The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) Publishing Workshop

The MIASA Publishing Workshop for African scholars, jointly organised by Africa Spectrum (published by the GIGA Institute for African Affairs) and the Contemporary Journal of African Studies (published by the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana), will take place virtually on 21 and 22 October 2021. The workshop will also benefit from collaboration with the African Studies Association of Africa.

Objectives and Workshop Programme

The publishing workshop is designed to provide African scholars with in-depth feedback on advanced research papers with the aim of facilitating their submission to Africa Spectrum, the Contemporary Journal of African Studies, or another suitable journal that centres on the study of Africa. Workshop mentoring will be provided by experienced editors and associate editors of Africa Spectrum and the Contemporary Journal of African Studies.

The editors will share their insights into editorial work to demystify the submission and review process of both journals and discuss publication strategies with the participants. The workshop will also enable participants to reflect on, discuss, and rethink imbalances in academic knowledge production on Africa. The two-day programme will combine reflections and plenary discussions with one-on-one feedback and mentoring.

To facilitate participation in the publishing workshop, successful applicants can be reimbursed for costs for internet access for the duration of the workshop.

Deadline and Eligibility

The application deadline is 15 July 2021. Successful applicants will be notified in early September. Applicants should have an advanced research paper already composed. We invite applications from scholars at any level of their academic careers who are employed at a recognised university or research institute in sub-Saharan Africa, and whose paper meets the following criteria:

• it offers original research on the politics, societies, economics of Africa or on other questions of Global Africa;
• it provides excellent, theoretically relevant, and methodologically rigorous research that promotes knowledge from an African-centred perspective.

All papers must be submitted in English, and successful applicants must be fluent in written and spoken English as there will be no translation during the workshop.

Application Documents

The application must include the following:

• a 150-word abstract of the research paper;
• a 3-page proposal outlining the research question, its relationship to current debates, theoretical approaches, methods, and (preliminary) results of the research paper; and
• the applicant’s CV with a maximum length of 5 pages.

Scholars can apply using this link. We encourage applicants not to submit their application on the last day of the deadline to avoid any possible technical difficulties.

Inquiries should be directed to julia.grauvogel@giga-hamburg.de.