Schedule of Events

Arrival and Registration Breakfast

Chair: Nathaniel Tadesse (East Tennessee State University)

Raphael Birya - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "Social Media as a Tool for Contextualized Language Instruction"

Bridget Kemunto - University of Nairobi
"How African Languages Can Influence AI Models in the Global Economy"

Peter Onyiego - University of Nairobi
"Leveraging indigenous languages for economic growth: An analysis of Swahili e-learning platforms in Kenya"

Chair: Jerry Atta Kofie (East Tennessee State University)

Ted Olson - East Tennessee State University
"Emerging from Europe's Shadow: C. P. Cavafy, Legendary North African Poet"

Victor Alabi - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill "African Proverbs and AI in African Languages Education"

Mercy Jerotich - Pwani University, Kenya
"Reimaging African languages and literature to enhance cultural identity and socio-economic capital of migrant communities diasporic spaces: A case of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah"

Chair: Yousif Elhindi (East Tennessee State University)

Yousif Elhindi and David Korfhagen - East Tennessee State University
"Sudanese Bedouin Poetry: Genesis, Characteristics, and Implications"

Tom Olali - University of Nairobi
"Ecology motif as thematic foci: The identity of Swahili Poetry and Ecocritism experimentation"

Adaora L. Anyachebelu and Nabuihe Chigozie Bright - University of Lagos
"Exorcism and the Problem of Environmental Degradation and Depletion of Economic Trees in Igboland"

Chair: Esther Lisanza (Howard University)

Margaret Nderitu - Independent Scholar
"Cultural Exports: Expanding Students' Horizons through Study Abroad Experiences"

Anna Mwalagho - Howard University
"The Intersection of Globalization and Swahili Music in Strengthening and Promoting Swahili Language"

Esther Lisanza - Howard University
"Preservation of African Indigenous Knowledge and Sites through Language: A Case of Mijikenda"

Chair: David Korfhagen (East Tennessee State University)

Felista Waihuni N'gan'ga and Sarah Ngesu - South Eastern Kenya University
"Kiswahili, Kikuyu and Kikamba in AI Development: Preserving Heritage and Driving Innovation"

Hassan Olugbile - East Tennessee State University "Navigating the Intersection of AI, African Language Preservation, and African Data Protection Laws: Ensuring Ethical and Secure Revitalization of Endangered Languages"

Moyosoreoluwa Odugbesan - East Tennessee State University
"The Absence of African Languages in Global AI Voice Assistants: A Missed Opportunity for Inclusive Brand Communication and UX Innovation"

Chair: Arnold Nyrambi (East Tennessee State University)

Leonard Muaka - Howard University
"The use of African languages in African creative works"

Mohammed Mwamzandi - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
"Re-reading Death at the well: Literary memory, protest, and activism in Kenya"

Esther Onoruke - East Tennessee State University "Voice, Identity, and Innovation: African Languages and AI for Community Health"

Chair: Mohamed Mwamzandi (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Mohammed Nabila - East Tennessee State University
"Communication Challenges of African Graduate Teaching Assistants"

Anne Jebet - University of Virginia
"Bridging Cultures Through Language: The Role of Teaching Swahili in Workforce Development"

Isaac Andoh - East Tennessee State University
"Mobility, Trade and Identity Formation: The Swahili Language and Its Contemporary Role in the Regional Identity and Trade of East and Central Africa"

Chair: Dainess Maganda (University of Georgia, Athens)

Olúwáfúnkẹ Ògúnyá - Howard University
"Ecology and Resistance in Nnedi Okorafor's the Shadow Speaker and Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone"

Jerry Atta Kofie - East Tennessee State University
"The emotional toll of triumph: Examining the impact of success on trauma narratives in Ko-Jo Cue's Survivor's Guilt (2019)"

Damilola Adebonojo - University of Georgia, Athens
"Recovering Fading Stories: YorúbáTexts.com as a Feminist Literary Intervention"

Chair: Leonard Muaka (Howard University)

John York-Williams - University of Cape Coast, Ghana
"Proverbial charm in African literary conversations: A literary analysis of Nii Ayikwei Parkes' Tail of the Blue Bird (2009)"

Zipporah Ampofo - OLA College of Education, Cape Coast, Ghana
"Nature's Dual Role as Friend and Foe: An Ecocritical Analysis of Environmental Dynamics in Veronique Tadjo's Queen Pokou and The Shadow of Imana"

