This panel on Afrofeminisms provides the space to examine what it means to be working on, and (self) positioned in relation to, African feminisms.
The panelists will speak about their research and their experiences of crafting and contributing to a field of scholarship that attempts to make transnational links between the diaspora and Africa, as well as beyond.
Speakers:
Dr. Yolande Bouka - Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. She is an interdisciplinary scholar and practitioner with deep theoretical and methodological roots in critical international relations. Her research and teaching focus on gender, violence, decoloniality, race and international relations, and African affairs. The key questions driving her multidisciplinary research agenda is how vulnerable groups understand and navigate structural and political violence and how these experiences influence the post-conflict social and political landscapes. Her research has received support from the Fulbright Scholar Program, the American Association of University Women, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Simidele Dosekun - Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research centres black African women to explore questions of gender, race, subjectivity and power in a global context. She is the author of Fashioning Postfeminism: Spectacular Femininity and Transnational Culture (University of Illinois Press, 2020), and co-editor of African Luxury: Aesthetics and Politics (Intellect Books, 2019). Her work has appeared in Feminist Media Studies, Feminism and Psychology, and Feminist Africa, among other journals. Her current research concerns the Nigerian feminist hashtag campaign, ‘#BeingFemaleinNigeria.’
Toni Haastrup - Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling. She is interested in the gender dynamics and processes of change within regional security institutions. Toni's current research examines the practices and implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the African and European Unions. In addition to teaching on international security issues, she is also Editor in Chief of the Journal of Common Market Studies and co-convener of UACES Research Network, Gendering EU Studies.
Peace A. Medie - Senior Lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol. She is the author of Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa (Oxford University Press, 2020), and the novel, His Only Wife (Algonquin Books, 2020).
Chair:
Dr Marsha Henry - Associate Professor at the Department of Gender Studies. Dr Henry was a founding member of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security where she served as Deputy Director from 2015-2018 and as Interim Director for the academic Year 2018-19. Dr Henry's research interests focus on gender and development, gender and militarisation, and qualitative methodologies. Over the past 12 years, her research interests have been concentrated on documenting the social experiences of living and working in peacekeeping missions. Her recent research focusses on peacekeepers from the Global South.
This online public event is free and open to all but pre-registration is required. Click here to register for this event. The event will be held on Zoom.