Professor Dzodzi Tsikata, former Director of the Institute of African Studies, has been appointed a Research Professor of Development Studies at the Department of Development Studies of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She joins Professors Olivette Otele, Ha-Joon Chang, Sanjay Srivastava and Shirin Rai as a recipient of the SOAS Distinguished Research Professorship.
The establishment of five new distinguished research professorships by the SOAS is aimed at addressing global challenges of our time, as framed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In her reaction to SOAS on the appointment, Professor Dzodzi Tsikata said: “SOAS represents an interesting vantage point from which to continue my research of the last three decades on questions of Africa’s development. SOAS’s plan to reimagine global partnerships and revitalise its research agenda is precisely the kind of agenda to which I can make a real contribution. I feel energised by the prospect of working with colleagues in Development Studies to produce new knowledge, train a new generation of global leaders and contribute to current debates about the future of development studies.”
Currently, Prof. Tsikata is leading two pan-African research projects - the Gender Equitable and Transformative Social Policy for post COVID-19 Africa (GETSPA) and Trans-regional Research on the Changing Nature of Precarious Work in Africa and the Arab Region. Her research areas and publications are in gendered political economy of agrarian change; informal labour relations and work conditions; and social policy and social development. Professor Tsikata is a leading member of several African and global south research networks, and a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Congratulations Prof. Tsikata
