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CAS Shining Student Spotlight: Khumo Nicole Senuku

Khumo Nicole Senuku is a graduating student from UF’s Master of Sustainable Development Practice program. Born and raised in Gaborone, Botswana, Khumo has always been deeply committed to community development, social transformation, and civic participation. With eight years of experience in Corporate Communications, Khumo aspires to become an experienced Development Practitioner with a focus on […]

CAS Shining Student Spotlight: Chioma Iyamu

Chioma Iyamu is from Nigeria and pursued her undergraduate degree in Accounting at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria. She recently completed a master’s degree in Sustainable Development Practice, with a minor in Soil Science and certification in Environmental Education and Communication. Chioma’s interest in the MDP program stems from its interdisciplinary approach, allowing […]

CAS Student Spotlight: Week of November 23rd

Khumo Senuku’s research examines systems thinking in addressing structural poverty among the formerly incarcerated– creating equitable and inclusive prosperity for all. She is conducting her study locally in Gainesville, working with a community development non-profit, Community Spring focusing on their project, Just Income. The objective was to investigate challenges and barriers – as well as […]

CAS Community Spotlight: Pazeni Sauti Africa Choir and Eric Murianki (Director) 

CAS Community Spotlight Pazeni Sauti Africa Choir and Eric Murianki (Director) Eric Murianki is Director of Pazeni Sauti and a graduate research assistant at the Center for Arts, Migration, and Entrepreneurship (CAME). Previously, he studied at Kenyatta University, Kenya. He is now completing his PhD in Music Education through the UF School of Music. Pazeni Sauti […]

Research Tutorial at Home Student Feature: Lauren Gilbertsen

Research Tutorial At Home with Dr. Rose Lugano Documentation of for a Kitaita (Kidaw’ida)-English Dictionary: Final Review in Preparation for publication The objective of the research was to conduct a thorough review of collected data for the English-Kitaita/Kitaita-English dictionary in preparation for publication. This entailed identifying missing data and entering as it was availed, editing […]

Undergraduate Research Tutorial at Home with Dr. Janzen

Glimpses of Haiti in West Africa, 1900-1920 Philip Janzen Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Florida  In 2016, I was in Ibadan, Nigeria, reading through the Herbert Macaulay collection at the University of Ibadan. Macaulay (1864-1946), was an early Nigerian nationalist. He corresponded widely, and seems to have preserved every scrap of paper that […]

Student Feature: Katelyn Flaherty, Fulbright-Hays DDRA Fellow

Katelyn Flaherty is a 4th year MD-PhD student in the Department of Environmental and Global Health. Her research focuses on pre-hospital care in low-and-middle income countries, specifically Ghana. Globally, leading causes of death among children one month to 5 years old include respiratory infections, diarrheal disease, and malaria, all of which are highly treatable early […]

MDP Student Ange Asanzi Presents Work on Inequality in Alachua County

Watch the presentation here and read a summary of her work below! Summary In this presentation, Ange presents the results of her MDP field practicum research through which she explored the relationships between the historical legacies of racial violence, slavery and segregation and the prevalence of poverty among African American communities in Alachua County. Using […]

Recap: SASA with Ayobami Edun

On Feb 10th, 2021, Ayobami Edun, a PhD Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UF presented at the SASA (Students in African Studies Association) meeting. His lecture was titled, “The 2020 Co-Vent Project: A UF Contribution to the COVID Global Crisis.” The project was supported by the Center for African Studies and the University […]

Returning from the Field: Graduate Student Megan Cogburn on Research and Motherhood

Research Post Written by Megan Cogburn (PhD Candidate, Anthropology) For the past 8 months I have been in Tanzania completing a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research project. My ethnographic research focuses on maternal health governance and the pregnancy and childbirth care experiences of women in rural communities in the central Dodoma region of Tanzania. I am […]

Student Feature: Martina Onyenwe

Martina Onyenwe is a 3rd year Public Health and International Studies dual degree student.  She has a minor in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance as well as a certificate in Geospatial Information Analysis. Martina’s interest in the Center developed because of her passions and heritage, but blossomed as a result of the incredible faculty that she […]

