Conference Stream: Stories of Africa in Durham, Durham in Africa Stream Convenor: Durham University Centre for Contemporary African History (DUCCAH) Contact: Dr Rachel E. Johnson Rachel.johnson2@durham.ac.uk Please submit abstracts through the ASAUK portal by 30 April 2026 This stream explores the deep histories and interconnections between the North-East of England and the African continent. We ask what does it mean to discuss and narrate African pasts in Durham, from Durham and of Durham, in the North-East of England? We aim to explore Durham University’s own institutional connections, most prominently the affiliation with Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone (1876-1967) and the location of the Sudan Archive within the University’s special collections. What are the legacies of these institutional connections and what effects might the (re)narration of these relationships carry? We are interested in efforts to uncover and narrate the traces and remains of African presence in Durham and the wider region, as well as stories of individual entanglements that cross the spaces and times between Africa and Durham, past and the present. We hope this will make an invaluable contribution to the conference in inviting delegates to encounter and consider the histories of Durham’s African past. We invite papers or panels that address: • Fourah Bay College, the Sudan Archive, as well as the Africa materials and collections of regional museums and archives. • The lives of individuals who have crossed the distance between the African continent and the North-East of England. • Public-facing history or arts projects that have sought to uncover aspects of African presence in the North-East or address connected pasts. • Social movements and political campaigns that have mobilised across and between the spaces of Africa and the North-East. • The politics of naming, commemorating and materialising the histories of connected pasts.
#CFP 🗃️📜🌍 The ASAUK 2026 conference takes place 10-12 September at Durham University. My amazing @durhamhistory.bsky.social colleague Dr Rachel Johnson invites paper or panel proposals on 'Stories of #Africa in #Durham, Durham in Africa'.
Deadline 30 April via asauk.net
#AfricanStudiesAssociation
