The 13th Annual International Conference of the Igbo Studies Association
Theme: “Ọganihu Igbo: Strategies for Development.”
Marquette University, Marquette, Wisconsin, USA
April 9-11, 2015
The Igbo Studies Association (ISA) invites submissions from scholars and professionals working on all aspects of studies on the Igbo of southern Nigeria for its 13th annual international conference to be held from April 9-11, 2015 at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Over the past decade, scholars and experts have gathered annually to deliberate on diverse facets of the Igbo people. Considering the current economic conditions of the Igbo region in Nigeria, the consensus is that the discourse must progress to strategies for development. In other words what are the practical steps that must be taken to remedy the problem of development in the Igbo region today? This is the central question that participants at the conference will be deliberating on. The development challenges confronting the Igbo and Igbo diaspora implicate a multitude of subjects connected with business and investment, ideology, education, politics, technology, family, kinship, village associations, brain drain and patriotism. Other issues mirror the complexities of globalization, migrations, gender, science, and environment.
The 2015 conference will examine the general theme: Ọganihu Igbo: Strategies for Development – and its relevance to the Igbo within their homeland, within the Nigerian polity, and in the context of the globalized world. We welcome both local and international experts, activists, and intellectuals at all stages in their careers to facilitate discussion and dialogue across disciplines and between scholars and professionals.
For the panels and individual paper proposals, Ọganihu Igbo: Strategies for Development shall be conceptualized broadly to include economics, development studies, history, culture and socialization, sociology, human security, resource extraction and allocation, education, gender, migration, childhood, and Igbo diaspora communities in historic and contemporary contexts. We assume that the Igbo development question is intertwined with local, national and international developments in several ways, and that participants will query these connections, especially on how the question of development and progress in Igboland and the Igbo disapora have implicated the social order as the world constricts and fluctuates.
Panels will engage with a variety of topics including but not limited to:
Entrepreneurship and economic development
Security and investment
Crime and disinvestment
Igbo philosophy of progress
Leadership as a catalyst of development
Morality and immorality in Igbo social order
Education and development
Resource extraction and redistribution
Igbo diaspora communities
Family, kinship, and village Associations
Land ownership and access to capital
Banking and loan schemes
Gender and development
Trade and craft
Motor transport business
Apprenticeship system and the economy
Power and wealth
Consumption and lifestyle
Social infrastructure and development
Poverty and human security
Please include the following in your proposal in this order:
1. Paper title
2. Abstract (150 words maximum)
3. Your name (in this order: first, middle, surname)
4. Current position and institutional affiliation
5. Your mailing address, email, phone number
6. A non-refundable conference registration fee of $50.
(Please do not use all capital letters)
You will be notified on the status of your submission and other program details by email. Selected papers will be considered for publication and inclusion in a post-conference edited book. Thus, papers should be written as if they are being prepared for publication. We prefer presentations in English. However, those who would like to present in the Igbo language should make translations of their papers available in English. Participants are responsible for the conference fee and their travel and lodging costs. It is important that those who will require U.S. visas submit their proposals and completed paper early since they will need them for the visa interviews.
The deadline for submitting paper/panel proposals has been extended to December 30, 2014. Completed papers are due for submission by January 10, 2015. All abstracts and papers must be submitted online at: http://igbostudiesassociation.org/index.php/submission/submit-abstract
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ABSTRACT ONLINE.
For more information on the Igbo Studies Association, including membership and other matters, please visit us at: http://igbostudiesassociation.org
Inquiries to:
Raphael C. Njoku, PhD, Conference Chair
Department of International Studies
Idaho State University
Pocatello, ID 83209 TEL: (208) 282-4164
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.