About the Journal

Africana Annual

In the archives of the Department of African & African-American Studies (AAAS) at the University of Kansas (KU) is a 1973 letter from the International Secretariat of the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (known also as “FESTAC” or “FESTAC ‘77”) formally inviting the University of Kansas “which is already renowned for the importance it attaches to African studies and research […] and for the quality of […] publications” to attend FESTAC and contribute to the “success of the colloquium” on “Black Civilization and Education.” As a world festival, FESTAC was a periodic homecoming of peoples of African ancestry in its widest sense in order to celebrate their various artistic, cultural, intellectual, and myriad contributions to the world and world civilization. The African Annual (a Journal of African and African Diasporic Studies) aspires to accomplish on a smaller scale what FESTAC and its predecessor have done periodically on a larger scale. It is an international, peer-reviewed academic journal established by AAAS at KU (an intensive research university and member of the select group of distinguished universities admitted to the AAU) to publish once a year, some of the intellectual, educational, cultural, artistic, literary, and humanistic accomplishments and contributions of, and about, Africa and the African Diaspora, and as part of the global and international community. The journal thus invites articles from all parts of the world.

The journal is intentionally interdisciplinary in nature to accommodate many fields and branches of research and knowledge as long as their diverse contributions find a thematic and epistemological relationship to Africa and its far-flung Diaspora. While this encompasses the more traditional and established studies in history, literature, music, politics, geography, philosophy, education, economics, business, fine and performing arts, anthropology, communication, linguistics, sociology, culture, and religion, the journal also invites articles from other academic fields such as gender and sexuality studies, global and international studies, comparative studies, environmental studies, film and media studies, digital and emerging social platforms, international and national laws, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Reports from the world of science and medicine that relate to Africa and the African Diaspora are also considered.

While the Africana Annual is open to studies of a single area or phenomenon in the Africana world, it also aspires to reflect the intellectual and broadly-defined “political” connections between Africa and the African Diaspora, offering critical space for scholarly explorations of their shared historical and contemporary realities, and of future possibilities. Authors are this invited to submit works that examine key issues that deepen interdisciplinary and global conversations on topics about Africa (north and south of the Sahara), African America, the Americas (North, South, and Central), the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe. The journal also visualizes an interconnected world with Africa as its center of inquiry, and welcomes profound articles that elucidate that vision.

Aims and Scope

Africana Annual is an interdisciplinary journal encompassing history, politics, sociology, performance arts, economics, literature, cultural studies, anthropology, Africana studies, gender studies, ethnic studies, religious studies, the fine arts, digital humanities, and other allied disciplines. Africana Annual embraces a variety of humanistic and social scientific methodologies for understanding the social, political, and cultural meanings and functions of the varied experiences of Africana.  Submissions to Africana Annual must reflect the intellectual and political connections between Africa and the African Diaspora, as we aim to serve as a critical space for scholarly explorations of their shared historical and contemporary realities. We invite authors to submit work that examines key issues that deepen inter-disciplinary and global conversations on topics about African America, Africa (north and south of the Sahara), and the Diaspora.

 

Language    

The Africana Annual is published in English. It accepts both American and British English, but only one of them should be selected and consistently used in a manuscript. They should not be mixed. Because the Department of African & African-American Studies also teaches languages and the University of Kansas offers African Diasporic languages such as French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, the journal is uniquely well placed to also consider manuscripts submitted in those languages. Such manuscripts should include a synopsis of the paper in English as a requirement. 

Peer Review

All research articles in Africana Annual undergo rigorous peer review. After an initial editor screening, submissions will be based on anonymous double-blind refereeing by two referees.

Open Access Policy

Authors retain copyright in their work.  All journal content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.