Dorothy Takyiakwaa is a Lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and a Researcher at the Centre for Gender Research, Advocacy and Documentation. She employs intersectionality, feminist methodologies and decolonial lens to unpacking power and inequalities embedded in issues of gender relations, social justice, collective action, livelihoods, poverty, migration, conflict, social stratification, class, conflict, politics of and in Africa, and knowledge production. Besides her personal research and teaching, she has shared her expertise by consulting for UNFPA Ghana, Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC), and Plan International Ghana. Other independent research and advocacy have been done with funding from reputable organisations such as the British Academy and the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Having been a doctoral fellow on the Academy for African Urban Diversity (2017/2018), Dorothy is currently a post-doctoral fellow on Andrew Mellon foundation funded project on ‘Entanglement, Mobility and Improvisation: Culture and the Arts in Contemporary African Urbanism and its Hinterlands’. She was a visiting scholar at University of Bristol’s School for Policy Studies, on a BIRCA funded project ‘Decolonising the Hegemonic Narratives on FGM’. Dr Dorothy Takyiakwaa studied at the University of Cape Coast and Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Before joining the University of Cape Coast, she was a Research Scientist at the Animal Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Change is the only constant in our world. This means everything around is speedily changing mainly to accommodate and provide trends, tastes and new ways of doing things. This is same with the academic environment where diverse people come in periodically, new tools are emerging and challenges abound, yet higher educational structures are slow in catching up or even leading the change. In response therefore, I am open-minded and design my teaching and learning spaces (to the best of my ability) to utilize diverse methods (written, audio, visual, imaginary aids, online & offline) to engender student/learners creativity, give constructive feedback, and assess not only based on text but also discussions, debates, audio-visual and other creative outputs. From a feminist tradition of empathy, intersectionality and social justice, I encourage and provide alternative lenses (African and decolonial lens, power analysis) for my students and learners to be open-minded, ask questions, seek to understand and not to be afraid to critique local and broader social issues. Learners and students are also co-creators of knowledge: thus, I learn from them too. I work towards changing toxic norms and hope that through my teaching and learning attitudes and behaviours will change towards social justice.
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Presented a paper (Social mobility among ‘re-migrant’ women in Ghana)
Upward Social Mobility Among Female Remigrants/Returnees In West Africa Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany.
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Presented a paper (Hair and Becoming: Politics of natural hair in Ghana)
Summer Institute on Entanglement, Mobility and Improvisation: Culture and the Arts in Contemporary African Urbanism and its Hinterlands Kampala, Uganda.
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Participant
Capacity-Building Training of AUC, RECs, CSOs, Women’s Rights Organizations (WROs), and National Governments on Coordination in Data Collection, Analysis, and Utilization relating to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), Harmful Practices (HP), and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights (SRH &RR) indicators) Accra, Ghana.
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Presented a paper (Polyphony, Popular Culture and Social Networks: Intercourse of urban spaces and hinterlands)
Summer Institute for Entanglement, Mobility and Improvisation: Culture and the Arts in Contemporary African Urbanism and its Hinterlands University of Pretoria, South Africa.
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Presented a paper (Politics of Affordable Housing: The Case of Ghana’s Housing Policies at the Turn of the Third Millennium)
Regions in Recovery: Building Sustainable Futures (by Regional Studies Association) Global e-festival (Online).
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Presented a paper (Relationship between Gender socialisation and SGBV)
Symposium on ‘Girls in SDG ERA: Health, Equity, and Education, Takemi Programme at Harvard School of Public Health and Institute of African Studies IAS, University of Ghana.
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Participant
Writing Workshop: Foregrounding the Perspectives of African Scholars in Childhood Studies Discourses University of Lagos, Nigeria.
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Participant
Writing Workshop: Foregrounding the Perspectives of African Scholars in Childhood Studies Discourses University of Ghana.
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Rapporteur
DIES Workshop on Gender Equity: Navigating Women's Careers in Higher Education Koforidua.
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Presented a paper (Raising Dependent Wives and Breadwinner Husbands in Ghana: Understanding the Consequences of Framing Gender Socialisation around Marital Roles and Expectations for Gender-Based Violence)
Children and Youth Facing Violence in Africa. What do we know? What can we do? Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Doctoral Fellow and presenter
Academy for African Urban Diversity Max Planck centre, Berlin, Germany.
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Participant
Cape Coast Summer School: Engendered Politics of Place and Belonging University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
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Presented a paper (Home is home’: Internal migrants’ associations and development of origin communities)
Those Who Stay’: how out-migration affect West African Societies. Conference on ‘Those Who Stay: how out-migration affects West African societies Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany.
