Call for Proposals
Join Indiana University at the IU Europe Gateway in Berlin for a symposium on the transnational dynamics and repercussions of the movement of displaced peoples between Africa and Europe. This two-day symposium seeks to feature scholars, practitioners, activists, members of local refugee communities, and artists in a dialogue that investigates how education, national security, humanitarian aid, social services, policies, economics, children, families, and identities are being impacted in communities in Africa and Europe.
Worldwide, there are an estimated 82.4 million forcibly displaced people, of which 26.4 million are classified as refugees. This symposium, hosted in Germany, one of the top five host countries for refugees displaced abroad, will explore the refugee experience through multiple lenses, from the political and cultural, to the aesthetic, economic, intimate, and historic.
To tackle the issue of displaced peoples, we must forge collaborations and conversations that integrate multiple perspectives, peoples, and nations. This gathering is intended to offer a space for collaboration with resettled refugees, to allow a platform for their voices to be engaged with scholars, activists, and others. New collective methodologies and innovative pedagogical approaches are needed to promote understanding and action about a complicated transnational problem.
We are looking for participants from around the world to join us at the IU Gateway in Berlin March 18-19 for interdisciplinary panels, roundtable discussions, multi-media and arts-based events, and other creative endeavors on the issues outlined above. Potential conversations include but are not limited to: Visualizing and representing displacement through art forms; Enrichment of host and originating communities; Effects of war, violence, conflict or persecution; Climate change and forced displacement; Art as an agent of political change in relation to forcibly displaced peoples; Art as an entry point to more meaningfully and intimately understand the experience of refugees.
Proceedings will be in English. Participants may be eligible to contribute to a special issue of Africa Today.
Limited funding on a competitive basis is available for participants to defray travel costs to Germany. Participants from Indiana University branch campuses, U.S. minority serving institutions, and U.S. community colleges are especially encouraged to apply for travel funds. Funding needs can be described in detail in the application.