CALL FOR PAPERS: ‘BLACK MIGRATIONS’ Symposium
February 7-8, 2019
University of Missouri (MU)
Columbia, MO
Presented by the Department of Black Studies and the Department of Statistics, University of Missouri, Columbia
Migration has played a central role in the histories of Africans and their descendants. For some, migration was entirely voluntary while others were forced to move due to violence, political destabilization, ecological degradation, or other upheavals. Black migrations have also resulted in more diverse and stratified interracial populations that have reshaped the societies of the receiving areas. In more recent periods, scholars have begun exploring the impact out-migration and return migration have had on the development and stability of various majority black societies. In addition, scholars, students, and activists have been examining the relation between relocation and conceptualizations of blackness.
This two-day symposium will examine black migrations to include relocations within and beyond the US. Symposium organizers seek papers from scholars, students, and activists that discuss various periods and streams of migration that have shaped the histories and contemporary realities of African people and their descendants. Papers exploring the impacts and importance of migration on black populations from all time periods and geographic locations are welcome. Symposium organizers are especially interested in work that addresses the following areas:
African American Migrations (internal and international)
Agency of black people within forced migration
Black migration and family formation/kinship ties
Black migration and gender
Black sexuality and migration
Caribbean, Afro-Latin American, and African migrations worldwide
Demographics of black migration: historical and contemporary trends
Documenting black migrations in the digital age
Methodologies for modeling migration flows
Negotiating migrant realities
Race, class, and migration
The migration industry and its impacts on black populations
Theoretical formulations on black migration and migrant-identity politics
Papers will be presented in English. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes in order to allow time for questions and discussion. Please submit an abstract (Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word) of no more than 250 words to Alphia Hightower (hightowera@missouri.edu). Questions about the symposium can be sent to organizers D.A. Dunkley (dunkleyd@missouri.edu), Tristan Ivory (ivoryt@missouri.edu), or Christopher Wikle (wiklec@missouri.edu). Abstract deadline: November 15, 2018. Notification date: December 1, 2018.