Ibadan Conference on The Humanities and Social Transformation in Africa

Faculty of Arts

University of Ibadan

Ibadan, Nigeria 

 

Conference on

The Humanities and Social Transformation in Africa

October 14 – 16, 2008 

 

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Deadline for the Submission of Abstracts: September 22, 2008. 

 

Theme of Conference: The Humanities and Social Transformation in Africa 

 

The issue of what should be the nature and direction of humanistic research in the Twenty-First Century is one, the importance of which can never be overemphasized, particularly in a world which is firmly in the grip of the forces of science and technology. This issue assumes a very urgent dimension in the particular circumstances of Africa which dictate that concerted efforts be made to harness the resources of science and technology to promote social development. In the case of Nigeria, this bias for science and technology is already given expression in the national university admission policy which demands that admission ratio should be 60:40 in favour of science, technology and science-related courses, for example, agriculture.
 

 

It is against this background of a clear bias for science and technology and a corresponding undervaluation of the role of the humanities in the development process that this conference is being organised. The primary purpose of the conference is to afford scholars in the humanistic disciplines an opportunity to discuss the place of the humanities in the transformation of societies. It is expected that scholars, through the conference, will address the following questions, among others: Why do the humanities matter or should matter? What contributions can the humanities make to the development of human societies? In the specific case of Africa, what should be the role of the humanities in the process of social transformation?
 

 

To tackle the above questions, among others, conference participants are expected to address the following sub-themes:

• The Nature of Humanistic Research and Education
• The Relationship Between the Humanities and the Sciences
• The Humanities and the Growth of Civilisations
• The Humanities and Culture
• The Humanities and National Development
• The Humanities and Democracy
• The Humanities and Moral Progress
• The Humanities and Social Policy
• The Need for a Recovery of the Humanities
• The Humanities and the Economy.

In addressing these issues and others related to them, conference participants are expected to pay specific attention to the African experience, in both its universal and local contexts.
 

 

Submission of Abstracts

IInterested participants are requested to send an abstract of not more than 250 words describing the focus of their papers. All proposals must have personal information such as name, institutional affiliation, position or title, contact phone numbers and/or e-mail address.
Abstracts may be submitted in hard copy or electronically. If the latter, please save your document in Word or RTF format and send as an e-mail attachment. In the subject line, please type "Faculty of Arts Conference".
Send abstracts and personal information to the Conference Coordinator at one of the following addresses:

Prof. O.T. Oladipo
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: hopub2004@yahoo.com

Dr. Olutayo C. Adesina
Department of History
University of Ibadan
Ibadan, Nigeria
E-mail: olutayo27@yahoo.com

The language of the conference will be English. Accepted papers will be considered for publication in book form.
 

Deadlines

• Submission of Abstract: September 22, 2008
• Acceptance of Papers: Those whose abstracts are accepted will be notified by October 3, 2008
• Conference Programme and other details will become available by October 10, 2008