ASG SYMPOSIUM 2025

We are delighted to invite you to our ASG 2025 Symposium in collaboration with 13.12 Arts!

Our theme is:

“African Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Ways of Knowing – A Conversation of Traditions, Modernity and the Future“

This year’s theme seeks to explore African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) as a foundation for rethinking traditions, engaging with modernity, and imagining futures.

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Date: Wednesday, 29th October, 2025

Venue: Carrillo Gantner theatre, Sydney Myer Building, University of Melbourne Parkville Campus.

The symposium is FREE for all. Refreshments and a tasty African dinner will be provided.

This event will be an opportunity for you to network with fellow students, academics, and professionals across disciplines.

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Benefits of submitting an abstract and presenting are:

  • Accepted presentations will receive a certificate of participation. 

  • Presenters will have the opportunity to network with fellow students, academics, and professionals across disciplines. 

  • Selected abstracts will be featured on the ASG website, and their authors will be invited as guest speakers at future ASG monthly seminars. 

  • Outstanding student presentations will be formally recognized and eligible for prizes. 

We welcome submissions that critically and creatively engage with indigenous knowledge systems in Africa and the diaspora, as well as comparative perspectives with other regions. Contributions may include completed research, ongoing work, thesis chapters, or works-in-progress, as the symposium is designed to be a space for dialogue, reflection, and exchange.

Abstract submissions are open!

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Make your submission based on one of the following streams below:

  • Topics:

    1. Indigenous philosophies and epistemologies in dialogue with contemporary critical theory.

    2. Oral traditions, storytelling, and historical memory in digital, local and diasporic contexts.

    3. Music, dance, and performance as evolving knowledge systems (e.g., Afrofuturism, hip-hop, global fusions).

    4. Indigenous languages as carriers of knowledge and their role in contemporary multilingual societies.

  • Topics:

    1. Indigenous approaches to conflict resolution and governance.

    2. Indigenous educational philosophies in dialogue with global/modern systems.

    3. Spirituality, religion, and cosmology in indigenous thought.

    4. Gender roles and indigenous practices.

    5. Comparative indigenous knowledge systems in Africa and the Americas, Asia, and Oceania: shared narratives, adaptation, and resilience

    6. Decolonizing entrepreneurship and rethinking economic policy from an African indigenous perspective.

  • Topics:

    1. Indigenous ecological knowledge: Advancing climate science, environmental conservation, and sustainable futures.

    2. Traditional medicine and healing in conversation with biomedical and global health sciences.

    3. Indigenous agricultural systems, food security, and climate resilient agri-tech innovation.

    4. Artificial intelligence and digital transformation: Opportunities and challenges for indigenous knowledge systems in the age of AI and Big Data

    5. The ethics of technology in the African context.

    6. Indigenous engineering and architecture: From ancestral practices to modern design—resilience, sustainability, and cultural innovation.

Submission Guidelines and Important Dates

- Abstract length: 200–300 words

-  Format: Include title, author(s), affiliation, and email address

- Submission deadline: ENDED

-Notification of acceptance: Wednesday, 22nd October 2025

We accept abstracts for

-  Individual papers (10 minutes + discussion)

-  Work-in-progress presentations.

-  Thesis chapters or drafts

-   Academic papers (completed or ongoing)

-   Creative presentations aligned with the symposium theme and streams..

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