Three of Africa’s leading Rhetoric and Decolonization Professors will be keynote speakers at this year’s 8th International African Association for Rhetoric (AAR) conference hosted by Durban University of Technology’s (DUT) Faculty of Arts and Design (FoAD) in collaboration with the African Association for Rhetoric (AAR).
Professor Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Professor Elelwani Ramugondo and Professor Tichaenzana Andrew Manyawu, will speak at the three-day conference which will take place at DUT Hotel School Conference Centre at the Ritson Campus from 8-10 August 2018.
FoAD’s Post-Doctoral Fellow and conference convener, Dr Rufus Adebayo said this year’s conference will include a postgraduate symposium component exhilarated by initiatives that are postgraduate student-centered, emerging researchers and early career lecturers.
Prior to the main conference from 6-7 August 2018, the AAR will host a two-day maiden doctoral and postdoctoral seminar designed as part of the activities to flag off its 2018 annual conference.
The two-day intense research seminar which is themed, “Interdisciplinary Research, Innovation, and the Next Generation African Scholar” will take place at DUT Hotel School Conference Centre at the Ritson Campus.
Called the “AAR Summer Institute 2018” the seminar will be facilitated by Professor Pius Adesanmi, Director, Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; Professor Jairos Kangira, Dean, Faculty of Humanities, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia; Professor Tarez Graban, Florida State University, USA; and Dr Paulene Naidoo, Department of Public Relations Management, Durban University of Technology.
The main conference will be hosted under the theme, “The Rhetoric and Language of Decolonisation in Africa: Challenges and Prospects,” which the AAR has found relevant and timely, given the legacy of colonial rule across the African continent.
“When it comes to choosing a topic for this conference, we had the difficult task of finding the right balance between mass appeal and niche focus of the university. However, we hope that scholars that will attend this conference from different parts of the world will keep their personal profiles active in a specific field,” said Dr Adebayo.
He also added that, they hope to create platforms for networking in order to give people a chance to share ideas and discuss relevant issues.
The AAR has a well-known reputation for its annual conference series, since its establishment in 2007. The association seeks to discover rhetoric and language intermediate in the decolonisation processes in Africa; it also attempts to bring together rhetoricians, diplomats, scholars, researchers, government operatives and industry professionals to contribute to the conversation on the suggested conference theme for this year.
For more information on the AAR Summer Institute 2018 or the year’s 8th International African Association for Rhetoric (AAR) conference may contact Dr Rufus Adebayo rufusa@dut.ac.za / 031 373 6422.
Pictured: Professor Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni who will be one of the speakers at the 8th International African Association for Rhetoric (AAR) conference.
Nasiphi Gigaba
