Conference Information
Saturday, April 13th, 2024
from 9:00am – 5:30pm EST
Penn State Pasquerilla Spiritual Center
Our Tradition:
Every school year, Pan-APA holds its annual conference, a platform where we discuss pertinent issues for regional and global socio-economic development and at the same time highlight Africans and innovations in and around Africa. A key objective of our conference is to bring great minds together to educate, analyze, and find solutions to the issues that affect the African people. It also serves as an inspiration for what the future could hold in the technological and economic growth and development in Africa.
Conference Theme
The African Renaissance:
Leveraging tradition for innovation and sustainability
In the heart of Africa’s renaissance, our conference spotlights the vital connection between tradition, innovation, and sustainability, with a special focus on the indispensable role of Africa’s youth. Join us in exploring the mosaic of Africa’s rich heritage while embracing innovation and sustainability for a brighter future. We unite thought leaders, young visionaries, scholars, and cultural enthusiasts to bridge the divide between tradition and progress. Together, we chart a path towards a vibrant Africa where the wisdom of the past merges with the vigor of the youth to drive economic growth, preserve cultural treasures, and nurture sustainable development. Join the movement to harness Africa’s untapped potential, forge enduring connections, and empower a continent where the youth are at the forefront of transformation.
Keynote Speakers
Horace G. Campbell
Horace G. Campbell is an internationally known peace and justice activist. He holds a joint Professorship in the Department of African American Studies and the Department of Political Science at Syracuse University. Professor Campbell has published widely. His most recent book is Global NATO and the Catastrophic Failure in Libya: Lessons for Africa in the Forging of African Unity (Monthly Review Press, USA, 2013). http://monthlyreview.org/product/global_nato_and_the_catastrophic_failure_in_libya/.
His most well-known book, Rasta and Resistance: from Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney (Africa World Press, Trenton, 1985) is going through its eighth printing, and has been translated into French, Spanish, Turkish and Italian. He has also authored Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA (Pluto Press, London 2010).
He is also the author of Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation. He has published more than 100 journal articles and a dozen monographs as well as chapters in edited books. In the period 2016-2018 he served as the Distinguished Kwame Nkrumah Chair, Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana in March 2019, he was the keynote speaker at the conference on the 70th anniversary of NATO held in Frankfurt Germany by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. His interventions on current politics and international affairs appears on the Counterpunch site. He’s a frequent commentator on Africana politics. He is writing a book on US Militarism and African Independence to be published by Monthly Review Press.
He was one of the four rapporteurs for the International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence against People of African Descent in the United States. https://inquirycommission.org/
He is the Chairperson of the Global Pan African Movement (North American delegation).
Moses E. Ochonu
Moses E. Ochonu is Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair in History and Professor of African History at Vanderbilt University. He holds a PhD in African History from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a Graduate Certificate in Conflict Management from Lipscomb University, Nashville.
He is the author/editor of five books: Emirs in London: Subaltern Travel and Nigeria’s Modernity (Indiana University Press, 2022); Africa in Fragments: Essays on Nigeria, Africa, and Global Africanity (New York: Diasporic Africa Press, 2014); Colonialism by Proxy: Hausa Imperial Agents and Middle Belt Consciousness in Nigeria (Indiana University Press, 2014), which was named finalist for the Herskovits Prize; and Colonial Meltdown: Northern Nigeria in the Great Depression (Ohio University Press, 2009); and Entrepreneurship in African History (Indiana University Press, 2018).
His op-eds and essays on African affairs have been published in TIME magazine, Maple Tree Literary Supplement, Chronicle of Higher Education, Logos, Global Post, The Tennessean, Pambazuka.com, African Arguments, Africascountry.com, The Conversation, The Mail & Guardian, and other publications.
He is a two-time recipient of the fellowship of the American Council for Learned Societies (ACLS) and his research has also been funded by the NEH, Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, the British Library, and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.
Want to help and gain knowledge on planning a conference?
Call for Abstracts
We welcome submissions of abstracts for research work broadly related to the topic which helps further our understanding of development in Africa, as well as solutions and strategies for building a stronger Africa. All fields of study, from any accredited university, are welcome to present in oral presentation or poster formats. As a graduate student conference, we seek graduate student submissions, however, the work may be co-authored or partnered with advisors, supervisors, undergraduates, etc. Abstracts do not need to be for published papers or theses/dissertations but may be for all stages/levels of the research process including proposals in progress.
Oral presentations may not exceed 15 minutes in length. All submissions will be blindly reviewed. Accepted presenters will be notified by email and provided instructions for how to submit their final presentation slides/posters by the presentation submission deadline. Please contact us at panapapsu@gmail.com with any questions or for help with submitting.
