From the Lagos Studies Association

The Preliminary Program of LSA 2023

For five days, between June 20 and 24, scholars and practitioners from all the continents of the world will converge, physically and virtually, in Lagos to participate in the 7th Annual Lagos Studies Association conference.

The diversity and expansiveness of our 130 panels reflect the current landscape of knowledge about Lagos, Nigeria, and Africa. Audiences will choose from 16 professional development workshops on book and journal publishing, academic job hunting, teaching pedagogy, fellowship and grant application, and graduate school application and experience, among others; roundtables on 22 books that are at the cutting edge of scholarship in the humanities and social sciences; and a dozen critical-celebratory panels on retired and very senior scholars and canonical works that laid the foundation of newer studies. Dozens of panels on original paper presentations offer new perspectives on a spectrum of fields and subfields.

In addition, with generous funding from the British Academy, LSA 2023 will feature two writing workshops and the Mentoring Program for Nigeria-based Women Graduate Students. All the 60 Nigeria-based junior scholars in these three special events (June 16-25) will receive meals and hotel accommodations ranging from 6 to 10 nights. All presenters will receive breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the conference.

Lastly, all 130 sessions of LSA 2023 will be accessible, free of charge, to the audience attending virtually and physically at the University of Lagos because of the unpaid labor and intellectual investment of LSA members, journal and book acquisition editors, and senior scholars facilitators; infrastructure support of the University of Lagos; and funding from the British Academy, Florida International University, Yale University, and the Nigeria Office of the French Institute for Research in Africa.

The Final Program, to be released around June 10, will have Zoom links.

For updates on the conference, follow LSA:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205111409881162/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lagos-studies-association/?viewAsMember=true

Website: Lagosstudies.org 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LagosStudies

For questions, email LSA: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com

 

LSA Mentoring Program for Women Graduate Students in Nigeria: Second Cohort of Mentors

The LSA has become famous for its mentoring workshops, in which the BA-funded writing workshops have been a central pillar. The LSA convenes scholars from across the globe, and has become an important international networking hub. Central to the vision of the conference is the mentoring of the next generation of African scholars. The Women’s Mentoring Network of the LSA was founded with the generous financial support of the British Academy workshop grant written by Louisa Egbunike and Carli Coetzee. This mentoring network exists alongside the other mentoring and writing workshop opportunities offered by the Association.

This second cohort of mentors will meet with their mentees (either in person or virtually) for one hour during the LSA conference. They will also be asked to read and comment on 2 drafts of an article under preparation. LSA mentors do not get involved in thesis supervision, but we do support the mentees’ publications.

Mentees for the program will be selected by mentors and by the LSA based on many factors, including areas of specialization, participation at LSA events in the past, and the quality of their letters of intent.

All the 24 mentees selected for the program will receive six nights of hotel accommodation and 15 full meals during LSA 2023 (June 20-24). This will allow them to fully participate at the Conference and all the professional development sessions. The LSA Secretariat at Florida International University will provide resources, including access to books and articles, to aid the research of the mentees.

If you have any questions about the program, email LSA at: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com

Mentors

Hadiza Kere Abdulrahman (Bishop Grosseteste University/Education and Childhood Studies)

Abimbola Adelakun (University of Texas at Austin/Performance Studies and Religion)

Grace Adeniyi-Ogunyankin (Queen’s University/Urban and Feminist Studies)

Añulika Agina (Pan-Atlantic University/Film Studies and Nollywood)

Lola Akande (University of Lagos/African Literature)

Aisha Bawa (Usmanu Dan Fodio University/History and Women and Gender Studies)

Vicki Brennan (University of Vermont/Anthropology, Religion, and Ethnomusicology)

Gloria Chuku (University of Maryland-Baltimore County/History and Women and Gender Studies)

Carli Coetzee (Journal of African Cultural Studies/African Literature)

Mfon Maris Ekpootu (University of Port Harcourt/History and Women and Gender Studies)

Omotayo Oloruntoba-Oju (Adekunle Ajasin University/African Literature)

Olabisi Yusuff (Lagos State University/Sociology and Women and Gender Studies)

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LSA/British Academy Alumni Workshop

The LSA has had a long collaboration with the British Academy, who have since 2018 generously funded writing and mentoring workshops at our conferences. This year, the LSA has again been awarded such funds for an alumni writing and mentoring workshop to convene previous cohorts of successful workshops alongside newer members. One part of this funding will be used to bring together members of previous and new cohorts of the Women’s Mentoring Network.