Kenneth Oppong - Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana
"Language as a means of communicating cultural identity: A discourse analysis of prayer of Akwasidae festival"

Chair: Martha Michieka (East Tennessee State University)

Peter Oteino - Kisii University
"From Lexical Data to Digital Resource: A Comprehensive Approach to Compiling the Enchengeria Ekegusii Dictionary"

Patience Okyere - Pennsylvania State University
"Naming Ourselves: Rewriting Identity in Digital Spaces"

Judith Mmari - Boston University
"Swahili Language and Cultural representations in films"

Chair: Anna Mwalagho (Howard University)

Dainess Maganda - University of Georgia, Athens
"Swahili Language & Culture: A Gateway to Global Careers"

Paul Ondari - East Tennessee State University
"Linguistic Foundations of Enterprise: Indigenous African Languages and Entrepreneurial Competencies in Kenya's MSME and Informal business sector"

Patrick Oyinda - Howard University
"Language in Education and Economic Development: A Case Study of Kiswahili in Kenya"

Chair: Mohammed Hafiz Nabila (East Tennessee State University)

Dennis Waswa - Louisiana State University
"Land, Indigeneity, and Environmental Justice: A Postcolonial Ecocritical Critique of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's Petals of Blood"

Matthew Barker - East Tennessee State University
"'Europe is Not My Center. Europe is on the Outskirts.' The Battle between Languages-of-Power and Ajamat in Anderson's Imagined Communities and Ousmane Sembène's Emitai"

Nura Abubakar - Ohio University
"Cinematic Resilience: Kannywood's Economic and Social Contributions Against a Backdrop of Insecurity in Northern Nigeria"

Chair: Timothy Ajani (Fayetteville State University)

Micah Corum - University of North Georgia, Dahlonega
"Exploring adstrate effects: Focus on Nigerian Pidgin and Ghanaian Pidgin English contexts"

Godfred Agyapong - University of Florida
"Leveraging Pitch Analysis for Tone Annotation"

Rachel Mazzara - East Tennessee State University
"Punic and the Translator's Reflection in Plautus' Poenulus"

Chair: Patrick Oyinda (Howard University)

Maria Carolina Almeida de Azevedo - Michigan State University
"Cultural identity and branding: The African and Native Indigenous Heritage in Brazil and the Business of Ancestral Return"

Felipe Fiuza - East Tennessee State University
"The Brazilian Identity Puzzle: How Euclides da Cunha Has Shaped the Perspective about Brazilians from the Northeast through Prejudice Versus How João Guimarães Rosa Has Denounced that"

Leonard Muaka - Howard University
"African language media as catalyst for national economic growth"

Chair: Olúwáfúnkẹ Ògúnyá  (Howard University)

Timothy Ajani - Fayetteville State University
"Mother Knows Best: Revisiting Achebe's Okonkwo to Draw Some Lessons for Our Trouble Times"

Adaora L. Anyachebelu - University of Lagos
"Film as a tool for cultural exports and representations"

Sarah Ngesu - South Eastern Kenya University and Neema Mturo
"The role of Kiseahili in African literature and ecocriticism"

Chair: Mallory Nischan (East Tennessee State University)

Matthew Brauer - University of Tennessee
"African Languages After Imperialism through Francophone Literature: Is French an Algerian language? An examination of Malek Haddad's poetics of 'literary nationality'"

Mallory Nischan - East Tennessee State University
"The transformation of Amazigh oral tradition and language through retellings of Dihya"

David Achodo - University of Tennessee
"Cross-Cultural Communication and Diplomacy: Translational Context of African Tonal Languages in the West"

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Chair: Nathanael Tadesse (East Tennessee State University)

Wondimu Samuel Manalew, Abdela A. Hilo, Kusse Koirita Toitole, Nathanael Tadesse - East Tennessee State University
"Ethopia's Mother-Tongue Instruction Policy Impact on Schooling and Outcomes"

Chair: Paul Ondari (East Tennessee State University)

Ijeoma Pamela Chukwu-Amaechi and Nguwasen Tor - East Tennessee State University
"Language Technology for African Dialects in the Global Market"

Camille Malone & Martha Michieka - East Tennessee State University
"The Woven Patchwork of Seven Kenyan Women: The Erasure of Barriers Under Opression and Hardship in Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye's the Present Moment"

Musbahu San Tasiu - University of Georgia, Athens
"Home belonging and Transnational Identity in Black Diaspora Literature"