Dr. Chika C. Mba

Chika C. Mba is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, where his teaching and research cut across the broad domains of African philosophy, decolonial thought, human rights and global justice. His work centres the understanding of Africa and Africans in key debates in philosophy and the humanities more broadly, raising challenging questions to hegemonic discourses about human nature, global justice, (global) culture and human rights. He holds a Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is the recipient of many international research fellowships and sponsorship awards, including the African Humanities Programme by the American Council of Learned Societies; Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA’s) Small Grants Programme for Thesis Writing; the Unit for the Humanities at Rhodes University’s (UHURU) Postdoctoral Fellowship; The Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) sponsorship; the Mellon/Scholars at Risk (SAR) Fellowship.

At the University of Ghana, Dr. Mba teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in Philosophy and in African Studies, including AFST 639: Foundations of African Thought and UGRC 234: Philosophy in African Cultures. Previously, he taught several courses in the core areas of philosophy in four Institutes of Philosophy in Ibadan, Nigeria and environs, viz., Dominican Institute, Samonda, Ibadan, Affiliate Institution of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State (now Dominican University); Don Bosco Institute of Philosophy, Ibadan, Oyo State; SS Peter and Paul Major Seminary, Bodija, Ibadan, Affiliate Institution of the University of Ibadan; and Marian Institute of Philosophy, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
 

GRANT SUPPORT

• Full sponsorship by the Carnegie Corporation and the University of Dar es Salaam to attend the Third Biennial African Philosophy World Conference October 28-30, 2019 at University of Dar es Salaam, awarded August 1, 2019.
• University of Aberdeen’s partial funding that enabled me to attend the University of Aberdeen’s Centre for Citizenship, Civil Society and Rule of Law on Decolonising Political Concepts Conference taking place in Aberdeen Scotland from 19^th - 20^th September 2019, awarded August 2019.
• University of Ghana’s ORID Conference Grant, July 2019 (US$1,500.00).
• Andrew W. Mellon-funding for the project ‘Decolonisation, the Disciplines and the University’. The funding is for five years beginning from March 2019.
• Andrew W. Mellon-funding for the project ‘Other Universals: Theorizing from Postcolonial Locations on Politics and Aesthetics’. Funding is for 6 years, between January 2019 to December 2024.

SERVICE TO NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, PAST AND PRESENT

• Convenor and regular host of a popular weekly Reading Group at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, on Reading Decolonisation in Africa Today; September 2019 – present.
• Coordinator Institute of African Studies Seminar Series (August 2021 to October 2022).
• External Examiner for University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2021, Department of Sociology, April 2021.
• Internal Examiner for Institute of African Studies, November 2020. Examined
•  External Examiner for School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, University of Kwazulu-Natal, . Date of Appointment: January 23, 2020.
• Internal examiner for postgraduate dissertations in the Department of Philosophy and Classics University of Ghana, 2018.
• Successfully named (via inspiration) University of Ghana’s maiden research magazine, Inspiring UG, July 17, 2019.
• Presented numerous radio and television talks/interviews on the All-African Peoples’ Conference 2018 between October and December 2018.