Call for Papers for Egypt In Its African Context

Call for Papers: "Egypt in its African Context", The Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, 3rd-4th October 2009

The African elements of the ancient Egyptian culture, and indeed its physical location in Africa, have frequently been ignored, and there exists a level of prejudice against suggestions that Egyptian culture can be situated within an African cultural context. The contextualising of ancient Egypt culturally and geographically within Africa, the concept of ancient Egypt as part of Black History, and the discussion of how the material is perceived and interpreted in the West have only recently begun to receive attention, and the discussion is still regarded as peripheral and often irrelevant.

The aims of the conference are to:

* address perceptions of ancient Egypt in the West, in scholarly writing and public understanding;
* present the work of scholars working on African-centred Egyptology;
* present a scholarly approach to the subject of Egypt in Africa to counterbalance the extreme Afrocentric views within which such a debate is often contextualised;
* investigate how community groups and professional Egyptologists can transfer their knowledge and points of view.

Papers are requested that address the following themes:

* the African aspects of ancient Egyptian culture;
* historical and contemporary African perceptions of ancient Egypt;
* the contested nature of ancient Egypt;
* the biases inherent in presentation of Egypt in the West, and ways of addressing this - in museums, media and popular and scholarly publication.

Key speakers include Dr Sally-Ann Ashton, Senior Assistant Keeper, Department of Antiquities, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Dr Abadayo Folorunso, Professor, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Dr Maulena Karenga, Professor, Department of Africana Studies, California State University, USA; Dr Shomarka Keita, Research affiliations with the National Human Genome Center, Howard University and the Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, USA; Dr. José Lingna Nafafé, Lecturer, Department of Sociology, The University of Birmingham, UK; and Dr Kimani Nehusi, Senior Lecturer, Cass School of Education, University of East London, UK.

The conference is organised in association with The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and with the support of The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words, and full contact details, are to be emailed to the conference organiser, Karen Exell:

[email protected]

Closing date: 31st July 2009

Dr Karen Exell
Curator, Egypt and the Sudan
The Manchester Museum
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 9PL
www.manchester.ac.uk/museum
http://egypt--devmanchester.wordpress.com/
Direct line: 0161 275 8772

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