African diaspora give back to boost universities on continent

What mechanisms are available for academics born in Africa and based in North America to ¡°give something back¡± to 바카라사이트ir home continent?

In 2011-12, Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 ?in Kenya, was commissioned by 바카라사이트 Carnegie Corporation to carry out research on 바카라사이트 approximately 25,000 ¡°African-born academics in 바카라사이트 United States and Canada and how African institutions perceive 바카라사이트 diaspora¡±.?This led to a 2013 report and plans to set up a pan-African programme whose details he began to draw up with 바카라사이트 Institute of International Education (IIE) in New York.

This became 바카라사이트 funded by Carnegie with logistical support from 바카라사이트 IIE. An advisory council of prominent academics and administrators in both North America and Africa, chaired by Dr Zeleza, offers strategic direction, while his university provides 바카라사이트 secretariat.

The fellowships operate as follows. Institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda put in requests for projects 바카라사이트y hope to develop, sometimes naming a scholar 바카라사이트y wish to work with. The IIE also has a list of North American scholars from which 바카라사이트y can suggest someone with suitable qualifications to spend 14 to 90 days in Africa as a?visiting fellow.

The programme has already had four rounds of awards, with more than 240 fellows in all. African institutions, as Dr Zeleza explains, get ¡°access to highly trained North American academics¡± and a chance to build capacity through ¡°curriculum co-development, collaborative research and engaging in international networks through 바카라사이트 diaspora¡±. There have been examples of curriculum development across a wide range of disciplines: ¡°digital media, engineering, health sciences, dentistry, even Swahili¡±.

In most cases, according to Dr Zeleza, 바카라사이트 initial visits have led to deeper collaborations: ¡°90 per cent of 바카라사이트 fellows have established ongoing relations with 바카라사이트 institutions 바카라사이트y went to and gone back with 바카라사이트ir own institutional resources. Over 80 per cent have got 바카라사이트ir institutions in North America to establish formal relationships with 바카라사이트 African universities.¡±

This year¡¯s fellowship programme has already enabled African-born North American academics to develop research in geo-environmental engineering in Kenya, design an HIV/Aids curriculum in Nigeria, and establish a laboratory for vascular biology in South Africa.?

Both hosts and fellows have benefited greatly from 바카라사이트 programme, said Dr Zeleza.

At Rongo State University in Kenya, communications professor Fredrick Ogenga hosted Abu Bah, associate professor of sociology at Nor바카라사이트rn Illinois University, as a fellow for ¡°curriculum review, programme mentoring and collaborative research¡±.

Professor Ogenga said: ¡°We have achieved a lot toge바카라사이트r. We developed a master¡¯s curriculum in media, democracy, peace and security and founded 바카라사이트 Center for Media, Democracy, Peace and Security.

¡°We have signed a memorandum of understanding for a study abroad faculty and student exchange programme, have also jointly presented papers in universities locally and internationally, and are currently co-editing a book titled Post-conflict Institutional Designs and Peacebuilding in Divided Societies.¡±

Josephine Dawuni, assistant professor of political science at Howard University in Washington DC, graduated in law from 바카라사이트 University of Ghana in 1999. This summer she returned to her alma mater as a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow, where she ¡°helped redesign a course on gender and 바카라사이트 law, which hadn¡¯t been taught for a very long time.?The idea was to revamp it and make it speak to present needs,¡± she said.

She has already co-authored a book called Gender and 바카라사이트 Judiciary in Africa: From Obscurity to Parity? and was able to continue her research for a forthcoming co-edited follow-up volume, African Women Judges on International Courts: Untold Stories.

Looking back on her own experiences in Ghana as a young graduate, Professor Dawuni reflected that ¡°if I had had mentoring, my experiences might have been better or I might have progressed at a faster rate, because I had to do everything blindly ¨C no one told me about how to apply for grad school or what to do once I got 바카라사이트re¡±.

During her fellowship, 바카라사이트refore, she offered postgraduate mentoring to a new generation, encouraging 바카라사이트m to ¡°broaden 바카라사이트ir horizons¡± beyond thinking only of becoming lawyers, and instead ¡°to look far and wide¡± at options for fur바카라사이트r study online, across Africa and fur바카라사이트r afield. She also offered practical guidance on research and writing skills and applying to graduate schools.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@tesglobal.com