All the 24 mentees selected for the women’s mentoring program will receive 6 nights of hotel accommodation and 15 full meals during LSA 2023 (June 20-24). This will allow them to fully participate at the Conference and all the professional development sessions. The LSA Secretariat at Florida International University will provide resources, including access to books and articles, to aid the research of the mentees.

In addition, the British Academy grant will enable the LSA to run another mentoring and writing workshop, in which carefully selected LSA members will be paired with disciplinary mentors who will read and comment on drafts of their work. These participants will receive 10 nights of hotel accommodation and 30 full meals during LSA 2023 (June 20-24). The alumni scheme of the British Academy emphasizes the cumulative gains of community-building and inter-generational mentoring, and builds new cohorts of mentees as well as mentors. This ensures that our conference and our association create sustainable research cultures, which build on previous successes.

If you have any questions about the program, email LSA at: lagosstudiesassociation@gmail.com

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Distinguished Filmmaker Femi Odugbemi to give the Keynote Address of LSA 2023

The LSA is pleased to announce that Femi Odugbemi, one of Africa’s most respected filmmakers, will give the keynote address of the 7^th Annual Lagos Studies Association Conference (June 20-24).  His Keynote Address is titled, “Authenticity and the African Story.”

Odugbemi’s work epitomizes the finest in using the medium of film to challenge dominant representations and unveil neglected, yet crucial, aspects of everyday life on the African continent. His creative imprint shines through 7 highly successful feature films, including the award-winning “Maroko: Futures Afloat,” 3 short films, and 24 TV dramas (Soaps and Novellas), among others.

Over the years, he has worked consistently hard to pass his creative skills down to the younger generation. Between 2017 and 2021, he was the Director of the Multichoice Talent Factory (West Africa), an academy that attracts talented young Africans who receive top-notch practical and theoretical training in filmmaking from scholars and practitioners from across the world. The creative energy deployed at the Academy extends the frontier of African storytelling, built around global standards in filmmaking, and studio and content development technology. Graduates of the Academy receive a certificate jointly issued by the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos.

Odugbemi has received numerous awards and accolades for his distinguished career. In 2022, he was elected member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, organizer of the New York-based International Emmy Awards and the International Emmy Kids Awards. In 2020, he won the “Lifetime Achievement Award” of the Nigeria Film Society. The award recognizes “excellence and immeasurable contributions towards the growth of the film industry.”

Odugbemi received a Bachelor’s in film and television Production from Montana State University in the United States in 1984. Subsequently, he took advanced training in filmmaking across the world. He worked for several government and private film production companies, including the Nigeria Television Authority. He is co-founder and executive director of the iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival, the Founder and CEO of ZURI24, and the Provost of the Orange Academy in Lagos.

Odugbemi has attended every edition of the LSA Conference since 2017. Not only did he allow us to screen his award-winning documentary, “Makoko: Futures Afloat,” at LSA 2018, he participated in the lively discussion, moderated by LSA member Agina Anulika, that followed. At LSA 2019, he graciously read the citation of Jonathan Haynes, Nollywood pioneering scholar who won our Distinguished Scholar Award. At LSA 2022, Odugbemi screened his documentary, “Unmasking: Leadership, Trust and the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nigeria.” Led by LSA member Paul Ugor, the rich conversation that followed the screening gives critical meaning to the politics of controlling one of the biggest medical challenges of human history.

 

Preliminary Program of LSA 2023