The United States International University-Africa and the African Association for Rhetoric (AAR) will host the Biennial African Association for Rhetoric Conference that will take place physically at USIU-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya on July 20-22, 2022 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The African Association for Rhetoric was established in 2007 as a non-profit organization, and is a body of scholars, rhetors and researchers who engage in interrogating the deployment of rhetoric and speech communication in political, social, cultural, judicial and deliberative contexts. The fundamental goal of the Association is to encourage rhetors and researchers in public speaking from all over Africa and different parts of the world to participate in rhetorical debates as they relate to democratic governance and other pertinent intersections that may be of interest to them.

The Association also seeks to promote scholarship in African Rhetoric. The Association’s activities include biennial conferences, occasional seminars and symposia. The Association’s main publications are: The African Journal of Rhetoric, and an online supplementary Journal, entitled: Balagha: African Rhetoric Quarterly.

The Association also seeks to award members, fellowships, and honorary fellowships to deserving orators and rhetorical practitioners who have responsibly deployed rhetoric in the public domain.

Conference Sub-Themes

• Beyond Colonialism: Towards (Re)constructing a New Africa
• Contemporary Media Rhetoric in Africa
• Rhetoric and the Decolonization of Educational Curricula in Africa
• Decolonizing Africa’s Political Rhetoric
• Imaging Africa: Re-framing and Resisting Global Media’s Representation of Africa
• Africa’s Public Policy: From Speech to Action
• Rhetoric of African Agency: Citizenship and Ethics of participation
• Rhetorical Leadership and Transformation in Africa
• Reinventing Africa through Creative and Performing Arts
• Rhetorical Transformation of Africa’s Electoral process
• Africa in the Cinemas
• Costs and Benefits: Africa as a site of Prosperity
• Language, Representation and the (Re)invention of Africa