Theme: Homestead and Homeland: Identity, Diaspora, and the Reimagining of Ancestral Roots

“Onye na-amaghị ebe mmiri bidoro mawa ya, agaghị ama ebe ọ kwụsịrị ịma ya.”

(If you do not know where the rain started beating you, you cannot know where it stopped.)

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

The Igbo Studies Association (ISA) invites proposals for individual papers, organized panels, and roundtables from scholars, professionals, practitioners, graduate students, and community leaders whose work engages Igbo Studies, the African diaspora, or comparative African and global questions directly related to the conference theme.

The concept of the homestead occupies a central place in Igbo social, cultural, and spiritual life and resonates broadly across African societies. More than a physical dwelling, the homestead embodies memory, heritage, kinship, identity, ancestry, and belonging. The 2027 ISA Conference explores the evolving meanings of ụlọ—home, house, household, and place of belonging—as well as the broader concepts of homestead, homeland, and belonging among Igbo people in Nigeria and across the diaspora.

The conference asks not only what constitutes a homeland, but also how the more intimate idea of the homestead—household, compound, lineage space, ancestral land, village, and community—continues to shape belonging in an age of mobility, urbanization, migration, and global diaspora.

While centered on the Igbo experience, the conference welcomes comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives on how African and global communities understand home, homeland, identity, migration, and community. We seek contributions that examine how connections to homeland are preserved, contested, transformed, and reimagined across generations and geographies.

The conference provides a forum for critical dialogue on ancestral roots, cultural heritage, migration, language, land, religion, media, gender, economics, transnational networks, and the enduring significance of homesteads and homelands in shaping contemporary identities and experiences.

Suggested Topics Include, but Are Not Limited To:

• Homeland, identity, and belonging
• Igbo migration and transnational communities
• Igbo and African homesteads and Indigenous concepts of place
• Ụlọ, ama, obodo, ala, and Indigenous conceptions of home and homeland
• Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Governance, Being, and Cultural Preservation
• Language and linguistics
• Heritage, and cultural transmission
• Diaspora engagement, return migration, homecoming, and homeland connections
• Land, environment, agriculture, and community development
• Architecture, compounds, housing, and changing forms of the Igbo homestead
• Urbanization and changing relationships between village and city
• Religion, spirituality, sacred geographies, burial, and ancestral belonging
• Gender, family, and kinship networks
• Memory, oral traditions, and historical narratives
• Literature, criticism, film, media, and cultural representation
• Youth, education, and identity formation
• Indigenous knowledge systems and cultural preservation
• Digital technologies, social media, and virtual homelands
• Economics, remittances, entrepreneurship, and homeland development
• Citizenship, indigeneity, ancestry, and belonging
• Conflict, displacement, reconstruction, and homeland
• Comparative perspectives on African and global diasporas
• Arts, performance, foodways, and expressions of belonging

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Abstracts and proposals should clearly state the purpose or research question, approach or methodology, and significance of the proposed presentation. Submissions should be original and directly relevant to the conference theme or to Igbo Studies more broadly. All abstracts must be formatted according to the ISA Abstract Template, available at https://igbostudies.org/pages/abstract-template/.

• Individual Papers: Submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, together with the paper title, author’s name, institutional or organizational affiliation, email address, and a brief biography of no more than 100 words.
• Organized Panels: Submit a panel overview of no more than 300 words, together with the panel title, the title and abstract of each proposed paper, and a brief biography for each participant.
• Roundtables: Submit a description of no more than 300 words identifying the central issue or question to be discussed, the proposed format, and the names and brief biographies of all participants.
• Languages: Proposals and presentations may be in English or Igbo. Submissions that engage Igbo-language materials, concepts, texts, or cultural expressions are especially encouraged.
• Presentation Mode: The conference will be held in a hybrid format. Accepted presenters may participate in person in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria, or online via Zoom, subject to the final conference schedule and technical arrangements.
• Submission Deadline: All proposals must be submitted by December 31, 2026.