Students

Brook Abdu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Archaeology and studies the transfer of knowledge among metalworkers of the Ancient Empire of Ghana.

Abel Djassi Amado studies African politics, with particular focus on Lusophonne African states. He is interested in the politics of national reconstruction in Angola (post-civil-war national reconstruction) as well as the politics of development/underdevelopment in the Lusophone African space.

Cedony Allen is a PhD student in anthropology and is interested in medical anthropology, gender, sexuality, youth, and desire. Her research focuses on the process of social change and how young people in urban Senegal construct their sexuality. She would like to explore the fluidity of the dichotomy created between normative and deviant behavior and how those ideas and practices inform young people’s ability to negotiate issues related to health and desire.

Lara Ayad studies Art History, with particular focus on Egypt and Ethiopia. She is researching modern Egyptian and Ethiopian artists and their work during political revolutions in the 20th century as well as their use and reinterpretation of ancient and early religious and cultural symbols in the creation of national identity(ies). Since 2009 Lara Ayad has also studied Arabic language as a FLAS recipient.

Ameliah Croft is a Masters student in International Relations and Religion specializing in the Middle East, Africa, Judaism, and Islam. She is interested in religio-cultural conflicts, primarily in East and Central Africa.

Lynsey Farrell is a PhD candidate in Department of Anthropology. She is currently conducting field research in Nairobi, Kenya, looking at urbanization, nationalism, and ethnicity in the informal settlement of Kibera. She is also directing a study abroad program for American University students in Nairobi.

Zachary Gersten received his B.A. in Biology, with minors in African Studies, and African Languages & Literatures from Boston University in 2011. Zachary specializes in the impact of East African fisheries on endemic fauna, the Wolof language, and West African Ajami lexicon. Zachary currently attends the Boston University School of Public Health with concentrations in International and Environmental Health and works in the Kaufman Marine and Freshwater Biology Laboratory at Boston University and the Family Health Department at Boston Medical Center.

Arianna (née Fogelman) Huhn is a doctoral candidate in the department of Anthropology. She studies foodways in northern Mozambique. Her dissertation will discuss the ways in which a Nyanja population envisions what food is and what it does to their bodies.

Martha Lagace studies violence and its aftermaths in Africa’s Great Lakes region. Her research focuses on memory and memorialization; the complexities of female and youth participation in violence; and the weaknesses of legal responses to rape historically and currently. At BU Martha is a second-year PhD student in the Anthropology department. She recently completed Yale Summer Session’s intensive Kiswahili program in Mombasa.

Felix Percy Longdon has a Masters in Theological Studies, majoring in Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics. He is in the final year of his studies and afterward hopes to join the Ghana Armed Forces as a chaplain and work on conflict transformation, reconciliation, and peace building among African communities and nations. He intends to further his education in peace building and to continue working to develop and build African communities.

Vincent K. Machozi is a student in the School of Theology. His area of study is theology, philosophy, and social ethics.

Shandirai Mawokomatanda is completing his doctorate in theology (ThD). His area of study is social and ecological ethics with a minor in global ethics and African studies.

Bill McCoy is a PhD candidate in the history department. His research focuses on the history of leprosy care in Swaziland, a subject that intersects with his interests in social history and the history of Christianity in Africa.

Gareth McFeely is a PhD candidate in History whose primary research interest is in social/leisure history in West Africa. He is working on a dissertation project on cinema ownership and attendance in mid-twentieth century Ghana.

Natalie Mettler is a PhD candidate in history. She is interested in Bamana Mali, ethnobotany and culinary knowledge, and environmental history.

Jennifer Rosenbush studies Cultural Anthropology, with a focus on the socialization of children in Zulu-speaking communities of South Africa. Her research interests include the role of extended family in caregiving, the socialization of gender, and division of labor in the household. In 2011-2012, Jennifer will be preparing for field work and teaching beginning Zulu language.

Phil Rotz studies African history, with a particular focus in the history of public health in Southern Africa. His interests include the development of national health systems and supporting institutions, medical education, the migration of medical doctors within the continent, and the effects of population policy on health services.

Leslie Sale is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science.  She received her BA from James Madison University in International Affairs and Economics.  Leslie is interested in comparative politics but more narrowly, post-conflict state and nation building as well as rhetorical analysis. Regionally she is focused on Southern Africa, particularly the Lusophone states of Mozambique and Angola.

Chelsea Shields Strayer studies anthropology, with a particular focus on Asante indigenous ritual healing ceremonies. She is interested in the interactive relationship between biology and culture as it applies to witchcraft, ritual, religion, social support, stress, epigenetics, and placebo responses. Chelsea matriculated at Boston University in 2005 where she worked on a Masters and a PhD in both biological and cultural anthropology and a graduate certificate in African studies. She is currently writing her dissertation and teaching a few classes at Towson University in Maryland. For over a decade she has conducted field research in Central Ghana, West Africa, and is now trying to figure out how to condense it all into one coherent thesis.

Matt Sims studies International Education Development with a particular focus on Ethiopia, where he studies Amharic during the summer of 2011 and where he plans to return to work after graduating in May 2012. He is interested in developing projects and programs focused on increasing male engagement in gender issues related to Gender Based Violence (GBV), HIV prevention, Family Planning and challening traditional male stereotypes.

Ela Soyemi received her MSc. in International Public Policy from University College London in 2006 and her BA from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom in 2005. Ela specializes in political philosophy. She also focuses on comparative politics, with especial interest in the Nigerian state and society. Prior to becoming a Ph.D student, Ela worked at the British Houses of Parliament. She was based there in the press lobby as a parliamentary researcher and administrator for the Guardian Newspaper. Prior to that, she worked at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs). Ela has published articles in the Guardian and academic book reviews in International Affairs and African Affairs.

Ben Twagira is a graduate student in the history department. He focuses on East Africa with a specific emphasis on the Great Lakes. He is interested in comparative social history of the Great Lakes along one or more of these themes: identity, livelihoods, and public health and well-being.

Sarah Westwood is a PhD student in the Department of History (projected PhD completion 2014). Her focus is military history in West Africa, particularly military culture and modes of warfare in Senegal, Liberia and Sierra Leone. She is also works on Atlantic history, specifically the African diaspora in the Americas. Her work has involved language training in French, Pulaar and Arabic.

Eve Wong is working towards a PhD in anthropology, focusing on the ethnomusicology and linguistics of urban South Africa. Her research deals with the creolization of musical forms and language variations amongst underprivileged youth in South Africa. She is interested in how art in general, and music in particular, creates moments and spaces of catharsis from the daily pressures of drugs, violence, and crime.

Deyu Zhao is a graduate student working on a master’s degree in economics, with a specific interest in development economics and international economics. Deyu completed an internship with the United Nations Development Program and completed a paper on African landlocked countries while he was a summer fellow at Boston University’s Pardee Center.