The UB inaugurates the 12th Iberian Conference on African Studies, at the Faculty of Geography and History

News | Culture | Academic
(29/01/2025)
L’esdeveniment, amb més de dues-centes ponències i participants internacionals, reflexiona sobre respostes africanes al dilema descolonial.
News | Culture | Academic
29/01/2025
L’esdeveniment, amb més de dues-centes ponències i participants internacionals, reflexiona sobre respostes africanes al dilema descolonial.

The 12th Iberian Conference on African Studies (CIEA) was inaugurated on Wednesday 29 January in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Geography and History of the University of Barcelona, under the slogan “African responses to the decolonial dilemma”. Among the attendees at the opening ceremony were the dean of the Faculty of Geography and History, Ricardo Piqueras; the director-general of Casa África, José Segura; the professor of the Centre for History of the University of Lisbon, José da Silva Orta; the representative of the Government of Catalonia Laia Carbonell, and the rector of the UB, Joan Guàrdia.

The Dean highlighted the University of Barcelona as “the epicentre of African studies in the Spanish university scene” and emphasized the importance of “giving a voice to this continent”. He also recognized that “to talk about Africa is to question ourselves as a European society”.

The Rector also expressed the UB’s “absolute commitment to the aims of the conference, as a generator of spaces for debate that allow us to generate answers to the big questions”. “We are looking south from the south. We are aware of the precarious balances of current geopolitics, and that Africa is living from the emergency, but science is the only possible response to the helplessness of the moment in which we live”, said Guàrdia.

The secretary of the Conference, Albert Roca, professor at the University of Lleida, highlighted the “large number and quality of participants, as well as the desire for the network of knowledge created through the Conference to crystallize in the constitution of an entity”.

The event, with more than 200 papers and international participants, reflects on African responses to the decolonial dilemma.

Organized by the Group of Studies on Culture and Domination (GECID) and the Group of Studies on African Societies (GESA) of the UB, the Conference brings together more than 300 participants from 25 countries, including researchers, teachers and activists. Over the course of three days (29-31 January), more than 200 papers will be presented in 50 thematic panels, which will analyse the complexity of African dynamics from multiple perspectives. In addition, round tables, workshops and plenary sessions will be held to highlight the UB’s Department of Anthropology commitment to research and the dissemination of knowledge about Africa.

The opening lecture, “Àfrica davant el descolonialisme. Una mirada de dona “ (Africa in the face of decolonialism. A Woman’s View), will be given by the writer and activist Tsitsi Dangarembga and, among other activities, the round table “Els estudis africans en temps descolonials. Història i actualitat de 50 anys d’africanisme a la Universitat de Barcelona “ (African Studies in Decolonial Times. History and current affairs of 50 years of Africanism at the University of Barcelona), with the participation of Jordi Tomàs, Alberto López Bargados, Gustau Nerín, Alba Valenciano and Marta Contijoch. This session will take place in the Jane Addams Room on Wednesday, from 11.30 a.m. to 2.00 p.m., and aims to highlight the trajectory of Africanism at the UB. Also worth mentioning is the round table in memoriam of Carme Junyent, The linguistic factor in African studies, with Pere Comelles, Myriam Mallart, Asmaa Aouattah and José Carlos Venâncio. In addition, there will be presentations on topics such as gender, the environment, African economies and cultural heritage.

This conference, which returns to Barcelona after twenty years, reaffirms the UB’s leadership in African studies and the university’s contribution to anthropological research. It is a unique platform for fostering academic debate and deepening knowledge of the African continent in a global context.


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La UB inaugura el 12è Congrés Ibèric d’Estudis Africans, a la Facultat de Geografia i Història

12th Iberian Conference on African Studies