African Students Organization

African Students Organization's 9th Annual Forum

Theme - Africa Rising: The role of Intellectuals?

Africa's long walk towards self-reliance has been a subject of on-going debate since the advent of political independence. African intellectuals within Africa itself and especially in the African Diaspora have been both the critics of past political practices in the continent and the recipients of such criticisms for their complicity in the mismanagement of state affairs. Others are criticized for their inaction in the face of deteriorating, instead of improving, socio-economic conditions (For series of biting criticisms on African intellectuals, see African Intellectuals: Rethinking Politics, Language, Gender and Development (2005), edited by Thandika Mkandawire; Zed Books). Where do we, as African intellectuals in the mid-west, stand in this defining debate?

Guest Speakers:Paul T Zeleza, Tom Bassett,Teresa Barnes, Anta Sane, Mary Thompson, Emmanuel Nuesiri

Sponsors: African students Organization at the UIUC (ASO-UIUC), SORF, Center for African Studies (CAS), Social Dimensions for Environmental Policy (SDEP)

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