Organized by:
Center for African Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA College of Education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA CODESRIA

Co-Sponsor:
Association of African Universities
The Ford Foundation
U.S. Department of Education

DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: January 14, 2002

BACKGROUND: This conference will be organized by the Center for African Studies, in cooperation with the College of Education at the University of Illinois, CODESRIA, and the Association of African Universities. It seeks to address the major internal and external challenges that face African universities in the new millennium. The conference will bring together academics, university administrators, policy makers, donor agencies, and students from several African countries, as well as Europe and North America to debate the crucial issues confronting higher education on the continent. The conference offers an opportunity for participants to reflect on the nature and scope of changes that need to be made in the African higher education system in order for it to play its rightful role in African development. Close partnership amongst all the stakeholders is a prerequisite for devising meaningful strategies of reform and renewal of African higher education.

African universities are undergoing a lot of complex changes in response to institutional, social, political, economic, and international pressures and transformations. One of their crucial challenges is how they promote and balance issues of growth and expansion with excellence, relevance, and access. Several issues are particularly important to highlight. First, as African governments find it increasingly difficult to finance universities, many of the institutions are developing new funding strategies and solutions. Also, private universities are becoming an important component of higher education in a growing number of African countries. Second, the changing conditions in the economies, technology, and sociology of knowledge, both in its production and dissemination are having a tremendous impact upon African universities. New networks and strategic alliances are developing within and between universities at the national, regional, and global levels.

How are these changes affecting teaching and research training systems in African universities? What are the effects of the changing technological environment on African universities? How are African universities addressing the crisis in research libraries? How can their governance structures be improved? What kind of strategies can be developed to mobilize and maximize institutional, local, national, regional, and international resources for higher education? What innovative approaches can African universities adopt to bring about change and development in their countries? How would reforms in higher education in Africa enhance its contribution to the promotion of sustainable human development? What should be the new tasks of institutions of higher education in Africa in order to meet the changing economic needs? What kind of new partnerships should be formed among institutions of higher learning within and outside Africa to develop educational models that meet the challenges of the 21st century? How are universities in the region responding to the new challenges of globalization? How can African universities make better use of the African intellectual diaspora?

The conference, therefore, seeks to articulate new values and missions for African universities, as well as define effective strategies to meet the challenges of the 21st century. A major goal of this conference is to examine how African universities are responding, and could improve their responses, to a rapidly changing world. A whole range of important issues will be discussed, out of which we expect concrete policy recommendations for action in some of the following specific areas: university governance and financing, academic exchanges and collaborations, and the use of new information technology.

THEMES AND TOPICS

1. Academic Exchanges: Historical, Contemporary, and Future Orientations
   • Inter-regional Exchanges in Africa
   • Africa - US Exchanges (with both historically white universities and HBCUs)
   • Africa - Europe Exchanges
   • Exchanges Between Africa and other regions in the South, especially Asia
   • Student Migrancy and Unequal Exchanges
2. Impact of Globalization on African Universities
   • Information Technology and African Higher Education
   • Privatization of Higher Education
   • Education Policy
3. The Great Divides: Access and Equity Issues in African Higher Education
   • Female Participation in African Universities
   • Questions of Class, Ethnicity, Race, Region, and Religion
   • The Digital Divide and Access to new Media and Technologies
   • Financial Exclusions
4. Higher Education's Articulation with Primary and Secondary Education
   • Primary and Secondary Education Towards University Enrolment
   • Outreach and Collaboration Between Educational Institutions
5. University Governance
   • The Role of Governments
   • The Role of International Financial Institutions and Organizations
   • The Role of Student and Academic Staff Associations
   • University Financing
   • Rationalization Schemes
   • Data Systems Management
6. The Academic Labor Market: Student and Staff Opportunities
   • Changing Structure of Incentives and Rewards
   • The Consultancy Syndrome
   • Impact of HIV/AIDS
   • The Brain Drain: Regional and International Dimensions
   • The Vocational University
7. Production and Distribution of Knowledge
   • Scholarly Publishing and Dissemination
   • Research Funding and Networking
   • African Scholarly Presence and Authority in the Global Context
   • Commodification of Knowledge
8. Teaching and Learning
   • Curriculum Development
   • Changing Educational Practices
   • Collaborative Teach and Learning: "Images of Africa" Case Study
9. Universities and the Sate: Politics and Capital
   • Academic Freedom
   • Private Sector Funding
   • Demoralisation and Re-Vitalisation: The History of the University in Africa
10. Post-Symposium Projects include:
    • Publication
    • Website
    • Linkages