ASCIR - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW
- Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science
- Senior Research Fellow / Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, Legal and Urban Studies at William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ
Aaron Tesfaye is Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science, Legal and Urban Studies at William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ. He received his BA and MPA degrees from California State University, Fresno, and his PhD from the Center for Politics and Economics, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA; specializing in International Political Economy, Comparative Politics and Public Policy.
He is the author of several books and many scholarly articles. His publications include; China in Ethiopia: The Long-Term Perspective (2020); State and Economic Development in Africa: The Case of Ethiopia (2017); The Political Economy of the Nile Basin Regime in the Twentieth Century (2009); Political Power and Ethnic Federalism: The Struggle for Democracy in Ethiopia (2002.) He has taught in the Departments of Economics and Political Science, California State University Fresno (1997-2004) and in the Faculty of Social Sciences, at Universidad De Sao Jose, Macau, Special Administrative Region, (SAR) Peoples Republic of China (2011).
He is a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He was twice a Fulbright Scholar, at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Addis Ababa University, (1993-94) and at the College of Law and Governance, Mekelle University, Ethiopia (2018-19).
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Fellow / Chair Professor of African Studies and Director of the Global African Diaspora Studies ( GADS ) Research Platform, University of Vienna, Austria
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director
- International Development and Security Expert With an
Arhin Acheampong is an International Development and Security expert with an MA degree in International Security from the Josef Korbel School of International Affairs, University of Denver. His specialization is in Intelligence, counter-terrorism strategies. He also has a certificate in Humanitarian Assistance with a focus on refugee populations in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
Arhin is passionate about global security and development and loves to write on emerging topics in these areas. In 2019, Arhin presented his paper on ‘The Scope of Insecurity in the Horn of Africa' at an annual International Studies Association conference held in Accra, Ghana. Later that year, he conducted field research with ChildVoice International at the Imvepi Refugee Settlement in Uganda which hosts over seventy thousand refugees from South Sudan. He received a dual bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice Administration (pre-law) and Global Studies at Michigan State University (MSU), with a minor in Peace and Justice Studies, and a concentration in International Development. During his time at MSU, he served as council representative for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, representing the university and scholars at stakeholder meetings and conferences. He also served as the President of the African Students Leadership Association for two consecutive years. Arhin was later appointed to serve on the University's board for the Year of Global Africa (2018).
In 2016, he was with the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD in Midrand, South Africa, working with the Communications Department. Among other things, he developed a database for all African missions in South Africa and all African Union (AU) missions in New York, Geneva, Washington, D.C. and Rome to facilitate communication among AU missions and the AU. As part of his political and social engagements, Arhin has participated in the Annual Model African Union Summit in Washington, D.C, the G20&G200 Summit in Germany, as well as conducted eye-screening and treatment exercises for community folks in the Northern Region of Ghana.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of the Fifth Avenue Center for Counseling & Psychotherapy
- Clinical Psychologist and President of BenReese, LLC
Dr. Reese is a clinical psychologist and president of BenReese, LLC., a North Carolina based global diversity, equity and inclusion consulting firm. He is adjunct professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Community Medicine and Family Health, and Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is the former Vice President for Institutional Equity and Chief Diversity Officer for Duke University and the Duke University Health System. He holds a Psy.D. in clinical psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University.
Dr. Reese has served as the Associate Director of the Fifth Avenue Center for Counseling & Psychotherapy in New York City, the founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of Culture and Ethnicity, and the Ombudsperson for the Rockefeller Foundation.
He has over 50 years' experience in the fields of implicit bias, race relations and diversity, inclusion and equity strategy. Dr. Reese is a highly sought after national and international speaker, workshop facilitator and consultant to higher education, healthcare, not-for-profit organizations, and the corporate environment. His over 100 consultations include implicit bias workshops for over 50 colleges and universities in North America, as well as the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Justice Department. He has provided invited addresses and workshops on various diversity and inclusion topics at Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University, the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, the University of Adelaide in South Australia, and the University
Dorothy Osei holds an MPH with specialization in Health Education and Promotion from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
She has passion for marginalized groups in societies which was her major reason for pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Disability and Rehabilitation Studies from the same university. She has over the years researched on issues around Persons with Disabilities, Persons living with HIV/AIDS and Children under the age of 5. She has researched and participated in studies such as structural accessibility for disabled persons, HIV/AIDS among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), Menstrual Hygiene Management among Intellectually Disabled Adolescents (IDA) among others.
