The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Welcomes Its 2023-2024 African Fellows

March 13, 2023

(NEW YORK) – The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of its 2023-2024 HFG African Fellows. The ten fellows were chosen through a rigorous peer-review process.  All are doctoral candidates at African universities exploring important problems of violence related to the African continent.

Fellows are investigating topics, including inter-ethnic conflict, democratization, and political protests. The fellowship provides each recipient with  a research grant and support on research design, writing, and publishing.  In addition, leading scholars act as mentors to the recipients throughout the fellowship.

TOP FROM LEFT: Doyinsola Oluwagbemi Agunbiade, Benyin Akande, Adventino Banjwa, Kigambo Gaaki, Marie-Grace Kagoyire Gasinzigwa, Yosef Sintayehu Jemberie, Awet Halefom Kahsay, Learnmore Mvundura, Kenechukwu Nwachukwu, and Jacob Tagarirofa.

In selecting the ​​recipients of the awards, previously known as the HFG Young African Scholars Program, highest priority was given to research that addresses the causes, manifestation, or prevention of current problems of violence.

“The HFG African Fellows Award recognizes the importance of supporting the next generation of African scholars,” said Foundation Program Officer, Nyeleti Honwana who oversees the project. “It is our hope that the promising work of these young scholars will provide both greater understanding of violence on the African continent and identify effective approaches to preventing or ameliorating it.”

The Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation is a leader in creating and disseminating knowledge on the nature, consequences, and reduction of violence in its many forms, including war, crime, and human aggression.


2023-2024 Fellows and Research Topics

Doyinsola Oluwagbemi Agunbiade (University of Ibadan, Department of Peace, Security and Humanitarian Studies) Impact Assessment of Violent Conflicts on the Democratic Development in Côte d’Ivoire

Benyin Akande (University of Uyo, Department of Political Science & Public Administration) Separatism and Gender Roles: Exploring Women’s Involvement in IPOB’s Agitations in Nigeria’s South-east Region

Adventino Banjwa (Makerere University, Makerere Institute of Social Research) Contesting the Postcolonial Political Order: A Critical Historical and Political Study on the Federalist Movement in Uganda

Kigambo Gaaki (University of Cape Town, Centre for Film and Media Studies) Mediating Contentious Politics in Hybrid Regimes: Press Coverage of Political Protests in Uganda

Marie-Grace Kagoyire Gasinzigwa (Universiteit Stellenbosch, Department of Psychology) Construction of Genocide Memories: Narratives of Second-generation Rwandans 

Yosef Sintayehu Jemberie (Makerere University, Department of Social Studies) The Making of State of Emergency: A Historical Critique of Modern Political Power in Ethiopia

Awet Halefom Kahsay (Addis Ababa University, Institute for Peace and Security Studies) Preventing Inter-Ethnic Conflict through Traditional Institutions: Evidences from North-East Ethiopia

Learnmore Mvundura (University of the Witwatersrand, School of Social Sciences) Debunking Foreigner-Citizen Identity Binaries: Immigrant Women’s Negotiation of Maternal Health Inequities in Johannesburg 

Kenechukwu Nwachukwu (Makerere University, Makerere Institute of Social Research) Nigeria’s Unresolved Political History and the Production of Violence Through Historical Narratives: The IPOB Question

Jacob Tagarirofa (University of the Free State, Centre for Gender and Africa) ‘Invisible Objects’ and Everyday Violence in a Post-war Community: A Posthuman Analysis of the Gendered Materialities of Landmines in the North-Eastern Border Area of Zimbabwe

For more information contact: 

Nyeleti Honwana, Program Officer

info@hfg.org | 646.428.0976

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