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Organised by Abdussalam Ọláwálé Àmọ́ọ́ (Federal University, Wukari, Nigeria) and Uzoma Elizabeth Egwu Okoro (Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos, Nigeria), the panel explores the intersection of African onomastics, digital humanities, indigenous knowledge systems and cultural heritage preservation.
Exploring African Names as Repositories of Cultural Memory
Personal names, place names and other African naming traditions preserve historical experiences, social relationships, indigenous knowledge and collective identities. However, their documentation and transmission have been influenced by colonial legacies, linguistic marginalisation and technological change.
In line with the conference's overarching theme, “(Re)generation in African Studies: Scholarship, Pedagogy, and Activism,” the panel invites researchers to reconsider African naming practices as dynamic systems of knowledge and explore how digital technologies can support their documentation, interpretation and preservation.
Particular attention will be given to the ethical and epistemological challenges of digitising naming traditions, including questions of cultural ownership, community participation and the representation of indigenous knowledge.
Suggested Topics
The organisers welcome interdisciplinary contributions addressing, among others:
African personal names, identity and cultural memory
Indigenous toponymy, geographical knowledge and GIS mapping
Digital archives and repositories of African names
Colonial renaming, decolonisation and historical memory
African names, artificial intelligence and language technologies
Naming practices, language contact and sociolinguistic change
Environmental knowledge and ecolinguistics in African place names
Oral traditions and intergenerational transmission of naming knowledge
Data sovereignty and community ownership of digital cultural heritage
Digital onomastics, education and public scholarship
The panel welcomes contributions from established and early-career scholars, postgraduate researchers, linguists, historians, geographers, digital humanities specialists and heritage professionals, particularly those working with African communities and indigenous knowledge systems.
Submission Guidelines
Prospective participants are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 250 words, outlining the proposed paper's title, central argument, methodology and relevance to the panel theme.
Submissions should also include the author's full name, institutional affiliation, email address, telephone or WhatsApp contact, and a short academic biography of no more than 100 words.
Important Dates and Information
Abstract deadline: 8 December 2026
Conference: 15–19 June 2027
Venue: Trinity University, Sabo/Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, and Zoom
Panel organisers: Abdussalam Ọláwálé Àmọ́ọ́ and Uzoma Elizabeth Egwu Okoro
Submit abstracts to:
Email subject line: LSA 2027 Panel Abstract: African Naming Knowledge: Digital Humanities and Cultural Memory
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