The Social Science Research Council’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program is pleased to announce the thirty-six fellows receiving the Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship, and Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship. This year’s fellows are from Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

The Next Gen program supports tertiary education in Africa by awarding a sequence of three fellowship opportunities for promising PhD students to do research and make steady progress toward completion of their doctoral degrees.

The 36 fellows listed below are working on a range of topics relating to conflict and peacebuilding, media and development, gender, governance, identity politics and security, and mental health.

Here is the complete list of Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa 2019 fellows:

Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation completion fellowship supports a one-year leave from teaching and administrative responsibilities through a stipend of up to US$15,000 to permit the completion of a dissertation that advances research on peace, security, and development topics.

This year’s Doctoral Dissertation Completion Fellows are as follows:

  • Oluwaseun Bamidele, “Securing the Local: Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) – A Community Security Option and the Future of Counter-Insurgency in the North-Eastern Region of Nigeria,” Ekiti State University, Nigeria
  • Ehijele Femi Eromosele, “Narrative Comorbidity: Madness, Disability, and African Fiction,” University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Nicodemus M Minde, “One-Party Dominance and the Challenge of Democratizing the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union,” United States International University – Africa, Kenya
  • Margaret Monyani, “Implications of Securitisation on the Human Security of Urban Somali Refugee Women in Nairobi, Kenya,” University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Noosim Naimasiah, “Being Maasai in Neoliberal Times: The Story of Capitalism and Resistance from the Maasai of Mashuuru,” University of Western Cape, South Africa
  • Hlengiwe Patricia Ndhlovu, “The Shifting Dynamics of State-Society Relations in South Africa: A Case Study of Duncan Village, East London: 1980-Present,” University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Evarist Ngabirano, “The Politics of Tribalism: A Comparative Study of Kigezi and Toro Districts in Uganda,” Makerere University, Uganda
  • Kimberley Ann Usher, “The Political Economy of Healthcare Reform in South Africa: The Case of the National Health Insurance Scheme,” University of South Africa, South Africa

Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship

The doctoral dissertation research fellowship supports 6-12 months of dissertation research costs of up to US$15,000 on a topic related to peace, security, and development.

This year’s Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellows are as follows:

  • Sani Yakubu Adam, “A History of the Islamic Book Market in Kano, Nigeria 1903-2015,” University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Titilope Folarin Ajayi, “Through African Eyes: ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ and the Politics of New Transnational Activism in Violent Contexts,” University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
  • Chad C. Brevis, “Communicative Freedom in a Digital Democracy: Political and Economic Resistance to Free Speech and the Rise of Digital Activism in South Africa,” University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Solomon Dribsa Danga, “Mental Health of Adolescents in Refugee Camps in Ethiopia: The Development of an Exploratory Model Based on Trauma, Coping, and Resilience,” University of the Western Cape, South Africa
  • Chenai Gillian Matshaka, “Civil Society Narratives of Violence and the Shaping of the Transitional Justice Agenda in Zimbabwe (2000-2013),” University of Pretoria, South Africa
  • Poloko Sindiso Ngaba, “Isithwalandwe (one who wear the plumes of the rare bird): The Leadership and Ideas of Ruth Segomotsi Mompati in the Struggle for National Liberation and Democratic South Africa,” Rhodes University, South Africa
  • Theogene Niwenshuti, “Memory, Museum, and Mental Health: Making Sense of Contestation Over the Interpretation of Violence in Contested Spaces at William Humphreys Art Gallery,” University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Abdulhakim Abdalla Nsobya, “Mediated Mimbar in East Africa: Muslim Electronic Music in Contemporary Uganda,” University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Alaba Favour Ogwumike, “Pastoralists’ Movement, Conflicts, and Peace in South-Southern Nigeria,” University of Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Muema Wambua, “International Interventions in Conflict Transformation Processes in Kenya, 2008-2017,” United States International University – Africa, Kenya

Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellowship

Doctoral dissertation proposal fellowships support PhD students working on developing a doctoral dissertation research proposal. The fellowships support short-term research costs of up to US$3,000 to develop a doctoral dissertation proposal.

This year’s Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Fellows are as follows:

  • Bolanle Aina, “Proclivity to Utilize Grievance Redress and Citizens Engagement Mechanisms in Herder-Farmers Conflict Resolution in North Central Nigeria,” University of Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Olufisayo Temitope Ajala, “Women and Non-Lethal Impacts of Insurgency: Coping Mechanisms of Terror-Widowed Wives of Nigeria Army in the War Against Boko Haram,” Stellenbosch University, South Africa
  • Benyin Adah Akande, “The Impacts of Environmental Hazards on Sustainable Food Security in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region: Towards a Policy Framework,” University of Uyo, Nigeria
  • Chibuzor Mirian Azubuike, “Politics of Identity and the Political Economy of Refugee Status in New Bakassi Cross River State,” University of Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Tamuka Chekero, “Mobility, Space, and Urbanism: The Study of Practices and Relationships Among Migrants from African Countries in Cape Town, South Africa,” University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • Hafsa Ali Ibrahim, “Making of Jihadi Brides: Contested Representation of Kenyan Muslim Women,” Egerton University, Kenya
  • Yosef Sintayehu Jemberie, “The Dialectic of Power and the Modern Political Subject: A Perspective from the Study of Political “State of Exception” in Modern Ethiopian History since the 19th Century,” Makerere University, Uganda
  • Ridwan A. Kolawole, “Exploratory Analysis of Media Reportage of Herdsmen-Farmers Conflict in Nigeria,” University of Ibadan, Nigeria
  • Fikile Goodness Masikane, “Understanding Work and Rest: An African Perspective,” University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Michael Greyson Mgonja, “The Paradox of Government Interventions and the Quest for Peace and Food Security in Indigenous Communities: A Case Study of the Hadzabe Community in Tanzania,” University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • Jacqueline Namukasa, “’The Island is in Kenya, the Water is in Uganda’: Uganda-Kenya Contestations Over Migingo Island 2009-2018,” Makerere University, Uganda
  • Folorunsho Muyideen Ogunmefun, “Predictors of gang Violence and Crime Outcomes Among Youths in Mushin, Lagos Metropolis,” Ogun State University, Nigeria
  • Moses Adama Osiro, “The Development-Security Nexus as a ‘Performance’: A Critical Analysis of Interventions Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) in Kenya,” Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya
  • Jacqueline Akoth Owigo, “Return and Reintegration in Post-Conflict Societies: A Case Study of Somali Returnees,” United States International University – Africa, Kenya
  • Mpumezo Welcome Ralo, “The Usage of Patronage to Consolidate Political Power in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. The Case of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment,” University of South Africa, South Africa
  • Jacob Tagarirofa, “Posthuman Security and Landmines: Gendered Meaning-Making and Materialities in the North-Eastern Border Area of Zimbabwe,” University of the Free State, South Africa
  • Nixon Wamamela, “A Philosophical Assessment of Democracy in Post-Colonial Legislations in Uganda,” Makerere University, Uganda
  • Job Allan Wefwafwa, “Kenyan TV News as Africanized Public Sphere: Analyzing the Representation of “Voice” Participation in African Democracy,” University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Warm congratulations to this year’s Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa fellows. Next Gen looks forward to working with you and seeing the results of your promising research.

If you are interested in applying for a fellowship award from Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa, the next call for applications for the 2020 grant cycle will be released in October this year. Applications will be accepted from October 2019 through January 2020.

The Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa program is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York.