<html><head></head><body><div class="ydpf62a6ad0yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div dir="ltr" data-setdir="false"><p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%">Technology and Material Culture in
African History:<br>
Challenges and Potentials for Research and Teaching</span></b></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="EN-US">An
international conference, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, January 4 – 8, 2023</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span lang="EN-US">Call for Papers and Roundtables</span></i></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The conference seeks to consolidate and
foster the further development of history of technology and material culture in
Africa. By gathering scholars from Tanzania and across Africa, as well as
colleagues from other continents, the conference will demonstrate the
discipline’s high degree of relevance—to the research and teaching of history
and adjacent fields, as well as to contemporary political agendas. The
organizers wish to use this event to discuss how historians of technology and
material culture may contribute to the writing of a “usable past” for further
generations.</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The organizers invite historians, archaeologists,
anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, and urban scholars to discuss the
potentials of interdisciplinary and international collaboration around present intellectual,
social, technological, and environmental challenges in Africa and globally. In
the recent past, African countries have increased citizens’ access to up-to-date
mobility and communication technologies—electric household items, mobile phones,
and engine-driven vehicles. As the variety of terms indicates—<i>daladala</i>, <i>matatu</i>, <i>tro tros</i>, <i>bodaboda</i>, <i>bajaji</i>, and so on—artifacts are not just simply imported, but constantly
modified to fit local circumstances and needs. By and large, however, a
historical understanding of these processes of domestication and reinvention is
still lacking. That present-day historians of technology do not limit
themselves to the study of modern, Western machines and systems, but include broader
aspects of (pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial) “material culture,” also
means the discipline plays a central role both in research projects and teaching
programs.</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">There have been growing initiatives to
integrate Africa into the global history of technology and material culture,
but such efforts rarely focus on teaching. Considering the ongoing curricular
review at African universities, it is a pressing concern to discuss the
potentials of including the history of technology and material culture in
Bachelor and Masters programs. The organizers are convinced that the discipline
of history needs to include an African perspective and showcase Africa’s contribution
to global history of technology and material culture. Therefore, the conference
focuses on policies, practices, and use to rethink the historiographic role
played by material artifacts and systems. We believe there is a certain urgency
in researching, writing, and teaching the history of technology and material
culture from a truly African perspective. The organizers hope that the workshop
will provide important additions to the nationalist and materialist views which
have dominated African history research, writing, and teaching since
independence. </span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">By giving participants an opportunity to
discuss existing research projects and teaching programs, the organizers aim at
laying the foundation for an international network of historians of technology
and material culture in Africa. We thus ask interested teachers and researchers
from Africa and beyond to contribute with standard workshop sessions and
papers, roundtable discussions, and further innovative formats. Proposals may
be on any thematic area in history of technology and material culture, for
example:</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The place of technology and
material culture in the teaching of African history</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The political “usefulness” of
technological and material history</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Gender and material culture in
African history</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Craft
technologies (e.g., basketry, carpentry, weaving, pottery, metal working). </span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Farming,
fishing, and hunting technologies</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">The adoption of material
objects (e.g., cars, bicycles, electronic and domestic appliances)</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Infrastructure histories (e.g.,
transportation, water, power, sanitation)</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Repair and maintenance cultures</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 35.7pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span>-<span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span>Archaeological
evidence</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal"><span><br>
</span><span lang="EN-US">Please submit 300-word proposals and one-page CVs to
Emanuel L. Mchome at <span class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoHyperlink">emanuellukio@yahoo.com</span> or
Frank Edward at <a href="mailto:f38edward@yahoo.co.uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">f38edward@yahoo.co.uk</a>.</span></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span lang="EN-US">no later than August 31, 2022.</span></b></p>
<p class="ydp5e0eaa8cMsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">This unique event will be organized by the
History Department at University of Dar es Salaam in collaboration with the
ERC-funded research project “A Global History of Technology, 1850-2000” at the Technical
University of Darmstadt in Germany, the Society for the History of Technology
(SHOT), and the Foundation for the History of Technology in the Netherlands.
The event will take place on site in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Lodging and main meals
are provided by the organizers; a one-day excursion is also included. Participants
from Africa are invited to apply for travel grants. Selected applicants will be
notified Sept. 15, 2022, and they will be requested to submit preliminary conference
papers (min. 2,500 words) by Nov. 15, 2022. Representatives of leading
scientific journals will be present at the event.</span></p></div><div class="ydpf62a6ad0signature"><div style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><font color="#8fca40" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - <br></font><div style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><font color="#8fca40">Frank Edward</font></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><font size="2" face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" color="#8fca40"><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-V-Pn24AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google Scholar</a></font></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><span><span></span></span><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div><font color="#8fca40"><br></font></div><div><font color="#8fca40"><br></font></div></div><div style="display:none;" id="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_container" class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_container ydpfc913cb1notranslate"><div class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_click2call"><a id="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_click2call_action" class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_click2call_action">Call</a></div><div class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_click2sms"><a id="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_click2sms_action" class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_click2sms_action">Send SMS</a></div><div class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_add2skype"><a id="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_add2skype_text" class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_add2skype_text">Add to Skype</a></div><div class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_toll_info"><span class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_toll_callcredit">You'll need Skype Credit</span><span class="ydpfc913cb1skype_c2c_menu_toll_free">Free via Skype</span></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>