Wednesday 2 October | Day 1

Time (AEST) Venue: 125-Multi-purpose Room, Level 1, Stop 1 Building (199).

08:30–09:00 Receptionopens

09:00 – 09:30

Introduction and Welcome

Speaker: Kofi Bediako, President of African Studies Group Host: Guido Melo, Vice President of African Studies Group

09:30 – 12:10

Masterclass: Agency through Personal Branding and Wealth Creation (in-person only)

Chair: Dr Matthew G. Mabefam, University of Melbourne

Lunch

Break

13:10 – 14:50

By the Fireside Conversation: Preserving Indigeneity Amidst Reimagining Agency.

Chair: Rebecca Nalwanga, Communications Officer, African Studies Group

15:05 – 15:30

Itan Iya Agba – The Old Woman Story

Speaker: Bosede Adetifa, Yoruba Language School Australia Ltd.

15:30 – 16:50

African Agency Debate: ‘African Solutions to African Problems’ is a convenient platitude with limited potential for real-world deliverables

Chair: Dr Godwin Kavaarpuo, University of Melbourne

Break

Venue: Harold White Theatre, Level 1, Stop 1 Building (199), Swanston Street.

17:30 – 19:00

Public Lecture: The Continuing Quest for Pax Africana: African Agency in a Changing World Order

Speaker: Prof Adekeye Adebajo, University of Pretoria Facilitator: Prof Bina Fernandez, University of Melbourne

Thursday 3 October | Day 2

Time (AEST)

08:30 – 09:00

Split Venues

Venue: Arts Hall (222), Level 2, Old Arts Building

Reception opens

Arts Hall, Level 2, Old Arts Building

Linkway, Level 4, John Medley Building

09:00 – 09:30

Introduction and Welcome

Host: Akachuku Onwuka, Member of African Studies Group

Opening Speech

Speaker: Prof Karen Farquharson, University of Melbourne

09:30 – 10:50

Academic Panel 1 ‘African Agency in Governance and Global Affairs’

Chair: Dr Matthew G. Mabefam, University of Melbourne

1. Research on the Path and Impact of East African Community's Participation in Global Education Governance

Ting Wang, Beijing Foreign Studies University

2. African Agency Depends on the Agency of the Continental Organisation: An Analysis Through a Historical Lens

Tesfaye Ayalew Mekonen, University of Queensland

3. ‘Seychelles: How Much International Agency?’

Prof Derek McDougall, University of Melbourne

4. Turkey's Africa Policy: Motivation, Implementation and Evaluation from the Perspective of the Global South

Yongtao Xiao, Shanghai University

Academic Panel 2 ‘African Epistemic Agency: Education and Empowerment in African Contexts’

Chair: Dr Moses Mensah, University of Melbourne

1. A decolonial critique of anti-colonial discourses in South African, Namibian and Zimbabwean school History textbooks

Dr Leevina M. Iyer, University of KwaZulu- Natal

2. Piloting an Experiential Planetary Health Learning Program for Young African Australians

Radhia Abdirahman, University of Melbourne

3. Afroenigmatism: Turkana West Education Hub as a game changer in higher education for refugees in Kenya.

Dr Valentine Mukuria, Australian Catholic University

4. Daring as Women - Gender analysis of Ghanaian women's conceptualisation of risk.

Ivy Eyram Sedzro, University of Melbourne

11:00 – 12:20

Break

Academic Panel 3 ‘African Agency in STEM: Advancing Knowledge and

Academic Panel 4 ‘Contesting Power and Identity: African Agency,

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Innovation 1’

Chair: Betty Chagina, Beyond Poverty Africa Network

1. Celebrating Africa’s Giants in STEM: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Development

Dr Eunice Abbey, University of Ghana

2. Evaluation of the In Vitro and In Vivo Antioxidant Activities of the Methanol Extract of Albizia adianthifolia (FABACEAE) Stem Bark.

