16TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOUTHEAST AFRICAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE FORUM (SEALLF) AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON, DC
THEME: THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE IN THE DIGITAL ERA.
The Southeast African Language and Literature Forum (SEALLF) invite panel and individual paper proposals for its 16th Annual Meeting on the theme “The Intergenerational Transmission of African Languages and Literature in the Digital Era.” This conference seeks to examine how African linguistic and literary knowledge historically sustained through oral performance, community memory, apprenticeship, and embodied cultural practice is now being mediated, preserved, reimagined, and sometimes contested within digital environments. As universities, community institutions, and diasporic networks increasingly rely on virtual platforms, artificial intelligence tools, and digital archives, urgent questions arise about pedagogy, authenticity, accessibility, sustainability, and intergenerational continuity.
This theme lies in the profound technological shift reshaping how languages and literature circulate globally. Across the African continent and its diasporas, younger generations engage with language through social media, online storytelling, digital classrooms, podcasts, video platforms, and AI-assisted translation tools. African languages, and oral traditions like proverbs, folktales, praise poetry, and performance genres, once transmitted face-to-face, are now archived and remixed in multimedia formats. Though the digital era presents both opportunity and risk: it offers tools for revitalization, corpus development, and global access, yet it also raises concerns about linguistic homogenization, algorithmic bias, data extraction, and ethical ownership. This conference, therefore, positions digital transformation not simply as a technological development, but as a pedagogical, cultural, and political moment that demands critical engagement.
We invite proposals addressing one or more of the subthemes outlined below. Through rigorous scholarship and collaborative dialogue, this conference seeks to advance sustainable, technologically informed strategies for teaching and transmitting African languages and literatures in the 21st century. By focusing on intergenerational transmission, the conference emphasizes continuity, mentorship, and cultural sustainability, ensuring that African languages and literatures are preserved and dynamically adapted for future generations.
We invite papers and panels addressing any related topics, especially:
THE SOUTHEAST AFRICAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE FORUM (SEALLF)
THEME: THE INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE IN THE DIGITAL ERA.DATE: OCTOBER 2-3, 2026.
Southeast African Languages Literature Forum – SEALLF, seeks to promote the study, teaching, examination and overall development of African languages, literature, and culture by: A) Strengthening the teaching of African languages in the Southeastern region of the United States of America. B) Furthering research on African languages, literatures, and cultures. C) Promoting the interconnectedness of African languages, literatures, and cultures through the teaching, research, and study of and in African languages. D) Providing the platform for collaborative work (between scholars and institutions), especially in material development and dissemination. E) Promoting the development and study of literatures in African languages. F) Creating a sustainable relationship with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Community Colleges (CC) by promoting teaching and research on African languages, literatures, linguistics, and cultures in these institutions. G) Serving as an academic resource for individual and institutional needs related to African languages, literatures, linguistics, and cultures in the Southeastern region. H) Affirming the scholarly and cultural connections with the African continent by sharing of resources and expertise.
The SEALLF conference is the largest annual international gathering of its kind in the Southeastern region. Participants come primarily from universities and academic institutions across the United States, African countries, India, the Caribbean, Brazil, and other parts of the world. This year, Howard University has the honor of hosting the 16th Annual SEALLF Conference , which will take place October 2–3, 2026, in Washington, D.C.