board Member (2017-2020)
- Toussaint Kafarhire Murhula: Current ASAA President
- Ato Quayson: ASAUS President (2019-2020) and ASWAD Board Member (2017-2023)
- Alix Saba: ASAUS Interim Executive Director
- Benjamin Talton: ASWAD Board Member (2015-2021)
- Robert Trent Vinson: ASWAD President (2019-2023) and ASAUS Board Member (2021-2025)
- Jason Young: ASWAD Vice-President (2021-2023) and ASWAD Board Member (2019-2025)
**Please see the websites of: ASAA (as-aa-org); ASWAD (aswadiaspora.org); ASA (africanstudies.org); and “Africa Is A Country” (africasacountry.com) and follow us #ICAADS2023 for more details this coming August!