Participation in AASR 10th Biennial Conference in Botswana
Today’s post is by two of our CRPL postgraduates, Gloria Adichie and Emmanuel Erhijodo. Both recently attended the AASR conference in Gaborone, Botswana.
Between 28th and 30th July 2026 we had the privilege of attending the 10th Biennial Conference of the African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR) at the University of Botswana. Themed “Spirituality, Gender and Agency in African Religions,” the conference brought together established, mid- and early-career scholars of religious studies from around the world to discuss questions relating to gender, sexuality and spirituality in Africa and its diaspora. With participants from more than twenty countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America, the conference provided us with a valuable opportunity to present our research, learn from scholars working in diverse contexts, and engage in conversations about gender and spirituality in Africa.
Before the main conference, we participated in a full-day pre-conference workshop organised by colleagues from the University of Leeds: Prof. Adriaan van Klinken, Dr Abel Ugba and Dr Megan Robertson. Designed for PhD students and early-career researchers, the workshop provided an opportunity for career development, networking and mentoring. We found the workshop particularly engaging and beneficial, both in preparing us for the conference and in helping us think about our post-PhD research and academic career.
The University of Leeds, particularly the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (PRHS), was well represented at the conference. It was encouraging to see colleagues from Leeds making meaningful contributions across several panels and roundtables, including a session dedicated to Adriaan van Klinken’s recently-published book, Decolonizing Christianities in Contemporary Nigerian Literature. The book received critical engagements for its transdisciplinary and decolonial approach to the study of religion. Other presentations by Leeds delegates included “Single in This World but Spiritually Engaged: Chivanhu and Myths on Female Singleness” by Prof. Tendai Mangena, “Islam and Queer Agency in Hausa Digital Novels” by former visiting fellow Dr Zaynab Ango, and “Towards a Decolonial Pedagogical Agenda for Migration and Religion Studies” by Dr Abel Ugba.
We both also presented papers drawing on our respective PhD research. Emmanuel Edafe Erhijodo presented “Of Oil and Hell: Ethnopoetic Testimonies of Grief in the Niger Delta,” exploring how the eco-spiritual trauma and grief caused by oil pollution are expressed through poetry and lived narratives from the Niger Delta. Gloria Adaeze Adichie presented “Esemplastic and Eclectic Gendered Spiritual Imagination,” focusing on how Lolo Uchechigeme Okwu-Kanu reimagines Biafran nationalism through gendered and spiritual perspectives.
Presenting our research at the conference allowed us to receive enriching feedback from scholars working in the areas of gender and spirituality. It provided an important opportunity to learn from different scholars and properly situate our research within wider discourse on African religious studies.
We are very grateful for the funding we each received from the Adrian Hastings Fund and the AHC Faculty Dissemination Award, which enabled us to attend the conference, to present our ongoing research and to represent the University of Leeds.
[The picture is courtesy of the authors.]