2012 Panelist Bio's Q-Z

Panelist Bio's Q-Z

Abstracts by Name

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Panelist
Bio's

Welcome to the Abstracts and Bios section! Abstracts and Bios will appear after the submission period is complete and the registration fee recieved.

Charlotte Ray is a final year PhD student at the Department of Geography, Environment and Disaster Management, Coventry University, UK. Her PhD has very much focused on the integration and livelihood strategies of "self-settled" refugees. Her case study was a group of Senegalese refugees from the Southern region of Casamance who are now permanently settled in West Coast Region of The Gambia, West Africa. She also has an interest in the analysis and development of the DfID Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Framework as well as the development of mixed methods on the ground with both host and refugee communities. She completed, in 2008, a BA (Hons) in History and International Relations, before proceeding to pursue her Doctoral Studies. Her first publication in collaboration with Martin Evans 'Uncertain Ground: The Gambia and The Casamance Conflict’ will be published in early 2012 in 'Saine, A., Cessay, E., and Sall, E. (eds) The Gambia: essays on contemporary issues and future direction(s) 1965-2009, vol. 1. Trenton NJ: Africa World Press'. Her field of research include: Social Sciences - Geography, refugee integration within host communities; sustainable rural livelihoods; and the Gambia.

Paula Royster is the founder, President and CEO of The Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc. (CAAGRI). Ms. Royster has taught at Germanna Community College; is a guest lecturer at Virginia Commonwealth University and an adjunct professor at the University of Mary Washington. A Fulbright Specialist, Mrs. Royster specializes in genealogy and the African Diaspora. She chairs the Rappahannock Regional Juneteenth Committee and serves as an advisor to other like minded non-profit organizations. As a veteran genealogist she has conducted seminars and workshops locally, regionally and internationally. She has published numerous papers and articles on the African Diaspora and is featured in the upcoming PBS documentary "Chris" sponsored by Virginia Commonwealth University.

Martin Shanguhyia is an Assistant Professor of African History at Syracuse University. His research and teaching interests are colonial and postcolonial Africa, focusing on agriculture, environment, and land politics, and intersection between modern development and African livelihoods. He also has interests in colonial and postcolonial state politics in Africa.

Mina Somin Shin is a doctoral student at Graduate School of International Studies in International Studies; junior researcher at Institute for Development and Human Security at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea. She received education in International Relations from Kyung Hee University (B.A.) and in Development Cooperation from Ewha Womans University (M.A.). She worked at Sustainable Bolivia with internship position, a local NGO in Cochabamba, Bolivia and at the Department of International Affairs in the Organization of American States (OAS) with Fellowship program from Ministry of Foreign Affair. Currently, she is on Global Ph.D Fellowship Program from National Research Foundation of Korea. She is interested in the roles of civil society in development.

Gordon Kusi Siaw received his Teachers' Certificate "A" from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana in 2005. He is currently a student at the University of Ghana Legon, Department of Political Science. His area of interest is International Relations which will help shape his aim of becoming an astute researcher in African Foreign Policy and Diplomacy. The experience he gained in his teaching at a farming village in Wamfie motivated him to launch a project called 'FEED ONE CHILD A DAY'. It is an initiative aimed at reducing child hunger in Ghana. He wishes to dedicate his life to the service of children in poverty stricken areas worldwide.

Muhammad Tanko is a Professor of Accounting, Kaduna State University, Kaduna, Nigeria. He is at present the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Kaduna State University and the Dean Faculty of Social & Management Sciences. He has published extensively in different peer-reviewed journals across the globe and published a number of books. He worn the commissioned research project of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria on Audit Expectation Gap and is a member of many professional bodies.

Manuel Vogt earned his M.A degree in political science from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. In his master thesis – published as a working paper by the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR) – he examined the relationship between ethnic exclusion and ethnic conflict in West Africa. Currently he is a Ph.D candidate at the Center for Comparative and International Studies at ETH Zurich. His research interests include ethnic conflict, post-conflict democratization, electoral institutions and party systems, and Latin American and African politics. He has published several newspaper articles in German and Spanish, and has won the 2011 NCCR Knowledge Transfer Award for special achievements in transferring academic knowledge into society.

