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Professor A. Adu Boahen, an eminent historian of Africa, passed away on May 24, 2006. Numerous tributes on Professor Boahen have stressed the way that his book, Topics in West African History (1966), influenced and shaped the historical consciousness of a generation of African historians of Africa who read it in high school. We consider it imperative that in celebrating and memorializing Professor Boahen’s scholarly achievements and influence, we revisit the thematic provinces of the celebrated Topics in West African History. In this regard, we invite papers for publication that engage Professor Boahen’s thematic perspectives in the Topics in West Africa History as well as other topics that deal with West African history in any period. Prospective contributors should frame their ideas in the generic mode of Topics in West African History: first, essays should provide new historical insights that contest staple Eurocentricisms, and second, essays should have essential readability geared to all levels of education and the general public. Aimed at both celebrating Boahen’s ideas and stimulating interest in African history, the New Topics will undoubtedly complement Boahen’s Topics and other works in the field of West African history and society. Contributions may be wholly or partly based on new primary sources, or may be essays of syntheses that rethink historiographies and received historical notions.
Possible topics include but are not limited to the following:
Precolonial West African states and societies to ca.1800
West Africa, the Atlantic Slave Trade, abolition, and “Legitimate” trade
Christianity, Islam, Indigenous Religions, and African responses in West Africa
European colonialism in West Africa, African responses, and effects
Gender in colonial West Africa
West Africa in the early 20th century, 1900-1913
West Africa and the First World War
Social and Political change in West Africa in the interwar years
Economic developments and change in West Africa in the interwar years
West Africa and the Second World War
Nationalism and decolonization in West Africa
Social developments and challenges in postcolonial West Africa
Political developments and challenges in postcolonial West Africa
Economic developments and challenges in postcolonial West Africa
The deadline for submitting abstracts is September 15, 2006, and the final deadline for the completed essays is December 15, 2006. Please, address all queries and submissions to:
Kwabena Akurang-Parry
Department of History
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, PA, USA 17257
E-mail: kaparr@ship.edu
Phone: 717 477 1286
Fax : 717 477 4062
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