The Why Africa Podcast

In episode one, Dr Cynthia Kamwengo and Dr Ben Radley provide an overview of the podcast goals and episodes. Cynthia is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in International Development and Ben is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Bath.

In this episode, Abi Glyn discusses her submission to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Africa and Royal African Society’s inquiry into how Africa and its diaspora are taught in British schools. Abi talks to us about her own education and the value of modernising the national curriculum. Abi is a BSc International Relations student at the University of Gloucestershire. She attended primary and secondary school in the Cotswolds.

In episode three, George Gumisiriza reflects on his experience of being an African learning and researching about African countries in British universities. George also reflects on the challenges of decolonizing knowledge production in Uganda. George is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Death Studies in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences, University of Bath. His doctoral research examines Afrocentric perspectives on death and repatriation in the diaspora. George holds an MRes in International Development (University of Bath, UK), a MSc in Social and Cultural Theory (University of Bristol, UK) and a Bachelor of Education (Makerere University, Uganda). George was a finalist nominee in the 2022 Doctoral Recognition Awards for public engagement at the University of Bath.

In episode four, Dr Eyob Balcha Gebremariam describes his experience teaching African Development through a decolonial lens at the London School of Economics & Political Science and the challenges of decolonizing education in Ethiopia. Eyob is a Research Associate at the Perivoli Africa Research Centre, University of Bristol. Eyob is an experienced educator, researcher and policy analyst on the topics of decolonial development, African political economy, African regional integration, African youth, urban politics, refugee and forced migration studies.

In this episode, Dr Gauthier Marchais reflects on the issues of racism, whiteness, and the challenges of decolonizing academic research in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Gauthier is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics & Political Science and has a background in political science and development studies. His research concentrates on how societies transform in war, with a multi-disciplinary perspective. He has written a book, Le déni blanc (White Denial), which builds on his personal experience and research work on the mental architecture of race from the perspective of a white man.