The second edition of the Swiss Researching Africa Days will take place on Friday and Saturday October 19-20, 2012 at the Institute for Social Anthropology of the University of Berne.

The Researching Africa Days have replaced the Youth Conferences (le forum suisse des études africaines) held between 1996 and 2006. They are held bi-annually alternating with the international thematic conferences of the Swiss Society for African Studies. The objective of the meeting is to promote the exchange among the community of researchers working on Africa in Switzerland. Its goals are the following:

• presenting current research projects of MA- and doctoral students, post-docs and professors;
• enhance the circulation of relevant information between these actors and the respective institutions;
• offering a platform for synergies and collaboration;
• enhancing the visibility of African Studies in Switzerland, the universities and research institutions;
• promoting the institutionalisation of African Studies.

There is no specific theme for the event and it is open to all disciplines represented by the society. All contributions will be assembled in thematic panels of 90 minutes' duration. Panel proposals (max 1 page) including names and addresses of participants are to be submitted until June 15 2012. It is possible to submit a thematic proposition without confirmed participants.

In the selection of panels proposals that bring together projects and researchers from two or more universities or research groups will have priority. In addition the Society intends to create an inventory of doctoral dissertations produced in Switzerland. Researchers who have an ongoing PhD research on an African topic at a Swiss University or have completed their PhD at a Swiss university between 2011-12 are invited to prepare a poster for presentation at the event. Special slots will be provided for the presentation of the posters. The posters will be compiled as an electronic reader to be published on our website.

Submission of proposals:
Proposals for panels are to be submitted to Tobias Haller (haller@anthro.unibe.ch), proposals for posters to Anne Mayor (Anne.Mayor@unige.ch). The deadline for submission is June 15 2012. The selection will be communicated by June 30, 2012.

General Assembly of the SGAS/SSEA:
The General Assembly of the Swiss Society for African Studies will be held on Friday evening 19 October 2012.

Organisation:
For the Board of the SGAS/SSEA: Anne Mayor and Tobias Haller
For the Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Berne: Tobias Haller

The African continent has been subject to plundering for centuries, the nature, form and motivation of which has varied with conquests, colonization, independence and globalization. At present, plundering and the illicit trade of cultural property have seriously affected African history and compromise the development of populations. Export of blood samples and repatriation of human remains also raise important ethical questions. For several years, laws have been formulated, agreements ratified, ethics code proclaimed and ethical commissions established. Local initiatives for cultural heritage protection appeared, the return of cultural property and biological remains was organized. Yet the positive effects have not always been seen, or the situation is shown to be more complex than expected.

This vast issue has been recently the subject of several conferences, in Switzerland and elsewhere, oriented however particularly on cultural items of the Western world. At the federal level, the subject finds a growing response with the application of the law on the transfer of cultural items (LTBC). This conference propose to make an assessment centred on Africa, with questions focusing on national measures for the protection of cultural heritage and their effects, the state of progress made by Swiss and international legislation, the limits and perspectives of the actions of UNESCO and ICOM, cases of restitution and non-restitution, as well as ethical questions concerning acquisition, appraisal, dating, scientific exploitation and museum exhibition of anthropological and cultural heritage. In addition, less well-known topics will be addressed, such as the sociology of plundering, the exploitation of subaquatic cultural heritage and the management of cultural heritage in conflict situations. Finally, an analysis of the impact of the different local initiatives should offer perspectives on this complex and controversial issue, which is currently of great interest. This round table uniting researchers, teachers, museum curators and managers of Africanist collections places itself on the side of ethics and will address both the areas of cultural artefacts and human remains.

The contributions to this conference were recorded and are now online on the conference website http://au.unige.ch/memoireafricaine/