Peter Ikechukwu Emmanuel University of Nigeria Nsukka

Co-authors: Emenalo Maureen Chinemerem, Isiogugu Ogechukwu Nnayelugo, Ofokansi Martha Nneoma, Mbaoji Florence Nwakaego, and Akachukwu M. Onwuka

3. Sub-Acute Toxicity Studies of Methanol Extract of Rhipsalis neves armondii on Renal Parameters and Serum Electrolytes in Wistar Rats

Abonyi Henry Nnabuike, University of Nigeri

Federalism, and Decolonial Discourses’

Chair: Bulukia Abdullah, University of Melbourne

1. Approaches to Accommodating Ethnonational Diversity in Africa: Exploring Skepticism on the Potential of Federalism

Kinkino K. Legide, University of Melbourne Law School

2. Towards a critical decolonial turn/theory: Beyond the binary of the West versus Africa

Dr Richard Fosu, Monash University

3. Contesting Agency: The Dynamics of Liberia’s Engagement with International Actors During its TRC

Kofi Bediako, University of Melbourne

4. An ontological injustice towards indigenous justice systems: the case of traditional witchcraft -related conflict management mechanisms and the laws of Ghana

Dr Issah Wumbla, University of Melbourne

Lunch

13:15 – 14:35

Academic Panel 5 ‘African Agency in STEM: Advancing Knowledge and Innovation 2’

Chair: Dorcas Serwaa, University of Melbourne

1. Harnessing Natural Products as Alternative Therapy

Akachukwu Marytheresa Onwuka, University of Melbourne

2. Sub-Saharan Africa’s Transition into the Knowledge Economy.

Dr Surjeet D. Dhanji, University of Melbourne

Dr Anand Kulkarni, Economist and Independent Consultant

3. My Life Story as a Refugee and an African Woman in STEM

Misky Mohammed Noor, University of Melbourne

Academic Panel 6 ‘African Epistemic Agency and Knowledge Production’

Chair: Dr Franka Vaughan, University of Melbourne

1. African Agency in a Changing World: Embracing Opportunities and Navigating Challenges

Youssouf DIALLO, Cheikh Anta Diop, University of Dakar

2. Antiracism in Everyday Life: African Australian Self-Representations Online.

Prof Karen Farquharson, University of Melbourne

Co-Authors: Ivy Sedzro, University of Melbourne and Farida Fozdar, Curtin University

3. Rhythm and Ritual of the Guewel: Exploring an Ancient Metaphysical Knowledge System Through Practice-

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Based Research

Lamine Sonko, University of Melbourne.

4. The evolution of the status of French in Francophone West African countries: a case study on linguistic policy changes in Mali

Guo Yuting Beijing Foreign Studies University

5. Reimagining Multilingualism and Super-diversity - Decolonising linguistics from a Global South Perspective in Accra, Ghana

Bulukia Abdullah, University of Ghana

14:35 – 14:45

Break

14:45 – 16:05

Academic Panel 7 ‘African Agency in Transnational Business Dynamics’

Chair: Vincent Dogbey, University of Melbourne

1. Empowering African Agency: The Impact of Wenzhou Businessmen in China's State-Private Partnerships in Africa

Han Wang, Renmin University of China

2. Pilgrimage to Prosperity: Business Trajectories and Networking Strategies of Transnational Sub-Saharan African Women Traders in Guangzhou, China.

Xin Xie, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

3. These Chinese are Not the Chinese of Rupiah Banda: State-Owned Enterprises, Chinese Subcontractors and the Changing Nature of Zambians’ Understandings of ‘The Chinese’

Dr Thomas McNamara, La Trobe University

4. Diasporan Real Estate Investments as Agency in African Markets

Dr Godwin Kavaarpuo, University of Melbourne

Academic Panel 8 ‘African Agency in Agriculture, Resources, and Trade’

Chair: Akachuku Onwuka, University of Melbourne

1. Taking into Account of Rural Customary Laws in the Statutory Legislation of Land Tenure in Cote d’Ivoire

Yeo Tchelougi Salimata, Université Alassane Ouattara (Bouaké) Côte d'Ivoire

2. Outcomes of Large-Scale Land Acquisition for Communal Landholders: A Case Study of the Atebubu-Amanten Municipality, Ghana

