Conference Program

Wednesday, 4th January 2023

  • Arrival at Seascape Hotel for participants from abroad

Thursday, 5th January 2023

08:00-08:25: Registration at Oceanic HallAll participants

08:25-08.55: Opening Remarks

  • Dr. Frank Edward, Department of History, University of Dar es Salaam, Organizing Committee.
  • Prof. Dr. Mikael Hård, ERC Global HoT Project, Darmstadt University of Technology
  • Dr. Emily Brownell, SHOT Representative, University of Edinburgh
  • Dr. Hezron Kangalawe, Head, Department of History, University of Dar es Salaam
  • Dr. Rose Upor, Principal, College of Humanities, University of Dar es Salaam
  • Prof. Nelson Boniface, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, University of Dar es Salaam

08.55-09:10: Group Picture & Book Presentation to College and University Representatives from SHOT & Technology & Culture.

09:10-09:55 : Plenary Speech – Oceanic Hall

  • Prof. Bertram B. Mapunda, Principal, Jordan University College, Morogoro, Tanzania

10.35-10:50 : Tea/Coffee Break

 

11:00-12.15: Session block I

Panel 1: Material Culture – Oceanic Hall
Chair: Prof. Bryson G. Nkhoma, Mzuzu University, Malawi

Beninois Crafts People and their material culture of expertise
Prof. Elizabeth Ann Fretwell, Old Dominion University, USA – Abstract

Indigenous craft and fishing technologies in coastal areas of southern Nigeria: An attempt at preserving African intelligence
Dr. Ucheawaji Josiah, Adeleke University, Nigeria – Abstract

Panel 2: Skills and knowledge – Making Things – Adriatic Room
Chair: Dr. Iddy Magoti, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Knowledge, Technology and Use – Reflections on Indigenous Pottery Industry in Western Kenya
Dr. Jethron Akala, Maseno University, Kenya- Abstract

African Textiles: Global Flow and Circulation of Material Culture and Techniques
Prof. Emanuela Scarpellini, University of Milan, Italy – Abstract

Apiculture Knowhow and Technology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth C. Madagascar
Prof. Tasha Rijke-Epstein, Vanderbilt University, USA – Abstract

Gunmakers, Bombmakers and the Outcome of the Biafran War
Dr. Ubong Essien Umoh, Nigeria Defence College, Nigeria – Abstract

Panel 3: Actors in Technology Interfaces (A) – Arctic Room
Chair: Prof. Frederick Kaijage, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Malaria, Indigenous technologies and the politics of Public Health Interpretations in Colonial Malawi
Mr. Denis Mwanyanja Mwiba, Mzuzu University, Malawi – Abstract

‘An African is a Fleet of Foot’: Vaccination against Smallpox in Colonial Tanzania, 1920s-1960.
Dr. Musa Sadock, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

From Protection to Production? Development of Nuclear Technology in Nigeria (1950s-1970)
Ms. Chloë Mayoux, London School of Economics, United Kingdom

12:15-12:25:  Coffee/Tea Break

 

12.30-13.45: Session Block II

Panel 4: Material Culture – Domesticity and Everyday Life – Oceanic Hall
Chair: Dr. Reginald Kirey & Cecylia Mgombele, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

From Mortar and Pestle to Electrical Food Processor – Objects, Marriage and Home
Dr. Evelyne Tegomoh, HTTC University of Buea, Cameroon – Abstract

Inside A Technological Forest Landscape in West Africa: Material Culture and everyday forest life
Dr. David Drengk, TU Darmstadt & TU Dresden, Germany – Abstract

Panel 5: Skills and Knowledge – Making Things and Adaptation Skills – Adriatic Room
Chair: Prof. Baz Lecocq, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Automobile and their Doctors: Roadside Mechanics and Automobiles in Postcolonial Nigeria
Mr. Odinaka Kingsley Eze, University of Mississippi, USA

Beyond Poverty Alleviation: Alternative Imaginations of the Changing Forms of Keke-Napep (tricycle) Technology in Contemporary Nigeria
Dr. Patrick Chukwudike Okpaeleke, University of Uyo, Nigeria – Abstract

Approaching Adaptation and Use of Automotive Technologies Based on Interviews.
Ms. Alina Oswald, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany – Abstract

Panel 6: Actors: Technology interfaces – Arctic Room
Chair: Prof. Gabrielle Hecht, Stanford University, USA

Tractorisation? Peasants’ agro-technological choices and preference in the Irrigated Rice Farming in Mbarali District, 1960s to the Present
Dr. George Ambindwile, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

Bettering African Foods: Reinventing Agricultural Technologies and Practices in Malawi, 1859-2010
Prof. Bryson G. Nkhoma, Mzuzu University, Malawi – Abstract

Peasants and the Mechanisation of Tea production in Mufindi, Tanzania
Dr. Hezron Kangalawe, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

13:45-15:15 Lunch

 

15:15-16:45: Session Block III

Panel 7: Africa and Imported Things – (Post-)Colonial Things – Oceanic Hall
Chair: Prof. Roland N. Ntongwe, University of Buea, Cameroon

Coffee Plants, Deep Time and Empire: Toward a Multispecies History of Colonial Angola
Ms. Maria Do Mar Gago, European University Institute, Italy

Missionaries, Medium and the Message: The History of Communication Technology in Rwanda, 1900-1962
Ms. Claudia Eldib, Arizona State University, USA – Abstract

Integrating Technology into histories of information in post-independence Africa
Dr. Ismay Milford, Leipzig University, Germany – Abstract

Roundtable 1: Cycling Cities Project  – Arctic Room
Chair: Prof. Ruth Oldenziel, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands/ Dr. Njogu Morgan, University College London & University of Witswatersrand, South Africa

  • Cycling Experience in Kano, Nigeria – Yusuf Madugu, Bayero State University, Nigeria
  • Cycling Experience in Kisumu, Kenya – Jethron Akala, Maseno University, Kenya
  • Cycling Experience in Zomba, Malawi – David Drengk, TU Dresden & TU Darmstadt, Germany
  • Cycling Experience in Tabora, Tanzania – Frank Edward , University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

17.00: Departure to University of Dar es Salaam  – All participants start the departure outside the hotel. 

