Michigan State University (MSU) 2021 Ubuntu Dialogues Seminar Program

The African Studies Center at Michigan State University (MSU) is pleased to invite applications for participation in the 2021 Ubuntu Dialogues Seminar Program.

Application Deadline: 30th October 2020

About the Award: The seminars are part of the Ubuntu Dialogues, an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded partnership between the MSU African Studies Center and the Stellenbosch University Museum. The partnership is geared toward a) transforming the function and practice of the museum as an institution, both within Africa and around the world; b) establishing new and strengthening existing connections between
universities and communities; and 3) developing a replicable framework for universities to become dynamic sites for the co-creation and dissemination of knowledge and practice. It is conceived around
transnational dialogue and engagement among students, faculty, and community partners in South Africa and the United States. The partnership project comprises three main components: virtual student conversations; a student exchange program; and the seminar program.

The seminar program takes the form of transnational intellectual engagements focusing on institutional histories, the meaning of ubuntu, Pan-Africanism, institutional and knowledge decolonization and
transformation both as concepts and practice, and the place of South Africa in Africa and of the United States in the Americas.

Type: Workshop

Eligibility:

• Applicants may be academics, professionals, and students in museum and heritage studies, public history, and other related fields in the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Sciences, from MSU or elsewhere in the United States.
• Preference will be given to emerging scholars from minority backgrounds.

Eligible Countries: Africans in the United States.

Number of Awards: Four applicants will be selected.

Value of Award:

• Successful applicants will be expected to workshop their paper at one of four web seminars planned for 2021.
• All seminar speakers will be supported in developing their seminar paper for publication in a peer reviewed journal or book manuscript of their choice or as part of the Ubuntu Dialogues Series.
• Participants will also have the opportunity to attend the culminating event for the Ubuntu Dialogues project planned for 2022 at MSU or Stellenbosch University.
• Travel, lodging, and per diem will be covered by the MSU African Studies Center.

How to Apply: Eligible candidates are invited to submit a detailed CV and an abstract of up to 500 words highlighting how their research or work will inform, add to, or complicate the concept of ubuntu in the context of 1)
persisting patterns of institutional and systemic racism 2) the COVID-19 pandemic and 3) debates on institutional and knowledge decolonization within Africa or elsewhere.

The CV and abstract should be sent as one PDF file over email to Upenyu Majee at majeeupe@msu.edu by Friday October 30, 2020.

• It is important to go through all application requirements in the Award Webpage (see Link below) before applying.
• GOODLUCK

Visit Award Webpage for Details