Welcome

Dear Delegates,

On behalf of the ECAS 2025 local organising committee, it is our great pleasure to welcome you to the 10th European Conference of African Studies which will take place from 25 to 28 June 2025 in Prague.

Building on the success of the previous ECAS conferences, the theme for ECAS 2025 – African, Afropolitan, and Afropean Belongings and Identities – highlights new challenges in embracing the complexities and ambiguities of our interconnected world, and in conceptualising multiple trajectories, constructions, expressions, and performances of social realities related to Africa and Africans. The topic reflects the tremendous heterogeneity in the approaches of African studies scholars to the study of in-between spaces in historical and contemporary African, Afropolitan and Afropean realities.

For the first time in the history of ECAS, this conference’s venue is located in one of the post-communist Visegrad countries – in the Czech Republic, known as the heart of Europe.

ECAS 2025 marks the anniversary of twenty years since the first ECAS conference in London in 2005. The 20th anniversary of ECAS will give us a great opportunity to look retrospectively at African studies in Europe, and more generally over the past two decades, while also providing new insights into the future development in the field. We will do our best to design a challenging programme of keynote speakers, plenary and roundtable sessions, film screenings, book displays focusing on African studies, and cultural and artistic events. We hope that this will be an unforgettable and inspiring experience for all of us, both scientifically and socially.

Being the flagship activity of AEGIS (the European African Studies Association), ECAS is the largest and most prestigious conference in the field of African studies in Europe and Africa. This conference is of equal, if not greater, importance for the Czech Republic, which has a long-standing tradition of African studies and can be proud of a number of world-renowned Africanists. The history of African studies goes back to the 1960s, with Charles University Prague playing an important role. Today, several Czech universities are engaged in multi-disciplinary research on Africa, especially the University of Hradec Kralove, the seat of the CAAS.

It is our pleasure to welcome you in Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. Prague is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, rich in architectural monuments and historical sites. It became the TOP 10 ICCA – World ‘s 5th Most Popular Destination in 2023. Moreover, in 2022 Prague ranked 7th among the most popular congress cities in the world.

The primary venue for the main activities of the conference will be the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, one of the oldest universities in the world (founded in 1348), located right at the historical city centre with a view of Prague Castle. We hope that the atmosphere of the beautiful city of Prague will complement the pleasure of the conference and offer lasting memories beyond science.

We would like to express our gratitude to AEGIS for giving us the honour to host this conference, and for the confidence AEGIS has placed in the main organiser of ECAS 2025, the Czech Association for African Studies (CAAS). This is a Czech Republic-wide scholarly organisation for academics and graduates in African studies as well as others with a scholarly interest in Africa. The CAAS has been an AEGIS associated member since 2015, and in 2017, the CAAS was voted unanimously to become the main organiser of ECAS 2025 at the AEGIS plenary session.

The conference will be supported by Guarant, contracted to provide all the necessary conference management services. Guarant is a Prague-based professional conference organiser with multiple, long-term experience in organising large international congresses. Guarant provides a high level of expertise and professionalism, and will be fully responsible for all technical, practical and financial aspects of the conference, IT and communication, the conference website, registration, and catering and accommodation of participants. The conference would not be possible without the support from our various sponsors, such as Prague Municipality, and the engagement with relevant state/public institutions, such as the Association of African Embassies in Prague, various cultural organisations, commercial enterprises and local NGOs.

In addition to the thematic focus, ECAS 2025 also wants to contribute to further decolonisation in African studies. It therefore welcomes methodologically innovative, pluriversal and critically reflective perspectives that can help reform and advance our ways of thinking of and about Africa and allows for the transcendence of disciplinary boundaries.

We hope that the conference will stimulate scholarship on Africa from around the world to present innovative and significant research in diverse academic fields. ECAS 2025 will give you an opportunity to share research experiences and results, discuss challenges revolving around African studies, and to establish effective new academic research collaborations. You will also have fun while taking part in numerous cultural program activities dedicated to African studies.

By hosting the ECAS 2025 conference in Prague, the CAAS proudly demonstrates its commitment to African scholarship. One of the basic premises in the preparation of all ECAS conferences to date is a strong commitment to support the participation of Africa-based scholars, by providing a scholarship fund for those financially challenged to cover the purchase of air tickets, visas and/or accommodation at the conference venue. This kind of support will be provided by the main organiser of the conference based on available external sources.

See you in Prague in June 2025!

Hana Horáková

Chair of the 10^th ECAS Local Organising Committee