18:00-19:30: Conference Reception at Council Chamber, University of Dar es Salaam – All

Friday , 6th January 2023

08:45-09:45 : Plenary Speech – Oceanic Hall

  • Prof. Gabrielle Hecht, Stanford University, SHOT President

09:50-10.05: Coffee/Tea Break

 

10:15-11.45; Session Block IV

Panel 8: Material Culture – Indigenous Economy  – Arctic Room
Chair: Dr. Oswald Masebo, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Assis. Chair: Dr. James Zotto, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Farming Technologies: Constructing Economic History of the Babukusu Society of Western Kenya in Pre-and Colonial and Colonial era
Dr. Julius Nabende, Kenyatta University, Kenya – Abstract

Afofoh-Odongtol: Coloniality and the Illiciting of Indigenous Brewing in Cameroon, 1884-1960 – ‘Unsilencing’ the Archive for Pedagogic Innovation
Prof. Roland Ndille Ntongwe, University of Buea, Cameroon – Abstract

Oil Palm Production in Laimbwe History of Cameroon
Dr. Henry Kam Kah, University of Buea, Cameroon – Abstract

Roundtable 2: Teaching Material Culture and Technology – Oceanic Hall
Chair: Prof. Yusuf Lawi & Dr. Albertus Onyiego, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Photography as a Learning Tool in the Field of Technology and Material Culture in African History
Dr. Hugo Pereira, NOVA ST, Portugal – Abstract

Material Objects, Extra-Material Context: Teaching, Researching, and Exhibiting the History of Information Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa Through Physical Objects and Non-Tangible Systems
Dr. Andrew Meade McGee, Smithsonian Institution, USA

Technological Tools with a Sentimental Value also Fortify Culture – Objects and Decolonisation
Dr. Bernard Kusena, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

Teaching Global/African History of Technology
Dr. Jonas van der Straeten, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands

Panel 9: Material Culture and Techno-environmental Histories – Adriatic Room
Chair: Dr. Emily Brownell, University of Edinburgh

A History of Material Culture and Technology in Owamboland, Namibia
Dr. Lovisa Tegelela Nampala, Ministry of Education, Namibia

House of Crows in Zanzibar: Sanitation and Animal Infrastructure in Urban Spaces
Dr. Maxmillian J. Chuhila, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

Landscape of Technologies: Dynamics of Household Energy Sources in Postcolonial Dar es Salaam
Mr. Emanuel Geoffrey, Dar es Salaam University College of Education, Tanzania

12:00-13:15 : Lunch 

 

13:15-14:45: Session Block V

Panel 10: Knowledge & Skills Transfer – Arctic Room
Chair: Dr. Gasiano Sumbai, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“Igba-Boi” Apprenticeship System in Igboland: Re-examining the Igbo informal technological transfer
Mr. Sochima Peppertus Okafor, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Nigeria – Abstract

Inter-South Technological Exchange Effectiveness: The Case of Chinese-Funded Medicine in Tanzania, 1968-1990.
Dr. Andrea A. Kifyasi, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

History Beyond “Manpower”: Toward a More Usable Past of Tanzanian Skill
Prof. Joshua Ryan Grace, University of South Carolina, USA- Abstract

Technicians and their Skills in Dar es Salaam
Dr. Emanuel Mchome, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

Panel 11: Africa and Imported Things – Mobile Technologies – Oceanic Hall
Chair: Prof. Baz Lecocq, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Combating Dirt: Environmental Sanitation Management Techniques and the Politics of Filth in the Gold Coast, c.1878-1950.
Dr. Akwasi K. Amoako-Gyampah, University of Education at Winneba, Ghana  – Abstract

From Daladala to Mwendokasi: A Postcolonial History of Commuter Bus Services in Dar es Salaam
Dr. Herbert Ndomba, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Abstract

Bicycles in the Material and Transport History of Eastern Nigeria
Dr. Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo, University of Nigeria, Nigeria – Abstract

Enhancing and extending the historical Narrative of post-telecommunication at Mtengatenga Postal Hut Museum at Chiradzulo
Dr. Mwayi Lusaka, Mzuzu University, Malawi – Abstract

 

Roundtable 3: Publication – Adriatic Hall

Editors-in-Chief of 3 Journals

    • Ruth Oldenziel – Technology and Culture, SHOT Journal
    • Yusuf Lawi – Tanzania Zamani, University of Dar es Salaam Journal

14:50-15:10: Coffee/Tea Break

 

15:15-16:45:  Wrap-up Session: Dr. Jethron Akala, Maseno University & Dr. Frank Edward, University of Dar es Salaam – Oceanic Hall

18:30-20:00: Conference Dinner at Landmark Hotel – Mbezi Beach – All

Saturday 7th January 2023

Excursion with lunch – all day

Sunday 8th January 2023

Departure