THE INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES , UNIVERSITY OF GHANA IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MASON GROSS THEATRE

                              &

THE CENTER FOR AFRICAN STUDIES, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY PRESENTS A CONFERENCE CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY OF EFUA SUTHERLAND

 

                        THEME

EFUA SUTHERLAND AND THE CREATION OF AFRICAN SCHOLARLY PARADIGMS SINCE 1960:

CONTINUITY OR RUPTURE 27TH - 28TH MARCH, 2025

 

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

The story of the early independence era in Africa, is often told without sufficiently acknowledging the concurrent burgeoning force of cultural and intellectual knowledge production together with institutional initiatives which drew to them intellectuals committed to establishing centers of knowledge production on the continent.

The Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, the first such institution in post-independent Africa was inaugurated with a powerful mandate from Pan-Africanist leader Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. He stated in part:

“One essential function of this Institute must surely be to study the history, culture and institutions, languages and arts of Ghana and of Africa in new African centred ways — in entire freedom from the propositions and pre-suppositions of the colonial epoch” (Nkrumah 1963).

Efua T. Sutherland, path finding pan-Africanist author, scholar, cultural activist, dramatist and institution builder, joined a cohort of outstanding intellectuals and creatives in the early 1960s at the Institute. Among other icons may be cited musicologists, Ephraim Amu and J.H. Kwabena Nketia.

The drive to reclaim, validate and explore African knowledge in order to create a new order of knowledge production about Africa was a primary focus for Efua Sutherland and her colleagues at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana but they were certainly not alone. Paulin Hountondji, Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Wande Abimbola, Abiola Irele, Hampâté Bâ, Zulu Sofola, and Wole Soyinka and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o also insisted that African knowledge systems be the palpable foundation for scholarship in and about Africa.

Sutherland’s centenary (1924-2024) presents a significant opportunity for the bearers and heirs of such knowledge to reflect on the commitment of these pioneering scholars towards a natural progression or an organic evolution of research pathways and methods that are grounded in the histories, creativity and possibilities of Africa. The question of knowledge and indigeneity is at the heart of community/institution-building practices. African institutions and humanism are not just aspects, but the ultimate imperatives of African knowledge production and theory formation.

Cultural and educational concerns, such as Sutherland’s Anansegoro Concept, Children's Drama Development Project and the Pan-African Historical Theatre Festival (PANAFEST), provide a rich context for appraising African institutional development and the philosophical foundations that are crucial to our understanding of African institutions.

By commemorating the centenary (June 2024 – June 2025), a cardinal goal will be met which is to ensure that Sutherland’s seminal contribution represents a shift towards giving women their due recognition in the making of history. Secondly , we seek to initiate a timely discourse and evaluation on

whether there has been a deviation from the vision and objectives of the early scholar-activists such as Sutherland and the Africa-based institutions with which they were associated from the 1960s.

As we explore the legacies of Sutherland and her contemporaries, we aim to critically examine the impact of the body of knowledge accumulated ,theories developed and methodological pathways forged through their vision and journeys of self-discovery.

We believe it is important to review the effect of postcolonial and decolonial theories on the concept of African-centered scholarship. For instance, have the postcolonial and decolonial theories obscured and overshadowed the ideas of foundational African thinkers and their agendas? As V. Y. Mudimbe

claims in The Invention of Africa, is the specificity of an African knowledge system belated? We also seek to understand the implications of African-centered knowledge creation for the continent and the contemporary world and to reassess the present state of Pan-Africanism as a multifaceted concept

encompassing aesthetics, culture, and politics.

To facilitate these discussions and honor Sutherland's legacies, we are organizing a multi-year, multi- format, and multi-local series of conversations commencing at the Institute of African Studies University of Ghana on the 27th and 28th of March 2025 will be followed subsequently by discussions

centered around the work of Abiola Irele in Ibadan, Paul Hountundji in Benin, and Amadou  Hampâté Bâ in Dakar.

 

The Following thematic areas may also be considered:

 

The transformative power of theatre: Revisiting the paradigm

Milestones in African Knowledge Creation since the 1960s

Speaking of Pan-Africanism: Artistic Iterations of an Africanist Ideal

 

Anansegoro and the process of abstraction from Ghanaian knowledge systems

Return and reclaim: embracing ‘self-discovery’

Reviewing contemporary African epistemologies

The evolution of African historiography

Theory and praxis of cultural activism

What is African about Universities in Africa?

Creating the livable African city

Identification and Preservation of Cultural Capital

Content creation for African children and youth

Building accessible archives for African

knowledge dissemination

The effect of postcolonial and decolonial theories

on the concept of African-centered scholarship
 

Submission Guidelines

We invite abstracts of 200-300 words for papers or panel proposals, poster presentations or creative workshops based onthe above topics and related concerns/ threads. Panel proposals should include panel members, as well as their paper titles and

abstracts. Creative workshop proposals should include names and credentials of facilitator(s) and level of specialization of suggested participants. All abstracts must include the presenter’s institutional affiliation and status i.e., student, faculty or creative professional.

Email your individual abstract, panel proposal or

workshop proposal to by 31 January 2025 to iasadministrator@ug.edu.gh

 

Deadline for Submission:

31 January, 2025