African Youth Arise!
Disruptive Paradigms for the Young Continent
Pennsylvania State Pan-African Professional Alliance (PAN-APA)
3rd Annual Conference 2019
Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania
April 27th, 2019
Call for Proposals With 60 percent of its population under the age of 25 and a median age of 18, Africa is the youngest continent. In comparison, only 27 percent of the European population is under the age of 25 and the median age in North America is 35.
This ‘youth bulge’ is often depicted as a problem and a contributor to social unrest, due to negative imaginaries about youth. Yet, young people have historically and continue to provide strategies to address societal problems. Our low expectations of young people and the minimal investment we put into them have had detrimental effects on their livelihood and society’s ability reap this demographic dividend.
The PAN-APA Conference 2019 hopes to ‘disrupt’ current paradigms that posit the problem of youth development in Africa—including the immigrant crisis, conflict, brain drain, youth unemployment, illiteracy, trafficking of humans, sexual abuse, population explosion—and create new paradigms for the possibility of an African Renaissance, driven by the impetus of youth potential, creativity and exuberance. We seek to tap into the culture, talent and history of the African continent, harnessing the energy of young people to foster excellence in collective actions to propel us forward!
Source: Public Radio International (2014) using CIA Factbook data
In line with our theme, the conference will take a collaborative and interactive format, encouraging participants to pose innovative solutions, fostering dialogue and creating strategic networks that will continue work after the conference. All papers will feed into strategic sessions on the second day of the conference with the aim to forge networks and collaborations for future work. PAN-APA 2019 is accepting proposals for contributions for the following sessions:
Workshop Session: The workshop sessions aim to help graduate students to thrive in their personal and professional lives, covering areas like wellness, work-life balance, career and professional development. The proposal should include a description of the workshop and the qualification of the workshop trainer, including their experiences with conducting sessions of this nature in the past.
Creative Arts Interludes: Creative art interludes will be dispersed throughout the day to add a cultural dimension to the conference. This can include musical pieces, poetry or dance performances. Submissions must include a description of the piece. It is highly recommended to also attach an audio or visual file to previous performances that are related to the call, where applicable.
General Session (Individual Papers): Each individual paper should be presented in an interactive format and should not take more than 10 minutes. Full papers and presentations must be submitted by April 12th, 2019. The paper should include 1) description of the problem/issue, 2) research questions/hypothesis 3) research methods 4) theory/theories guiding the study where applicable 5) findings/input sought 6) questions/areas for input. Individual papers will be assigned to a panel session and a strategy session which will focus on creating solutions and networks that will build on the ideas discussed at the conference. Please note that this conference focuses on creating solutions and strategies to address pressing issues. All papers must include suggestions/solutions to existing problems. Papers will feed into ‘strategic sessions’ to foster future collaboration projects.
Submissions should be no longer than 500 words. In addition to satisfying the requirements of the individual session formats, submissions must go beyond describing existing problems. Preference will be given to proposals that can inspire interactive conversations around solutions. Proposals will undergo a blind peer-review via an online submission system. Multiple submissions are allowed. PANAPA especially encourages innovative presentation styles and interdisciplinary approaches.
Deadline (EXTENDED!) : Submit your proposal online at https://sites.psu.edu/panapa/pan-apa- 2019-conference/ . The Conference if FREE. Participants are highly encouraged to wear traditional African outfits.
Benefits from participating in the conference include: mentoring breakfast with Africana faculty; online publication of conference proceedings; opportunities for networking, social events and strategic alliances.
Questions and scheduling requests can be sent to panapapsu@gmail.com.