Update, 21 May 2025
Dear members of our slowly-growing informal Circle,
We are busy making the last tweaks to the inaugural issue of the new Language Planning in Africa journal, but it is not quite ready yet – we hope to be able to share information on it with you very soon. Your help in promoting the Journal, once it is out, will be greatly appreciated!
New members since the last update:
Dr Maryam Jaffar Ismail, The State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), Tanzania; and
Prof Dr Liqhwa Siziba, Northwest University, South Africa.
There are some interesting conferences coming up:
Our Circle will be present at the upcoming ECAS 25 Conference in Prague at the end of June, where we have organized a panel entitled ‘Belonging in Africa, belonging in the world - the role of language’. If you are planning to attend ECAS, do let us know, so that perhaps we can organize a get-together.
Circle member Ekiyokere Ekiye has called our attention to the upcoming postgraduate conference on Language Education, Acquisition and Policy, to be hosted by the University of Aberdeen on 15 and 16 July 2025. Deadline for abstracts is soon: 2 June! Find the CfP here.
From 25-27 November 2025, there will be the Second International Conference on Languages, Multilingualism and Decolonization Practices in Higher Education, to take place at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Circle Member Russell Kaschula will be one of the keynote speakers. Call for Proposals deadline is 30 June.
From 26 to 28 August 2026 there will be a joint conference of the German and Swiss Africa Studies associations, to be held in Basel, Switzerland. Theme: African Perspectives on Global Transformations. Panel proposal deadline is 31 July this year. If you know you will propose a panel, let us know. If you have ideas for panel proposals that the Circle could submit, let us know as well – we might do that… Find more information at their website.
Again, if there is stuff you would like to share, just drop me a line!
Best regards,
Bert (also on behalf of Comfort, Taiwo and Sarita, your faithful Steering Committee members).