Historical Background

Despite the immeasurable contribution of Humanities disciplines in shaping people’s cultures, histories and holistic growth, their marginalization in Africa continues.

There is less recognition of the fact that humanities scholars can provide solutions to the socio-cultural challenges and problems facing Africa today and in the future.In some limited circumstances where interventions have happened, it is evident that there is a bright future in humanities. Indeed, it is likely that inclusive studies of African societies guide a self-understanding and determination to understand and sustainably utilize their cultures, histories, philosophies, languages, means of communication, and creativity. For instance, some ten years ago, the University of Dar es Salaam established a College of Humanities to champion research, training and serving African societies for inclusive growth. Despite this development, questions for inquiry remain. For instance, what can we learn from the past and how can we use it to plan for humanities disciplines’ growth today and in the future? What lessons can scholars learn from the global north and the global south that help us to enhance inclusive growth within our communities? What theories and methodologies apply to build strong African humanities? What sorts of institutional, legal and policy frameworks to champion to improve the learning, teaching, and practice of humanities in Africa? Can collaboration among the humanities disciplines result in improved teaching, learning and practice of humanities?

As part of celebrating the Tin anniversary, the College of Humanities (COHU) of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, welcomes colleagues from around the world to join and look for answers to these and many other related questions in a conference to be held from 13th to 15th September 2023. The conference is international and open to students, scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. The conference is guided by the theme Celebrating African Humanities for Inclusive Growth. With this theme, we anticipate bringing together scholars from a wide range of humanities disciplines, including linguistics, archaeology, creative arts, history, literature, philosophy, communication, and media studies, to name but a few. A breakdown of these focus areas in the humanities disciplines is provided in the following sub-themes