Africa | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Sylvia Esther Gyan

rebsl — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:47:22 +0000

Sylvia Esther Gyan (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Ghana and a visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, �첥��Ƶ, with over a decade of experience in teaching and research. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses and actively mentors and supervises students. From December 2018 to November 2023, she was an Affiliate Assistant Professor at the College of Public Health, University of South Florida. In 2019, she was named an African Studies Association Carnegie Corporation of New York Scholar.

Sylvia’s research focuses on the Sociology of Health, with emphasis on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, and child marriage. Her broader academic interests include Family Demography, Gender Studies, Climate Change, Ageing, and Migration. She has contributed to several notable projects, including serving as Co-Principal Investigator on "Utilising AI to Promote Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes for Adolescents with Disabilities in Ghana," funded by IDRC through the Infectious Disease Institute’s HASH program (Feb. 2023 – July 2024). She currently leads a project funded by the Horizons Institute Pump-prime Fund, University of Leeds, titled “Co-Creating Resilient Communities for Female Adolescent Migrants (‘Kayayei’) in Ghana.” This project integrates sociological methods and participatory visual art approaches to explore the lived experiences of girls under 16 who migrate from northern Ghana to Accra to work as head porters. Sylvia has also conducted research on sexual behaviours among older adults in Ghana, addressing a critical gap in global health literature. While most studies in this area originate from the Global North, her work brings much-needed focus to the sociocultural dynamics of ageing and sexuality in sub-Saharan Africa, a topic often considered taboo.

Her expertise and research continue to inform and influence discussions on health, gender, and development both within Ghana and beyond. Her research has been published in high-quality international journals, including Current Sociology, Archives of Sexual Behaviour, and Journal of Biosocial Science.

Beyond academic scholarship, Sylvia is deeply committed to collaborative research that addresses pressing societal challenges. Her work frequently centres on women in vulnerable situations, to inform policies and interventions that enhance their well-being.

Keywords: Africa, Ghana, Adolescent, Health, Migration, Climate Change, HIV, Intimate Partner Violence, Gender

Uyiosa Eweka

rebsl — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 19:57:57 +0000

Uyiosa Eweka - a second year criminology major at �첥��Ƶ with a deep passion for understanding the complexities of the world. Her legal inspiration stems from the need to address An avid reader and music lover, Uyiosa finds joy in singing and engaging in thoughtful debates. With a strong commitment to supporting others, Uyiosa channels her interest in law, politics, faith and the environment into meaningful insights that help make sense of today's challenges. Through her studies and personal pursuits, Uyiosa strives to blend knowledge with compassion, making a positive impact on those around her.

Keywords: Law, Policy, Impact of slavery, Crime displacement, Policing, Settler Colonialism, Africa

Patrick Chukwudike Okpalaeke

rebsl — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 18:50:52 +0000

Patrick Chukwudike Okpalaeke is a PhD student in the Department of History. He holds a BA in History and International Studies and an MA in Social and Political History both from the University of Uyo, Nigeria. He is interested in African history, environmental history, history of health and medicine, and mining history during the twentieth century.

Yayo Vuni

rebsl — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 17:22:29 +0000

I completed my bachelor’s degree at Acadia University where I graduated with honours, double majoring in Sociology and Political Science. My honours thesis focused on the ‘’Impact of South Sudanese Cultural Marriage Practices on Women's Pursuit of Post-Secondary Education in Canada.” My research interest includes social justice in education and the contribution of African women to the field of development in Africa.

Rabiat Akande

alexall5 — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 21:24:13 +0000

Rabiat Akande works in the fields of legal history, law and religion, Islamic law, International law, and (post)colonial African law and society. Her current research explores struggles over religion-state relations in comparative contexts and illuminates law’s centrality to one of modernity’s most contested issues—the relationship between religion, and the state, and society—while also interrogating law’s complex relationship with power, political theology, identity, and socio-political change. These issues are at the forefront of her book project, Constitutional Entanglements: Empire, Law and Religion in Colonial Northern Nigeria (under contract with Cambridge University Press), which traces the emergence of “secularism” as a constitutional idea of ordering religion-state relations in early to mid-twentieth century British Colonial Northern Nigeria, and grapples with the postcolonial legacy of that inheritance. Dr Akande’s work has been supported by grants and prizes including Cravath International research fellowship, the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs fellowship, Harvard Academy grants, the Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World Research Grant, as part of a Law and Society Association International Research Collaborative, among others.

Matthew Robertshaw

alexall5 — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 01:50:22 +0000

Matt Robertshaw is a PhD candidate in History at �첥��Ƶ. He focuses on Haiti, the Caribbean and French colonialism in Africa. He is also a video essayist via Sleeper Hit History on YouTube.

Henry Gomez

rebsl — Fri, 17 Dec 2021 05:29:45 +0000

Henry Gomez is an educator, who was formerly employed by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) as a high school teacher; and was nominated for a Teacher- of-The-Year award. He specialized in English Literature, Media Studies and Drama. He holds an MFA in Theatre and a BA in English from �첥��Ƶ and obtained his B. Ed from the University of Toronto. He believes in lifelong learning. After retirement from active teaching, he returned to York, where he recently defended his master’s thesis in Interdisciplinary Studies.

He was born and grew up in Princes Town, Trinidad and Tobago, where he began his career in education. As an actor, composer, recording artiste and radio host, he has an extensive background in various aspects of the performing arts in Canada and internationally.

He has worked in radio, television, film and theatre; and has hosted shows on CFRB 1010 and CIUT 89.5 FM. He has also worked as a theatre director and Master of Ceremonies. Under his sobriquet, King Cosmos, he became a Canadian Calypso Monarch, the winner of a Canadian Urban Music Award and a Canadian Reggae Music Award. He is also a Sunshine Award nominee. His community service includes helping to develop the Caribbean cultural arts in Toronto. He is a founding member and first Chair/Secretary of the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes (OCPA) and a past Chair of the Caribana Arts Group. For the period 2012 to 2014, he led the team that produced the Flags and Colours children’s carnival for residents of the Jane and Finch community in Toronto. Henry looks forward to working for the betterment of the Harriet Tubman Institute.

Keywords: carnival, calypso, music, culture, Caribbean, Toronto, Africa, Canada, Trinidad, Tobago, Trinbago

Gertrude Mianda

rebsl — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 05:14:28 +0000

Gertude Mianda is the former Director of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diasporas at �첥��Ƶ. She is a Professor in the Gender and Women’s Studies program at Glendon College and was the Chair of the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at �첥��Ƶ (2011–15). Her research focuses on gender and post-colonialism in Africa—particularly on Congolese women—gender development and globalization as well as on immigration. Her immigration research focuses primarily on francophone Africans in the minority francophone community in Canada, particularly their economic and social integration.

Bruno Rafael Véras

alexall5 — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 14:36:07 +0000

I am a digital historian and cultural producer whose work focuses on public scholarship, memory, Global Africa, historical slavery, and art education. I have been developing multimedia educational projects in the Global South, Digital Public History initiatives such as the Project Baquaqua. I am currently directing the UNESCO project Fragments of Memory: Artistic Representations of Diaspora Lives. I coordinated British Library Endangered Archives Projects, developed digital archives and websites (e.g. Equiano’s World), and several training workshops in Digital Humanities. My work as UNESCO consultant in Africa-Brazilian history (FUNDAJ) resulted in museum and art exhibits. I am a documentary filmmaker working on art and experimental and creative performances in Brazil, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Canada and Egypt. I have extensive experience as a lecturer in Brazil and Canada, with several teaching awards and grants for the development of educational projects, community engagement and public history activities.