During her undergraduate studies at KNUST, she interned with the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat (EENT) department of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Ghana where she studied the diagnosis of various forms of disability. After her MPH coursework in 2018, Dorothy did 3 months field residency with the Health Promotion Department of Asokore-Mampong Municipal Health Directorate (Ghana) with the aim of learning the practical nature of all that she had been taught in the classroom.
As her wish to spread her tentacles, she is currently keen about researching on the effects of Afro-Sino relationships on social policies for vulnerable populations.
She loves watching movies, sight-seeing and listening to music.
Dr. Adam Abdul-Rahaman was born in Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana and attended Tamale Senior Secondary School (Tamasco). Dr. Adam gained admission to the University of Cape Coast. He graduated with B.A. (Hons) degree in History and Religion. Afterwards, he was posted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration for his National Service, where he was retained to begin his career as a Foreign Service Officer. As part of the Ministry's capacity building agenda, Dr. Adam was sponsored to study his M.A. in International Affairs at the Legon Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy at the University of Ghana, Legon. He also had the opportunity to study an Advanced Certificate in Human Resource Planning and Development at the Institute of Applied Manpower Research in New Delhi, India. While on duty tour at the Embassy of Ghana in Brussels, Belgium, Dr. Adam enrolled with SMC University in Zurich, Switzerland to study a Doctorate programme leading to the award of Doctorate in Political Economy in 2017. Dr. Adam has a number of publications including ‘the Political Economy of Migration and the EU-ACP Cooperation', ‘ Migrants as Agents of Development: the Role of the Ghanaian Diaspora', ‘the Sahelian Security Situation from the Perspective of the Ghanaian Diplomat in Burkina Faso', ‘Assessing Motivation for improved performance in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration', ‘An appraisal of the EU-AU Lisbon Summit and the problem of illegal migrants from Africa to Europe' and ‘the impact of the presence of Hausa in Tamale' among others. Dr. Adam is a Deputy Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration and currently on duty tour at the Embassy of Ghana in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso as the Minister-Counsellor/Head of Chancery. Dr. Adam loves reading, watching movies and spending time with the family. He is married with four children.
Dr. Bright Nkrumah, holds a Bachelor's degree in Chinese language and literature from Xiangyang Normal University, China, Master's Degree in Teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages from Xian International Studies University, China, and a PhD in Chinese Linguistic (Specialized in the studies of modern Chinese characters) from Northwest University, China. Dr. Nkrumah is currently a lecturer of Chinese language at the Department of Modern Languages, University of Ghana. Dr. Nkrumah's principal research interests lie in the fields of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, Chinese Education in Africa Higher Education , teaching and acquisition of Chinese modern Characters, he has present his research findings in International Chinese Conferences around the world , places like the Princeton university U.S.A, Lancaster university U.K, Hunan city university ,University of Cape Coast ,E.t.c, He has a very rich experience in Chinese language teaching and research.
Job Titles:
- Researcher
- Research Fellow
Dr. Mark Kwaku Mensah Obeng is an Africa-China researcher who applies qualitative research echniques to explore the people-to-people exchanges between Chinese and African actors.