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Doctoral Fellow and presenter
Academy for African Urban Diversity University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Facilitator
Contemporary Issues in Fisheries Management. Fisheries Leadership Short course for Practitioners funded by USAID/Fisheries Recovery Activity Ghana.
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Presenter
International and Regional Fisheries Institutional Frameworks and Bodies. Workshop on Destabilising Impacts of Distant Water Fishing Vessels (DWFV) in the Gulf of Guinea Yaounde, Cameroon.
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Guest Speaker
“Promoting Research Excellence for Impact on Marine Conservation in Africa”, Institute for Oceans and Fisheries Online Seminar Series University of British Columbia, Canada.
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Co-Facilitator
“Grants Proposal Writing Workshop” University for Development Studies.
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Presenter
“Performance of the Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience”, Country Round Table Workshop Association of African Universities (AAU), Online.
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Facilitator
“Regional Political Parties Dialogue on Fisheries: Protecting Our Fish, Securing Our Future, Live Engagement on JoyNews TV Centre for National Culture, Cape Coast.
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Presenter
Professorial Inaugural Lecture on the topic “Our Oceans: Securing Our Common Future through Transformative Research” Medical School Auditorium, University of Cape Coast.
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Presenter
Africa’s Plastic Revolution: Advancing Global Solutions for Healthy Oceans, T.D. Walter Bean Professorship Public Lecture University of Waterloo, Canada.
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Presenter
Expanding the Impact of Research on Africa’s Blue Economy. National Consultative Workshop for the Formulation of a National Blue Economy Strategy for Angola Luanda, Angola.
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Panelist
Regional Steering Committee Workshop for the World Bank West African Coastal Resilience Investment Projects (WACA ReSiP and ReiP2) Banjul, Gambia.
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Facilitator
Coastal Adaptation to Climate Change. Short-term Training Course funded by USAID Ghana.
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Co-Discussant
“Expanding the Impact of Blue Economy in Africa” (with Professor Rashid Sumaila) World Bank Headquarters, Washington.
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Facilitator
Workshop on “Winning Research and Development Grants in a Competitive World” Bolgatanga Technical University, Ghana.
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Facilitator
Workshop on “Proposal and Grants writing” University of Ghana, Ghana.
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Speaker
Study Tour on Sustainable Fisheries Management & Leadership University of Rhode Island, United States.
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Presenter
Vulnerability to Viability (V2V) Ghana Case Study. Bootcamp on moving fisheries from Vulnerability to Viability Puri, Delhi, India.
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Guest Speaker
Workshop Presentation on “Expanding the Impact of Research on Africa’s Blue Economy in Africa Hohai University, China.
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Participant
6th ACE Impact Regional Workshop of the World Bank and the Association of African Universities Accra (Online).
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Panelist
Seaweed (Sargassum) Invasion on the Ghanaian Coasts, Implications for the National Economy and Management Live TV Broadcast, GTV.
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Guest Speaker
“West African Fisheries”, Workshop by the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) University of Makerere, Kampala, Uganda.
Revisiting a Dark Past: Reactions of visitors
(Virtual) National University of Singapore Electronic-Study Trip for Engagement and EnRichment (NUS E-STEER) Sub-Saharan Africa, 2021.
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BIRCA Grant (Ghana Lead; ‘Decolonising the hegemonic narrative on ‘FGM’)
University of Bristol, UK
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DRIC Research Support Grant (PI; Pandemic Control and Culture)
Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, UCC
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DRIC Research Support Grant (COVID-19 and nurses mental health)
Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, UCC
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DRIC Research Support Grant (Co-I; Gendered relations in COVID-19 era)
Directorate of Research, Innovation and Consultancy, UCC
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Best Poster and Presentation (Symposium on ‘Girls in SDG ERA: Health, Equity, and Education)
Takemi Programme at Harvard School of Public Health & Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana
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Post-Doctoral Fellow (African Urbanisms Project)
Universities of Ghana, Pretoria, Cape Town, and Makerere University (funded by Andrew Mello Foundation)
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Doctoral Fellow (Academy for African Urban Diversity)
Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity (MPI-MMG), Germany, Africa Centre for Migration Studies (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
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Member
Network for Women’s Right in Ghana (NETRIGHT)
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Associate Editor & Reviews Editor
Feminist Africa Journal
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Member
Ghana Sociological and Anthropological Association
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Team Member (CEGRAD)
Documentation of the Status of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) and Mid-Term Analysis of the UNFPA Adolescent Girls Programme (AGP) in the Central Region, Ghana. UNFPA, Dept. of Gender, & CR Co-ord. Council (Sep. 2020-Jan. 2021)
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Research Assistant & Scoping Report Writing Team Member
Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA), Agrarian Change and Commercialisation in the Ghanaian Cocoa Sector (WS2), ISSER, University of Ghana (May - December 2019)
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Co-Investigator (Ghana Team)
