The African Centred Research Colloquium will host its sixth annual conference on Thursday July 26 at the London South Bank University.The first conference was launched in 2002 to create a receptive environment for black academics to present academic papers that focus on the lived experience and history of African peoples and to encourage research in these areas.Since then the organisation has gone from strength to strength, increasing its membership, forming a committee and launching a journal of African-Centred Learning. “We have come a considerable way since the first conference was held,” committee member Gil Robinson told Black Britain.One of the main objectives of the research colloquium is to challenge Eurocentrism in academia and to correct the Eurocentric portrayal of African history. Robinson is encouraged by the broad range of academic writing in the African-centred vein that is being produced by black academics: “Within our writing there is now an energy and a force for change,” he said. This year’s agenda includes presentations on women and gender, culture and change. One of the papers that will be presented is a personal, reflective and research based investigation into the experience of single black women from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Another paper examines the experience of African Caribbean students within higher education.Robinson told Black Britain that the colloquium places the research of African peoples’ legacy very high on its agenda as “it allows us to develop as educators first and foremost for our community…the education that [the community] should be having is one that places Africa at the centre of our world.”The conference is an all day event running from 9am to 5pm with workshops designed for debate and feedback of the issues presented. Refreshments and lunch are provided. The conference is a free event but registration is essential.For further information and to register, follow the links below.