The Berbers and Other Minorities in North Africa: A Cultural Reappraisal

Berber culture and the cultures of historically rooted North African minority groups (Jewish, Coptic, Turkish, among others) are not common foci of study in higher education. These cultures also remain shadowed in public discourse and in public policy. The same cultures have existed and thrived for a long period of time under the dominance of successive colonial powers in North Africa. Unfortunately, there is still a huge misunderstanding and a knowledge-gap regarding the diversity that constitutes the richness of a large region, situated between the East and the West and between Europe and Africa.

This conference's purpose is to promote a clearer comprehension of the complexity of these North African cultures. It will situate them in space (from Egypt to the Canary Islands) and in time (from early history to the present) within the larger dynamics of successive colonial epochs.

The conference will be free and open to the public. The opening day will include a keynote lecture by a scholar in the field, an art exhibit, a North African dinner and a musical performance by a Kabyle (Berber) band.

The organizers of this interdisciplinary Conference invite all papers related to the theme of minority cultures in North Africa. Presentations are accepted in both French and English. Topics may include (but not limited to):

Literary, Linguistic and Artistic Expression
The Minority Culture in Film and Literature
The Historical Memory of Inter-Communal Relations in North Africa
Cultural Boundaries and Hybridity in North Africa
Historiography and Ethnography


Submissions:
Please submit a 1- page abstract (French or English) by December 1, 2004