CONSTITUTION of Muntú, the International Research Group on Hispanophone/Luso Africana and Francophone Studies

Article I.         The Name

The name of the organization shall be Muntú, the International Research Group on Hispanophone/Luso Africana and Francophone Studies. It is meant to be an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary research group for U.S. and worldwide scholars, teachers, writers/artists, filmmakers, translators/interpreters and students devoted to the African and African Diaspora studies in Francophone, Hispanophone and Lusophone worlds, including the Africas (from Maghreb to Sub-Sahara), Asia, Europe, Latin Americas (from Hispanic Region to Brazil and French Caribbean), Quebec/US

Article II.       Mission
                       

The mission of this international organization shall be:

II.1.     To establish an international network of scholars, teachers, writers/artists, filmmakers, translators/interpreters and students who share a common interest on interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary studies on Africa and African Diaspora in the Francophone, Hispanophone and Lusophone worlds, including the Africas (from Maghreb to Sub-Sahara) Asia, Europe, Latin Americas (from Hispanic Region to Brazil and French Caribbeam), Quebec/US

II.2.     To serve as a unique space of promotion of the studies driven, but not limited to the following questions: races and politics of races; representation of races and ethnicity in history; gender and race identities; feminism/womanism; women and representation of self in Africa; religions, ecology and displacements; freedom and civil rights; migrations, citizenship and trans/national identities; class(es), race(s) and nation(s); cultures/multiculturalism/transculturalism; ethnicity/multiethnicity/transethnicity;  decolonization of epistemologies, etc.

II.3.     To foster the scholarly and teaching exchange among the members of the group

II.4.     To support the dialogue between all academic disciplines/fields interested by African and African Diaspora Studies

II.5.     To collaborate with individuals, institutions, professional organizations interested in the interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary study of issues related to African and people of African descents, in general

II.6.     To enable the dialogue between the academic and non-academic scholars interested by the African and African Diaspora Studies

II.7.     To disseminate the scholarship of the group through publications and organization of/participation in conferences, roundtables, symposia, seminars, workshops

II.8.     To organize panels conducted, but not exclusively, in French, Portuguese and Spanish during own activities and/or other organizations conventions/conferences

II.9.     To publish Muntú, the eponym and multilingual peer-reviewed journal of the group, that shall be digital and/or print

II.10.   To create and develop a multilingual digital platform, including a website and social media to foster a global visibility of the activities of the group

II.11. To Advocate for an ethics of solidarity among the members of the group; and between the group and all those of individuals, groups and/or people who are unprotected, underrepresented and/or discriminated

Article III.      Governance

III.1.    Muntú, the International Research Group on Hispanophone/Luso Africana and Francophone Studies shall be governed by its Constitution and Bylaws, and such other actions as the Muntú may be consistent therewith

III.2.    Muntú shall be administered by its Executive Committee, comprised of the officers and the ex officio members

III.3.    The officers shall be President, Vice, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations Director/Webmaster

III.3.1. Except for the Public Relations Director, all Executive Committee officers shall be elected

III.3.2. The Vice President shall succeed to the office of President in the year following the end of the term of the President

III.3.3. The Public Relations Director/Webmaster shall be appointed by the Muntú President after approval of the Executive Committee. S/he shall be appointed for a five-year term renewable and/or at the will of the President, with the approval of the Executive Committee

III.4.    The ex officio members shall be Immediate Past President, Advisors, Online/Print Journal Editor and International Coordinators for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Quebec/U.S.                                      

III.4.1. The Immediate Past President shall automatically become member of the Executive Committee after her/his term

III.4.2. The Online and/or Print Journal Editor shall be appointed by the Muntú President after approval of the Executive Committee. S/he shall be appointed for a five-year term renewable and/or at the will of the President, with the approval of the Executive Committee

III.4.3. The International Coordinators shall be appointed by the Muntú President after approval of the Executive Committee. S/he shall be appointed for a five-year term renewable and/or at the will of the President, with the approval of the Executive Committee

III.5.    At each Annual Business meeting, officers shall submit a written annual report together with a recommended program of action for the year ahead

Article IV.      Affiliation and Membership

IV.1.    Muntú is open to scholars, teachers, writers/artists, filmmakers, translators/interpreters, students and to anyone interested in the interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary promotion of African and African Diaspora studies in French, Portuguese and Spanish and who subscribe to the mission of Muntú

IV.2.    Muntú members are non-voting and voting members:

IV.2.1. Non-voting members shall be those who don’t pay annual dues and/or are undergraduate students

IV.2.2. Voting-members shall be those considered as “financial,” i.e. those who pay annual dues to the Muntú Treasurer

Article V.       Meetings

V.1.     Muntú’s meetings shall be held once a year at the request of the Muntú President

V.2.     Muntú President shall submit a preferred date, place and time to convene the meeting

V.3.     Other meetings of Muntú shall be convened upon request of two-third (2/3) of its members with the approval of Muntú President

Article VI. Activities

The Muntú’s activities include, but are not limited to:

VI.1.    Organizing an annual event (conference, symposium, roundtable, seminar, workshop)

VI.2.    Sponsoring panels, plenaries and/or Luncheon Keynote during conventions/conferences of allied/non-allied local, national and organizations based in Africas, Asia, Europe, Latin Americas, Quebec/US, such as:

ALA: African Language Association

ALARA: Afro-Latin/American Research Association

APELA: Association pour l’Étude des Littératures Africaines

ASA: African Studies Association

ASWAD: Association of the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora

BRASA: Brazilian Studies Association

CLA: College Language Association

CSA: Caribbean Studies Association

GERAHA: Groupe d’Études et de Recherches Africaines et Hispano-Américaines

GRELAT: Groupe de Recherche et d’Études Latino-Américaines

GRENAL: Groupe de Recherches sur les Noir.e.s d’Amérique Latine

ICALLAS: International Conference on Afro-Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian, and Latin American Studies

IILI: Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana

LASA: Latin American Studies Association

MLA: Modern Language Association

VI.3.    Collaborating in joint publications

VI.4.    Facilitating access to peer-reviewed journals, whether held/edited by the Muntú or others

VI.5.    Holding the Muntú Executive Committee’s meetings annually

Article VII.    Amendments

Amendments to this constitution shall require prior notification of the proposed amendments in writing. Amendments will be adopted if approved by two-third (2/3) majority vote of the financial members present