Academic Conference

Full Conference Programme

At the two hundredth anniversary of Livingstone’s birth, it seems fitting that leading experts from all over the world, working on Livingstone and related subjects, gather in central Africa, in a town that still bears his name, located near the Mosi-oa-Tunya, the breathtaking waterfalls he visited in 1855. Scholars are invited to participate in a three day conference to consider some of the new and old ideas about Livingstone’s life and legacy, plus related and comparative issues relevant to Africa today. The conference will be opened by Chief Mukuni. This conference has been supported by the LSE Africa Fund as part of the LSE African Initiative.

Love him or loathe him, David Livingstone remains a huge  figure in the study of Africa’s encounter with the wider world. His books, his sensational exploratory travel in Africa, and his African companions, all inspired generations of colonisers, missionaries, humanitarianists and entrepreneurs to engage in “commerce, Christianity and  civilisation“ which in turn changed the lives of millions of Africans. Thus he leads us into a past full of controversy and contradictions, as debates continue about the nature of European imperialism, its impact on post-colonial African states and how Africans today can adopt strategies to realise their economic, social and political potential as equal citizens in a global market place. These issues go far beyond the history of one man, one African region, or one metropolitan centre. However,  we believe  that by bringing together a wide and unique range of experts in central Africa, a dynamic exchange of ideas and experiences will take place. Starting with the “imperial obsession” and the latest work on his life and legacy, the conference will then engage with wider issues including humanitarian intervention; slavery and anti-slavery; economic transformations; exploration; Christianity and missions; imperial propaganda,  journalism and travelogues;  memory and memorialisation; African museums and the tourism industry.

Keynote lecturers:Tim Jeal, John Mackenzie

Speakers include:  Prof Brian Stanley  (Edinburgh University)   Prof Akson Kanduza (University of Malawi) • Dr Friday Mufuzi (Livingstone Museum, Zambia)   Prof Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi (Witswatersrand) • Prof Keith Hart (Pretoria) • Dr Joanna Lewis (LSE) • Dr Justin Livingstone (Glasgow University) • Sybren Renema (Independent Artist/Writer Netherlands) • Ben di Ponti (Explorer, Netherlands) • Dr Sanda Kocevar (Museum of Croatia) • Dr Sarah Worden (National Museum of Scotland) •  Prof John McCracken (Malawian historian) • Dr Gary Clendennen (Japan) • Dr Stacey Sommerdky  (Witswatersrand) • Dr Joel Quirk (Witswatersrand) • Jonas Gjerso (LSE)

Panels include: 

Humanitarian intervention

Science and information gathering

Exploration

Economic transformation

Livingstone’s African Companions

Slavery and Anti-Slavery

African and Missionary Christianity

Memorialisation and white settler communities

Museums and Exhibitions

Tourism in contemporary Africa

Biography and historiography

Imperial iconography

Livingstone town and Zambia today

For futher information contact  organisers:

London:

Dr Joanna Lewis (London School of Economics, UK); Mr Jonas Gjerso

This event was part of the Livingstone-Zambia celebrations and is designed to bring scholars together from the region and beyond. Historic tours of the town’s historical sites and the Victoria Falls will be on offer as well as ºvisits to local grass-root projects working against the effects of child-slavery and the impact of HIV/AIDS. It will include a public lecture to help disseminate current thinking to an audience outside of academi and a teaching pack for schools.