14th National Conference on African Refugees and Immigrants: Call for Papers

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AFRICAN REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS: THE OPTIMISM OF GENERATIONS

Date: May 5-7, 2008
Location: Sheraton National Hotel
900 South Orne Street
Arlington, VA 22204
Registration Fee: $255.00 (Before April 11)
$295.00 (After April 11)
Hotel Reservations: Special rate of $195.00 offered for single/double rooms
Call 703.521.1900 for reservations

*For more hotel information, please see the conference page, at http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/ECDC05

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About the Conference

This year marks ECDC's 25th Anniversary of Service on behalf of the African community here in the United States. Our conference theme, African Refugees and Immigrants: The Optimism of Generations, will explore many pressing African refugee and immigrant issues. The Refugee Act of 1980 marked the first time Africans were resettled in the U.S. as refugees. In 27 years, 220,619 African refugees from diverse cultural backgrounds have been resettled in the United States. Optimism and hope played critical roles as they fled their homelands; kept them alive through countless harrowing situations; and helped them meet the challenges of life in a new homeland. Today, we have a generation of Africans who arrived in the 1980s and a second generation of African-born children of African heritage.

While we look at issues related to refugee flows in African and domestic resettlement, we wil also be exploring the optimism, self-sufficiency and the generational challenges facing the African newcomer community. Our theme reflects the continuum of the immense positive spirit of the African community in facing crises from Darfur to Somalia and challenges as newcomers to America. As the African newcomer population in the United States continues to grow, we hope that this conference will provide both an educational tool and unique opportunity to reflect on various African refugee and immigrant issues.

We invite you to participate in a thought provoking examination of:
African Refugees and Immigrants: The Optimism of Generations

Call for Papers

Every year the conference includes sessions contributed by experts in the field. If you are interested in participating and putting a session together for this conference, please let us know by using the guidelines below. Submission deadline is January 31, 2008.

1. Workshop Title
2. Session abstract: Please give a brief description of the session and the intended objective in 100 words or less.
3. Type of presentation: Specify if the session is a panel, single person presentation, roundtable discussion, etc.
4. Amount of time required. Please note that sessions are an hour and a half long.
5. Audio visual needs: Indicate slide projector, TV/VCR, overhead projector or other.
6. If you or any of your presenters are likely to need travel and accommodation subsidies, please estimate and provide the overall cost to be incurred by ECDC. Please note that funds are limited.
7. List and provide contact information of additional panelists/presenters, if applicable.
8. Provide contact information of session organizer: This should include name, position, affiliation/agency, mailing address, phone, fax, and email.

Please mail your workshop concept proposal to:

ECDC CARI ● 901 S. Highland St. ● Arlington, VA 22204
Phone: [phone] ● Fax: [phone]


You may also email your proposal to [e-mail]
Website: www.ecdcinternational.org or www.ecdc-cari.org

*All submitted presentations and proposals will be reviewed by the conference planning committee and will be selected based on the relevance of the topic to the audience. Authors of accepted concept papers will be notified by the second week of February.