Kwasi Sarfo, University of Cape Town

3. Transcultural, Interdisciplinary and Coevolutionary History: African Veterinarians in the Making of Animal Husbandry Services in the Colony of Senegal and the AOF (1918-1960)

Honglai Chen, Tsinghua University

4. ‘When I work with other women, I gain my individual freedom’: Rural Women Working Together in Agricultural Collectives in Northern Benin

Dr Rijak Grover, University of Cambridge, Department of Sociology

Break

9

Venue: Arts Hall (222), Level 2, Old Arts Building

16:20 – 17:15

Academic Panel 9 ‘African Agency in Entertainment, Art, Culture, and Community Building’

Chair: Dr Damilola Ayeni, Swinburne University of Technology

1. Whispers of Earth, Voices of Women: Mozambican Female Resistance Writing in O Alegre Canto da Perdiz

Yongqi Zeng, SOAS University of London

2. ‘Policing at the Speed of Trust’: Interacting with Trauma-Impacted Youth

Tebeje Molla, Deakin University

3. Restorative Practice, Ubuntu Worldview, and Community Building

A/Prof Diana Johns, University of Melbourne

Mamadou Diamanka, CEO of Australian African Foundation for Retention and Opportunity (AAFRO)

4. Stories of Triumph: African Agency in the Fight Against Child Exploitation Fay Matete, Destiny Rescue

17:15 – 17:30

Academic Day’s Closing Remark and Message about Community Day Activities

Speaker: Dr Matthew G. Mabefam, University of Melbourne

Panel 2, 4, 6, and 8 take place in Linkway, Level 4, John Medley Building (191). Reception on day 2 and all other panels and speeches take place in Arts Hall, Level 2, Old Arts Building (222).

Friday 4 October | Day 3

Time (AEST)

10:00 – 10:20

Venue: Market Hall, Frank Tate Building (189).

Reception opens

10:20 – 10:30

Introduction

Host: Dr Issah Wumbla, University of Melbourne

Welcome to Country

Wurundjeri Man Thane Garvey

10:30 – 11:30

Community Panel ‘Navigating Community Building Challenges and Cultural Expressions: Racism, Justice, Art, and Education’

Chair: Dr Surjeet Dhanji, University of Melbourne
1. Unpacking Racism – a deep dive into whiteness

Dr Georgia Birch, independent cultural consultant

2. Understanding the Youth Justice Issues for African Australian Youth

Chuol Puot (for Alor Deng), Department of Justice, Victoria.

3. In Pursuit of Education and Agency: Immigrant Children and Path Empowerment

Akoi Stephen Arok, Djerriwarrh Community and Education Services

11:30 – 12:05

Film Screening: DEUP Exploring ancient metaphysical knowledge through multi- artforms

Olive Moynihan and Lamine Sonko, 13.12 Arts

12:05 – 12:20

Performance: Ghanian Drumming

Lunch 12:35–13:05 UgandanDanceGroup(concurrentlywith lunch)

12:20 – 12:35

Official Speeches Chancellery and EAWF

13:35 – 14:05 14:05 – 14:35 14:35 – 14:50

13:05 – 13:35

Showcase: African Fashion Show Performance: Somali Dance Group

Performance: Akeza-Burundian Dance Group

Music Performance: Jonathan Jr & Fidele (Concurrently with lunch)

Concurrently with:

Community expo activities, including the Food truck, stalls for community-based organisations and businesses, weaving demonstration and henna painting by

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14:50 – 15:05

Snuff Puppets – parade / 15 mins dialogue

Performance: St Paul’s Lutheran Church Choir

East African Women’s Foundation (EAWF), traditional African hairdo with Lilibeth, ‘Puff Bites’ by Alice Musafiri, Congolese handmade clothing and accessories by Muisha Zawadi Sarah, Photobooth (Space for traditional costumes and picture taking) and African learning African phrases with ASG and EAWF.

15:05 – 15:3

15:35 – 16:03

Performance: Afro-Caribbean Music and Dance

16:03 – 16:05

Closing Remarks

18:30–21:00 Conference Dinner

The conference dinner starts at 18:30 at Ge’ez Restaurant, 718 Sydney Road, Brunswick 3056. Registration is required.

The Eventbrite link for registration is available here