Student Feature: Savannah Hall

Savannah Hall is a third year anthropology student, currently focusing her studies on zooarchaeology. She has studied Kiswahili at the University of Florida since her first semester, and continues to cultivate an interest in EastAfrican archaeological research. As a student ambassador for the Center for African Studies, she is excited to spread awareness about the […]

Research Feature: Riley Ravary

Our own Programs and Communications Officer, Riley Ravary, will bid a eight-month farewell to the Center as she heads to Uganda for dissertation research on a Fulbright-Hays DDRA grant. Riley’s research focuses on environmental governance on the Ugandan side of Mount Elgon National Park, a transboundary protected area between Kenya and Uganda. The two countries govern […]

Student Feature: Melody Mullally, CAS Undergraduate Ambassador

Melody Mullally is a senior Undergraduate student in Anthropology, History, and Botany. In spring of 2017, she participated in the University of Florida’s study abroad program in Ethiopia, researching Stone Age archaeology with Dr. Steven Brandt. While visiting Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, she worked in the National Museum at Addis Ababa University. There, she studied […]

Student Feature: Melody Mullally, CAS Undergraduate Ambassador

Melody Mullally is a senior Undergraduate student in Anthropology, History, and Botany. In Spring of 2017, she participated in the University of Florida’s study abroad program in Ethiopia, researching Stone Age archaeology with Dr. Steven Brandt. While visiting Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, she worked in the National Museum at Addis Ababa University. There, she studied Stone […]

Student Feature: Mouhamadou Hoyeck, CAS Undergraduate Ambassador

Mouhamadou Hoyeck is a 4th year political science major and African Studies minor. Throughout his two years spent at the University of Florida as an undergraduate student, Mouhamadou has participated extensively in multiple extracurricular activities. He is currently one of the public relations directors of the African Student Union at UF. He says that joining this organization […]

Student Feature: Elisabeth Rios-Brooks, CAS Undergraduate Ambassador

Elisabeth Rios-Brooks is a second-year undergraduate student at the University of Florida. She is currently double majoring in Anthropology and International Studies with a focus on Africa. Her involvement throughout her time at UF has consisted of a myriad of leadership positions related to African studies. Her most noteworthy, being Showcase Director for the African Student […]

Student Feature: Ayobami Simeon Edun

Ayobami Simeon Edun is a first-year master’s student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He graduated from Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria in the top 3% of his class having succeeded in a wide range of courses. He also engaged in diverse projects ranging in focus from networking, […]

Student Feature: Dan Eizenga

Dan Eizenga is a PhD Student in Political Science focused on the Sahel. During his first two years as a PhD Student, Dan benefitted from Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships to study Arabic, which also enabled him to spend the summer of 2012 at the Arabic Language Institute in Fez. He then became a Research […]

Student Feature: Kehinde Ojo

Kehinde Ojo is a second-year master’s student in the Department of Food and Resource Economics, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Florida. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) Tallahassee, Florida in the year 2016. […]

Student Feature: Laurin Baumgardt

Laurin Baumgardt is a first year PhD student in Anthropology. His prospective PhD research centers on questions of urban innovation, humanitarian design, and urban planning strategies. The research will be based on fieldwork in urban South Africa, in which issues of inequality, race, and social change are widely and publicly discussed. Laurin’s research interests and focus […]

Student Feature: Emmanuel Akande

Emmanuel Akande is a 3rd year Ph.D. student in the Department of Food and Resource Economics (FRE). He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Lagos, Nigeria, in 2008 where he graduated at the top rank of his class. He obtained a Master of Arts (M.A) in Economics in 2012 from Florida State University […]

Student Feature: Sarah Meyers

Sarah Meyers is a Center for African Studies graduate student in Anthropology. She is a first year student and holds a FLAS Fellowship with the Center. Her research examines the use of Artemisia annua for the prevention and treatment of malaria and corruption and a lack of transparency within the World Health Organization (WHO).  Her research examines the unofficial […]

Student Feature: Fezile Mtsetfwa

Fezile Mtsetfwa is a PhD student at the School of Natural Resources and Environment enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Ecology Program. She also works for the Center for African Studies as the Managing Editor of the African Studies Quarterly (ASQ) journal. Over the summer Fezile traveled to Swaziland to conduct field research that was partially sponsored by […]

