Scholars, researchers, writers, students, policymakers, and cultural practitioners gathered physically and virtually from 16-20 June, 2026 for the 10th Annual Conference of the Lagos Studies Association (LSA), held at Trinity University, Yaba, Lagos.
It was a milestone event that celebrated a decade of building one of the world’s most vibrant intellectual communities dedicated to African studies.
The LSA, founded by Saheed Aderinto, a Professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at Florida International University and winner of the prestigious 2023 Dan David Prize, Abosede George, the Tow Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies at Barnard College and Columbia University in New York, and Ademide Adelusi-Adeluyi, an Associate Professor of History at Howard University, has become a meeting point for ideas, cultures, histories, and conversations stretching across Africa and its diasporas.
The conference, themed “The State of African Studies in the 21st Century: The Lagos Studies Association @ 10,” was both a celebration and a moment of reflection. It provided an opportunity to look back at how far the association has come and, perhaps more importantly, to ask where African studies is headed in an era defined by rapid political, technological, social, and cultural change.
What stood out immediately was the sheer scale of the gathering.
This year’s conference featured an impressive 340 panels, a significant increase from the 255 hosted in 2025. The growth is more than a statistic; it is a reflection of the expanding interest in African scholarship and the increasing demand for spaces where African experiences can be examined on their own terms. The conveners has spent the last decade nurturing a platform that has grown from an ambitious idea into what is now regarded as the largest academic gathering in Nigeria and one of the most expansive forums for African studies anywhere in the world.
As participants moved between lecture rooms, conference halls, and virtual meeting spaces, conversations unfolded on subjects as diverse as history, literature, gender, religion, urban life, migration, climate change, politics, media, and popular culture. In every corner of the conference, there was a sense that African studies is no longer confined to traditional academic boundaries. Instead, it is evolving into a dynamic field that speaks directly to some of the most pressing issues of our time.
Yet beyond the impressive numbers and academic credentials, what makes the Lagos Studies Association unique is its commitment to community.
The conference was not simply about presenting research papers. It was also about helping scholars, particularly younger academics, navigate the realities of academic life. Workshops on book and journal publishing, academic job searches, grant writing, fellowship applications, teaching, and graduate school provided practical guidance that many participants described as invaluable.
There was also a deliberate effort to create space for mentorship and inclusion. Special sessions focusing on women in academia encouraged honest conversations about career development, institutional challenges, and the importance of building supportive professional networks. These discussions resonated strongly with participants, many of whom viewed them as essential to the future of higher education and knowledge production in Africa.
One of the defining moments of the conference came during the opening ceremony with the keynote lecture delivered by Professor Laurent Fourchard of Sciences Po, France. Titled “African History, African Politics and the World of Academia: A Personal Journey,” the lecture blended scholarship with personal reflection, offering insights into the intersections of research, politics, and intellectual life.
The Vice Chancellor of Trinity University and Chief Host of the event, Professor Clement O. O. Kolawole, commended the conference conveners for helping to realize the aspirations of many participants. He emphasized the significance of the association’s role in providing a platform through which the voices of African scholars can be heard and amplified.
For many attendees, the lecture served as a reminder that African studies is not merely about understanding the past. It is also about making sense of the present and imagining better futures.
According to one participant, ten years after its inception, the Lagos Studies Association has grown beyond being merely a conference. It now serves as a dynamic intellectual movement, bringing together scholars and thinkers to interrogate prevailing ideas, advance knowledge production, and strengthen transcontinental networks.
Other highlights of the conference included exhibitions, the screening of The Women of Fuji, Episode II of The Fuji Documentary, produced and directed by Professor Saheed Aderinto, as well as a dinner and award ceremony.
The conference’s success was made possible through the support of a broad network of institutions committed to advancing African scholarship. Trinity University hosted the event, while the Enugu State Ministry of Education joined a distinguished list of partners that included Florida International University’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, Yale University Council on African Studies, the University of Michigan African Studies Center, Queen University’s Canada Research Chair in Youth and African Urban Futures, the Tamar Golan Africa Center at Ben-Gurion University, the Kansas African Studies Center, Boston University African Studies Center, and the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA-Nigeria).
