Conference Abstract
This virtual conference is inspired by the recently retired Professor Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg’s long-running work in anthropology, focusing on gender and reproductive health in Cameroon. Building on her scholarship, the panelists of this mini conference explore new dynamics in Cameroon studies, spanning anthropology and history, and examining gender, photography, and health.
That the conference is taking place at UW-Madison is significant, as the university has long supported robust Cameroon studies, spanning scholars and students who have focused on the subject—such as Michael Schatzberg and Aili Tripp—and prominent alumni such as Meredith Terretta. The conference, then, continues to highlight this strength in African studies, specifically Cameroon studies, offering innovative perspectives in Cameroon scholarship.
Date: Wednesday October 14, 2026
Venue: The event is virtual: Join Zoom Here
Hosted by UW’s African Studies Program and sponsored by the Department of Anthropology at UW, the African Studies Association (USA), the North American Association of Scholars on Cameroon (learn more here), and Spears Books (learn more here).
Conference Schedule
8:45 am
Introduction by Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué
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9:00 am-10:15 am
Panel 1: Health, Associations, and Global Perspectives
Discussant: Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué
- Flavien Ndonko: Genealogies of Vaccine Rumor: From the Sterilization Scare of 1990 to COVID-19 in Cameroon
Explores social trust, memory, and resistance in health-related rumors across generations. - Peter Geschiere: Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg: Between the Intimate and the Global
Discusses the interconnectedness of local and global spheres in anthropological research. - Erdmute Alber: Caring for the Future of one’s Children: Changing widowhood in Northern Benin
While focused on Benin, this adds a comparative dimension on gendered social change in West Africa.
- David Zeitlyn: “On Fieldwork, Close Reading and the Limits of Photographic History Research”
Examines photography as a critical research method
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10:30-11:45 am
Panel 2: Women’s Voices and Feminist Movements in Cameroon and Beyond
Discussant: Harmony O’Rourke, Professor of History, Associate Dean for Student and Faculty Development, Pitzer College.
- Elizabeth Beloe: Cameroonian Women in Hometown Associations in Berlin
Focuses on women’s roles in migrant associations, gender roles, and transnational solidarity. - Monique Kwachou: Charting Waves of Cameroonian Feminisms
Traces the historical development of feminist resistance in Cameroon and Africa.
- Kevin Baskouda: “I’m Angry Because I Don’t have a Husband”: Popular Songs by Women in Northern Cameroon
Highlights political resistance in cultural and lyrical contexts.
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Noon-1 pm
Keynote talk by Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg
Introducing Pamela: Claire Wendland, Professor of Anthropology, UW-Madison
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1:30-2:30pm
Panel 3: History and Politics of Decolonization and Resistance
Discussant: Julius Amin, Professor of History, University of Dayton
- Meredith Terretta: Comrade Eduardo, Revolutionary Border Crossing, and Life Story as Decolonization History
Shares revolutionary histories and border-crossing narratives in decolonization.
- Rose T. Ndengue: Intersectional and decolonial feminist discourse and praxis in Cameroonian women’s nationalism in the 1950s
Explores historical feminist activism and decolonial gender politics.
- Elizabeth Durham: “A Revolution That We’ll Make Together Here”: Rethinking Medical Resistance in Cameroon
Traces the quotidian use of psychopharmaceuticals to “be at ease,” against state psychiatry’s expectations of “good citizens”
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2:45-3:30pm
Panel 4: Global Perspectives and Interdisciplinary Approaches to Cameroonian Studies
Discussant: Mark D. Delancey, Professor of History of Art and Architecture, DePaul University.
- Alma J. Gottlieb: Globalizing Cameroon: Thoughts from a Non-Cameroonianist
Offers a broad, comparative perspective on Cameroon’s global connections. - Bridget A. Teboh: African Women, Reproduction, and Belonging Across Borders: The Interdisciplinary Scholarship of Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg
Focuses on women’s reproductive and social identities across borders.
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3:45 -3:55pm
Concluding comments by Jacqueline-Bethel Mougoué