Student Feature: Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim

Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim is a PhD candidate in political science and a research associate with the Sahel Research Group. His dissertation, “Political Contestation and Islamic Discourses in the Sahel: Global ideologies, local contexts, and individual motivations,” addresses the specific questions of why have Islamic political contestations in the Sahel taken different forms: jihadist insurgencies, violent […]

Student Feature: Sheila Maingi

Sheila Maingi, a 2nd year student in the Masters of Development Practice (MDP) program, conducted research in Gauteng Province, South Africa this past summer. She partnered with Gender Links for Equality and Justice, a Southern Africa based organization, in their ‘Sunrise Campaign’. The program seeks to empower women who are survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) with […]

Spotlight on New Programs and Communications Officer 

Hello! I’m Riley Ravary, the new Programs and Communications Officer taking over for Jenny Boylan. This is my fourth year at UF researching East African protected areas through the Anthropology doctoral program. My undergraduate education was completed at Michigan State University, where I first started participating in African Studies coursework through their Center’s program. Here at UF […]

Student Feature: John Hames

John Hames defended his dissertation in April 2017 and will graduate with his PhD in Anthropology this coming August. His doctoral research analyzes the practice of language activism among a tight-knit network of Senegalese and Mauritanians devoted to the promotion of the Pulaar language, which is spoken by significant minorities in both countries. He conducted […]

Student Feature: Chizoba Ezenwa

Chizoba Ezenwa is a fourth-year International Studies- Africa major at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. She will receive her B.A. with a minor in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance in May 2017. She currently works as a program assistant for the Sahel Research Group (SRG) within the Center for African Studies where her main […]

Student Feature: Emmanuel Akande

I am Emmanuel Akande, Ph.D student in Food and Resource Economics (FRE). I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Lagos, Nigeria, in 2008 where I graduated at the top rank of my class. I was admitted to Florida State University (FSU) where I obtained my Master of Arts (M.A) in Economics in 2012. […]

Student Feature: Chesney McOmber

Chesney McOmber is a PhD candidate in Political Science. Her dissertation is titled, “The Feminization of Rural Space: Exploring Gender, Power, and Demographic Change in Africa.” Demographic change is an important driver of social and political change throughout the world. Mass migration due to political, economic, or environmental instability continues to displace power within both macro […]

Student Feature: Jennifer C. Boylan

Dr. Jennifer C. Boylan graduated with a PhD in Political Science from UF in December 2016. A democratization scholar, Boylan’s research analyses development and identity politics in Ghana through an institutional theoretical framework. She conducted field research in Ghana in June-July 2012, December 2012, and January-December 2013, including a 3-month long survey project which collected 1,932 […]

Student Feature: Mustapha Mohammed

  Mustapha Mohammed is a 2nd year PhD student in the Department of Anthropology. Mohammed’s research interest focuses on ancient iron-smelting sites in Nasia. Nasia is one of the major traditional towns in the Mamprugu traditional area in the Northern Region of Ghana. The Mamprugu state was the first of the three-dominion kingdoms established in Northern Ghana […]

Student Feature: Ben Burgen

Ben Burgen is a PhD candidate in cultural anthropology. His research focuses on the motivations for and impacts of migration from the rural Senegal River Valley to urban and transnational destinations. He is particularly interested in the variety of ways that migrants and non-migrants work together to promote the development of their hometowns in Senegal (both […]

Student Feature: Jesse Borden

Jesse Borden is an MSc student in the Interdisciplinary Ecology program through the School of Natural Resources and Environment. He is a FLAS Fellow with the Center for African Studies and his research interests center around tropical ecosystems, conservation and community ecology. His thesis will focus on different types of ecological disturbances and their various consequences. […]

Student Feature: Jennifer Moore

Jennifer Moore is a third year PhD student in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation under the advisement of Dr. Madan Oli. Jennifer has spent the last two years working in collaboration with Wildlife Conservation Society in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda. Last summer, Jennifer spent her time deploying camera traps both at ground level and for the first […]

Student Feature: Ben Lowe

  Ben Lowe M.S. Student, Interdisciplinary Ecology Program 2016-17 FLAS Fellow, Center for African Studies There is considerable knowledge today about the unprecedented impacts we are having on the earth, its ecosystems, and the critical goods and services they provide. Less understood are the effects these growing pressures have on human societies. In order to […]