He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Ghana, Legon where he currently serves as a Senior Lecturer. His research focuses on areas such as the economy, consumption, formal education, and the emergence of the new elite. His PhD dissertation, for instance, focused on the transnational economic activities of Ghanaian traders involved in the importation and distribution of Made-in-China Products in the country. This saw him travel with some of these traders from Accra to Guangzhou and Yiwu as they embarked on their economic activities. His recent publications have appeared in Asian Ethnicity, Canadian Journal of African Studies, Contemporary Journal of African Studies, Review of Social Studies, and Legon Journal of Sociology. His ongoing research titled ‘Deconstructing the uptake of Made-in-China products' is supported by the Building Africa's Next Generation of Academics project (BANGA-AFRICA)
of the University of Ghana with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Mark is also a recipient of the Just Tech Covid-19 Rapid Response Grant from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), USA. Mark was a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, University of South Florida, USA, and currently, an Oversee Partner, Institute of Economic Sociology and Multinationals (IESM), School of Sociology and Political Science, Shanghai University.
Job Titles:
- Research FELLOW / Senior Research Consultant at Melian Dialogue Research Limited. PhD in International Relations from the United States International University - Africa, Nairobi
Job Titles:
- Research Associate
- Research ASSOCIATE / Education Specialist With Edify, Master of Education, Economics of Education and Management from Central China Normal University
Florentine holds a Master of Education degree (M.Ed) in Economics of Education and Management from Central China Normal University, a certificate of Proficiency in Chinese from Beijing Language and Culture University, and a
Job Titles:
- Research Associate
- Founding Partner at RoundtripAfrika
- Research Associate / Founding Partner at RoundtripAfrika. Trainee Investment Analyst at Olduvai Capital. Michigan State University ( MSU ) With a Cum Laude B.a. in Finance and UX Design
Gigi Ngcobo is a founding partner at RoundtripAfrika, a virtual talent accelerator built for young Africans who want to participate in Africa's tech revolution. She is also a Trainee Investment Analyst at Olduvai Capital, where she analyzes pan-African investments in equity and debt.
Gigi graduated as an honors student at Michigan State University (MSU) with a cum laude B.A. in Finance and UX Design. There she served as the President of the MSU Women's Association for Venture Capital and Private Equity, successfully organizing the first African Business Symposium, centered on exploring venture capital, technology, and entrepreneurship in Africa. Gigi was also selected as the first student in MSU's 163-year history to moderate a Global Speaker Series, alongside Nontombi Tutu. An honor received for her work in community development as the founder of an NGO, Imbali Youth Pioneers which is focused on leadership development in Pietermaritzburg Townships in South Africa. As an advocate for investments in emerging markets, she was also a distinguished speaker at University of Michigan where she spoke about the importance of simplifying investments to enable marginalized groups to gain wealth.
In the future, Gigi aims to work within the finance ministry in South Africa and other continental governing institutions to shape policy. However, she understands that she must understand the continent's biggest trading partner, China, to do so effectively. Thus, she intends to pursue her Master's Degree in the East and is excited to work with organizations like Afro-Sino Center for International Relations.
Founding partner at RoundtripAfrika. Trainee Investment Analyst at Olduvai Capital. Michigan State University (MSU) with a cum laude B.A. in Finance and UX Design
Hayford Yeboah is a third year PhD student at the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana. His research focuses on Migration of Chinese to Ghana with interest in the challenges and opportunities for partnership. He holds a bachelor's degree in Linguistics and Psychology, and a Master's in Communication Studies, both from the University of Ghana. He is a lecturer of Communication Studies at Wisconsin International University College, Ghana and a member of Communication Educators Association of Ghana (CEAG). For the past seven years he has been the host of the programme "Lecture Hour" on the campus-based radio, Radio Universe, University of Ghana.
PhD student at the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana. Bachelor's degree in Linguistics and Psychology, Master's in Communication Studies, University of Ghana.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Professor of History
Jamie Monson is Director of the African Studies Center and Professor of History at Michigan State University. A recognized researcher and scholar, Monson's efforts have established her as a pioneer in China-Africa development studies. Her book, Africa's Freedom Railway: How a Chinese Development Project Changed Lives and Livelihoods in Tanzania, explores the TAZARA railway, which was built with Chinese development aid in the 1970s. Monson's most recent project is a forthcoming book titled Looking East: Africa's Historical Engagement with China. She is also creating a documentary film based on life histories of TAZARA railway workers in Tanzania, Zambia and China. Monson serves as Chairman of the Board of the Chinese in Africa/Africans in China Research Network (CA/AC) and is currently heading a new global initiative, "Building Trans-regional Connections Among Africa, Asia and Latin America," that seeks to establish new scholarly paradigms for international studies.
Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi. PhD in Environment and Development from Roskilde University (Denmark)
Job Titles:
- Research FELLOW / Research Fellow in the Diaspora and Transnational Studies
Research Fellow in the Diaspora and Transnational Studies
programme at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography and GIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. University of Ghana, MA and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
Professional Research Analyst with 5 years working experience in the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration
Works with think tanks, local and international corporate companies, and lectures at universities in South Africa.
Mr. Pius Babuna is a third year PhD candidate at the School of Environment Beijing Normal University.
He holds a Master's degree in Environmental Pollution at the University of Reading, United Kingdom and a Bachelor's degree in Natural Resources Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
He is a gold member of the International Water Resources Association and a
Pamela Adwoa Carslake holds an MA in International Relations, with a specialization in Global Order in Historical Perspective from Leiden University.
Her enthusiasm for history and politics led to the pursuance of this MA program, which focuses on the historical processes behind the evolution of the global order. She has a strong interest in Africa and the continent's development, leading to the topic on her MA thesis on China's engagements in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Pamela spent a year working in the legal department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in Ghana after her Masters in 2018. Whilst there, she assisted in consular issues of Ghanaians in and out of Ghana. In 2018, she spent 6 months interning at the Justice Accelerator arm of The Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law (Hiil) in The Hague. Whilst there, she worked to assist justice entrepreneurs mainly based in West Africa on their start-ups, aiming to provide an alternative to the normal justice/legal route, to make justice accessible.
Pamela is a keen linguist who loves to travel, drink wine, meet new people and experience different cultures. For her Bachelors at Cardiff University, she studied French and Politics and spent a year at Sciences Po Bordeaux. She loves music and exploring new and exciting sports.
Seyram Avle [pronounced saiy-ram ahv-leh] is Assistant Professor of Global Digital Media in the Department of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is also a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University's Center for African Studies and an Adjunct Researcher at the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana.
Her research focuses on digital technology cultures and innovation across parts of Africa, China, and the United States. This work primarily takes a critical approach towards understanding how digital technologies are made and used, as well as their implications for issues of labor, identity, and futures.
Job Titles:
- Research Fellow / President of South African Students in China Association ( SASCA ), Ph.D. Candidate at Beihang University Majoring in Computer Application Technology
Job Titles:
- Research Associate
- Assistant for the ‘Contemporary Issues
- Research Associate / PhD Student, University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Affairs. Bachelor 's Degree in Economics and Government ( Dual Major ), Smith College
Susan Cossa is a PhD student at the University of Denver's Josef Korbel School of International Affairs. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Economics and Government (dual major) at Smith College. Susan is a Mozambican national who has studied in South Africa and the United States. This multinational experience has shaped her perspectives on the global political economy, her primary area of study. Susan's research focuses on the political economy implications, for African countries, of engaging with China.
Susan's work aims to illuminate the causes of slow development in African countries and explore practical solutions to improve development and, ultimately, alleviate poverty. She is currently working on two research projects. The first is a co-authored project looking at China's influence on African governments' attempts to address the issue of inadequate housing, particularly for low-income populations. The second is a project evaluating knowledge and technology transfers, or lack thereof, to African countries from China. The aim of this project is to examine China's economic motives in Africa and the consequences, for African countries, of engaging with China. Susan presented this work at the Western Political Science Association annual conference in Los Angeles in April 2020.
Susan works as a teaching assistant for the ‘Contemporary Issues in the Global Economy' course at the Korbel School. She works with students to strengthen their understanding of global political economy topics including international financial markets, the refugee crisis, and feminist perspectives in IPE. Susan has lectured on the inequality module in this course. In the years to come, Susan looks forward to conducting field research in Southern Africa (primarily in South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola) to explore how citizens of these countries are impacted by Sino-Africa relations.