International conference that marks the culmination of the KNOW.AFRICA Project and will critically examine how cross-cultural encounters and local actors contributed to the production of knowledge about Africa.

Knowing Africa: Entanglements, colonialism and its legacies

The International Conference Knowing Africa: Entanglements, colonialism and its legacies will take place from 13 to 15 January 2027 at the University of Évora, organised by the following organisations: Instituto de História Contemporânea (IHC) da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa; IN2PAST ; Universidade de Évora; Projeto KNOW.AFRICA (https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.01599.PTDC)

This three-day international conference marks the culmination of the KNOW.AFRICA Project (https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.01599.PTDC) and will bring together scholars from the history of science, anthropology, museum studies, African studies, imperial and colonial history, biology, visual culture, and related fields to critically examine how cross-cultural encounters and local actors contributed to the production of knowledge about Africa.

Call for papers

We particularly welcome submissions that engage with, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Methodological approaches to archival research in colonial and formerly colonized contexts;
• Ethical challenges in field-based research within the social sciences and humanities, including community engagement, protocols for the collection and use of materials, and practices of acknowledgement and attribution;
• Invisibilities, silences, and untold histories, including those of local actors, collections, archives, and knowledge systems;
• Cross-cultural encounters, exchanges, and processes of knowledge production;
• Science communication and public engagement in schools, local communities, and citizen science initiatives.

Submission period: 17 July 2026

Registration is free but mandatory, and proposals may be submitted via the following link.

>>Download the call for papers (PDF) <<