The African Studies Review published the State of the Art overview essays from 1980 to 1994. Supported by the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies, these important scholarly discourses continue to be some of the most renowned in African studies. Essays, such as Jane Guyer’s “Household and Family” (1981), Valentin Mudimbe’s “African Gnosis” (1985), and Karin Barber’s “Popular Arts in Africa,” (1987) not only defined emerging fields but also paved the way for exciting new scholarly endeavors.
Informed by Raymond Williams’ attention to “meanings and contexts,” and fueled by the recent flourish of critical attention to terminology, we invite proposals for individual critical scholarly essays to explore themes, topics, and ideas of interest to the ASA membership and African studies globally. We are interested in proposals reflecting emerging trends in African studies research and established local, global, and indigenous terminologies, including words in African languages. The essays are first presented on the ASR-sponsored Keyword essay panel at the ASA annual meeting.
The ASR-sponsored panel offers draft essays that engage a variety of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields showcasing Africa-based scholarship and co-authored collaborations. Authors are encouraged to revise their manuscript following the conference and submit for publication consideration to the ASR. Keyword essays are peer-reviewed. Since 2021, the ASR has published Keyword essays on topics such as Body, Bush, Democracy, Malaria, Oil, Okà, and Queer. We encourage potential contributors to read published essays as they prepare their submission.
Please complete this form by March 8 to submit a Keyword essay proposal for the 2024 annual meeting in Chicago: https://africanstudies.org/publications/asr-keywords-proposal/