Student Feature: Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim

Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim’s (PhD candidate, Political Science) dissertation research focuses on political contestation and Islamic discourse in the Sahel region. It addresses the questions of why and how have political contestations on behalf of Islam proliferated in the Muslim world? And why have these contestations taken different forms: jihadist insurgencies, violent riots, and peaceful protests? The […]

Student Feature: Lina Benabdallah

Lina Benabdallah is an ABD PhD candidate at the department of Political Science and Center for African Studies at UF. She is an avid follower of China-Africa relations broadly defined and focused her dissertation on the aspect of capacity building and vocational training programs. Benabdallah’s research (based on fieldwork experience in China and Ethiopia) investigates the role of human resource development programs in Chinese foreign […]

Student Feature: Werede Hagos

Werede Hagos is a MA student in African Archaeology and Amharic language instructor at the University of Florida. His studies involve the prehistory of East Africa, with a special focus on the Central Highlands of Eritrea, Northern Ethiopia, and Somalia. He holds his first degree from the University of Asmara, Eritrea, and he is one […]

Student Feature: Emily Pukuma

Emily Pukuma is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science. She is currently writing her dissertation concerning British colonial legacies and democracy. It is a multi-method study of why democratic institutions survive in some contexts and temporal periods but break down in others. Her research design includes an original conceptual typology of former British […]

Student Feature: Oumar Ba

Oumar Ba is a PhD candidate in the department of political science, studying International Relations.  His research interests lie at the intersection between the politics of international justice, states’ interests, and the global governance of atrocity crimes. His dissertation titled “Outsourcing Justice: Africa and the Politics of the International Criminal Court (ICC)” argues that although African […]

Student Feature: Scott Hussey

Scott Hussey is an ABD doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at UF. His dissertation project investigates a network of captivity and ransom of European Christians during the Early Modern period (1500-1800) in the Mediterranean.  For his doctoral research, he excavated a sealed and well-preserved subterranean dungeon associated with Christian servitude in North Africa: the Mazmorras of Tétouan, Morocco. […]

Student Feature: Mamadou Bodian

Mamadou Bodian (PhD Candidate, Political Science): My dissertation topic is: “The Politics of Electoral Reform in Francophone West Africa: the Birth and Change of Electoral Rules in Mali, Niger, and Senegal”. A summary of his work, in his words: This dissertation examines the origins of and changes in electoral systems in Francophone West Africa: Senegal, Mali, […]

Student Feature: Cady Gonzalez

Cady Gonzalez is a second year MA student in cultural anthropology and an Amharic Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellow. This past summer, she attended Afaan Oromoo language training and conducted ethnographic research in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Working in part with her chair, Dr. Marit Ostebo, she explored a new public health (development) project in […]

Student Feature: Benjamin Smith

  Benjamin Smith’s (MA Candidate, Anthropology) research focuses on the archaeology of Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa. Many scholars believe that modern human behaviors evolved gradually, as adaptations to ecologically diverse and highly variable Pleistocene African landscapes. They posit that these behaviors left Africa as a “package” integral to the […]

Student Feature: Amanda B. Edgell

From January to August 2016, Amanda B. Edgell (PhD Candidate, Political Science) conducted fieldwork in Uganda and Kenya. Edgell’s dissertation assesses the effectiveness of gender quotas at achieving long-term, sustainable representation for women in national legislatures. Capitalizing on a unique electoral system for allocating designated women-only seats in Uganda and Kenya, the research combines qualitative and quantitative […]

Student Feature: Justin Hoyle

Justin Hoyle is a third year PhD student in Political Science. Over the summer he spent a month in Cairo, Egypt conducting fieldwork for his dissertation project entitled “Determinants of Military Retrenchment: Army Behavior during Political Transitions.” This project addresses the question of why during transitional periods some political armies accept a reduced political role, […]

Student Feature: Netty Carey

  Netty Carey is a second year MA student in Anthropology. This past summer, she conducted field research in Ghana, dedicating six weeks of her trip to ethnographic research in Ada, a coastal town roughly three hours’ drive outside of Accra, the capital. Netty’s research community are fishermen, fish mongers, and petty traders residing on the Volta […]