Carolyn Vieira-Martinez's manuscript Building Kimbundu combines historical linguistics with GIS technology to study the social history of central Angola and the construction of community through language. Dr. Vieira-Martinez received several prestigious awards to continue this research from the Chancellor's Office at UCLA, the Fulbright Scholarship Board, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the national archives of Portugal, the UCLA Office of International Studies and Overseas Programs, and the National African Languages Resource Center. Presently her research focuses on reconstructing histories of gendered diglossia through spatial lexical analysis, the consequences for contemporary language politics, and the evidence distributed globally through the Atlantic African diaspora. Her ASILI© African Scholarly Integrated Language Inquiry system is used by scholars to facilitate interdisciplinary research with Bantu language evidence. Her research has been presented at the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora, the American Historical Association, and the African Studies Association.

Ben Weiss is currently an undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin. He has a triple major in Government, History, and a self-created major of African Conflict and Development Studies. He is also pursuing minors in Philosophy and African Studies, as well as a certification in Human Rights and Social Justice. His research interests involve governance, development, humanitarian aid, genocide, and HIV/AIDS in Africa. The theme of all his work revolves around foreign influence in the aforementioned areas. This is Weiss' second year presenting at the Africa Conference and he hopes to pursue a PhD in History.

Gabriel Dapel Zuhumnan is of the Department of Economics University of Jos, Nigeria, where he was educated up to Master degree level in Economics. Before joining the University as a full time lecturer, he worked with the Policy Associates, a Consulting Executive in Public Finance based in Abuja, Nigeria. While with Policy Associates, Dapel was involved in a number of consultancies in the areas of Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) Review for the World Bank, United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDF) and some state governments in Nigeria. Development economics, econometrics, statistics and macroeconomics cover his research areas of interest in the academics. Dapel is highly proficient in computer applications and data analysis using Eviews, SPSS, and StatView, complementing with Microsoft Excel. Dapel is currently also an adjunct lecturer in the NTA TV College Jos, teaching a media related course in Economics to students of TV Journalism.

Augustine Tawiah is a tertiary educator who lectures, writes, consults, and speaks on human and social development, leadership, governance, adult education, faith based organizations, organizational change, and professional development. Born and raised in his native Ghana, he was educated in secondary schools in Accra (St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School – Ordinary Level, and Labone Secondary School- Advanced level). He obtained the honors degree (BA Hons) in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Ghana. He also holds advanced degrees from Lipscomb University (Master of Arts), Harding University (Master of Divinity & Doctor of Ministry), and The University of Memphis (Master of Science in Leadership & Policy Studies and the Doctor of Education in Leadership). Dr. Tawiah is involved in a wide range of community service. Currently, he serves on the Steering Committee of the Civil Society Organization Platform on Oil and Gas. He is also the coordinator of the Partnership for Quality Education in Ghana and the President of the Ghana Association of Educational Planners and Administrators.

Olivier Tchouaffe is a visiting Assistant Professor at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He teaches classes on Communication and Film Studies. He currently works on a book on Cameroonian cinema and grassroots democratic activism. Besides many book chapters, his other works have also appeared in the Journal of Applied Semiotics, POV Online, Journal of Contemporary Thought, The Journal of African Cinemas, PostAmble Journal and in The International Encyclopedia of Communication. Most recent publications include: Colonial Visual Archives and the Anti-Documentary perspective in Journal of Information Ethics, Notes on Cultural Flows and Globalization: When China Meets Africa, forthcoming in Blackwell’s International Companion to Media Studies: Production; District 9 and Mobility Rights in Africa in Toyin Falola and Bridget Teboh’s edition.

Amzat Boukari Yabara is a postdoctoral scholar of the Groupe interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches sur les sociétés africaines (GIERSA), enrolled in the Department of Anthropology of the University of Montreal, Canada (2011-12). His academic works deal with Pan-African political and intellectual history, Global issues and cultural studies. Boukari Yabara received a Master in History of Brazil from Sorbonne University of Paris in 2005, a Master in Social Sciences from Ecole des Hautes Études (EHESS) in 2007, a Ph.D. in African History and Civilizations from EHESS in 2010, and a Diploma in Latin American studies from Sorbonne (2011). From 2006 to 2011, he also served as a junior official executive in the ranks of the French Conseil d’État, in charge of the political refugee affairs.

Hauwau Evelyn Yusuf is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology Kaduna State University where she also serves as the Deputy Dean of Student's Affairs. She has a number of publications in reputable academic journals and a few books to her credit. Hauwau is a gender equity person and is currently the gender focal person of the Kaduna State University. Hauwau is also the CEO of the Centre for Study and Resolution of Domestic Violence an NGO that takes care for Victims of Domestic Violence. She holds a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife Nigeria.

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Africa Conference 2012: Poverty and Empowerment in Africa

Convened by Dr. Toyin Falola and Coordinated by Sylvester Gundona and Tosin Funmi Abiodun for the Center for African and African American Studies

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