Construction of gender within schools and its implications for forming healthy relationships and gender-based violence (GBV) among young people (YP) aged 13-19 in England and Ghana. (March - October 2022)
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Co-Investigator
Intersectional Gender Equality Assessment for Women’s Innovation for Sustainable Enterprises (WISE) Project in Ghana. (March-October, 2021)
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Principal Investigator
Social mobility among ‘re-migrant’ women in Ghana (with travel support from the ‘Upward Social Mobility Among Female Remigrants/Returnees In West Africa’, MPI for Social Anthropology, Germany) (Ongoing)
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Team Member (CEGRAD)
Cohabitation among in-school and out-of-school youth: the case of university students and the youth in UNFPA-supported communities in the Central Region of Ghana (June 2022 - Ongoing)
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Co-consultant
Case studies on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the responses from West African universities. Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA), IEPA and CEGRAD, IDRC funded Project (July - November, 2021)
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Team Member (CEGRAD)
Exploring Gendered Relations in a COVID-19 Era: A Study of Selected Fishing Communities in the Central Region. DRIC funded Research (December 2020 - July 2021)
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Co-Investigator
Poultry Value Chain Baseline Study, KOPIA Ghana Centre and CSIR-ARI Project. (August - December, 2019)
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Research Assistant & WP Writing Team Member
Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA), Oil Palm Commercialisation Models and Outcomes in South Western Ghana (WS1), ISSER, University of Ghana (Apr. 2019 - Sep. 2021)
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Team member, Contract for services to deliver a short course on Marine Litter under the OCPP
Cefas/UKAID
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Panel Chair, Reviewed Environmental Impact Statement of PECAN Energies for Offshore Exploration of Oil & Gas
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana, Secondi/Takoradi
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Team member, Contract for development of a short course on Marine Litter for the West Africa Region
Ocean Country Partnership Program (OCPP) funded by Cefas/UKAID
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Team member, Contract services to conduct data collection surveys on abandoned lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) in Ghana
Ocean Country Partnership Program (OCPP) funded by Cefas/UKAID
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Lead Consultant, Contract for the Development of Fishery Courses Syllabi for Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences (DoFAS), University of Liberia
IDA-V3100
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Panel Chair, Evaluation of Applications for recruitment of Environmental, Social Safeguards Officers for Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI)
World Bank funded West Africa Coastal Areas Management Programme
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Lead Consultant, Consultancy to review and align national fisheries and aquaculture polices and laws with the PFRS, regional instruments and global best practices for 15 AU Member States
African Union – InterAfrican Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)
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Lead Consultant, Mechanisms to Facilitate the Domestication of Global Instruments and Initiatives (2022)
African Union – InterAfrican Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)
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Lead Consultant, Identification of Issues for SIDS, Development of Draft Strategic Positions for SIDS
African Union – InterAfrican Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR)
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Team member, Environmental Systems Analysis of the Avu Lagoon Protected area
Calgary Zoo Foundation
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Trainer, Conduct Marine Spatial Planning Workshop in Ghana
University of Liverpool
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Team member, Pre-feasibility study for nature-based intervention for Anlo Beach community in Ghana
Valued at US$32,365.00
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Team member, Marine Plastic Pollution Study in Liberia
Conservation International
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Team member, Vulnerability, Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing Climate - WACA -VAR Workshop
World Bank
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Consultant, Support Development of Multi-sector Resilience Investment Programme for the West Africa Coastal Area Management Program
World Bank
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Consultant, Issues and Opportunities in the Ghanaian Fishery Sector: Addressing the context, prospects and challenges
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), United Kingdom
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Consultant, Estimations on renewable energy investments in Ghana
Highland Star Group (HSG) of Companies, Geneva, Switzerland
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Team Member, Regional Mapping of Experts and Institutions in Coastal management
World Bank
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Lead Consultant, Review of the Fisheries Act 2002 (act 625) and the Development of Draft Regulations for the conduct of Fisheries Impact Assessments
Ghana Industrial Trawlers Association (GITA) and GOGIG funded by DFID/UK
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Team member, Environmental baseline survey of water bodies in the Great Consolidated Diamond Ghana Limited (GCDGL) mining concession
AERC Ltd.
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Team member, Scoping Study on the Dredging of the Whin Estuary in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis
UCC Consultancy Unit/Consolidated Energy Ltd.
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Team member, Social Ecology of Anlo Beach Wetland of Ghana
Friends of the Nation/IUCN/French Global Environment Facility (GEF)
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Principal Investigator, Biodiversity Assessment of Urban Wetlands in the Western Region, Ghana with focus on Essei and Butuah Lagoons and the Whin River Estuary
USAID through Friends of the Nation