Brief intro and mission
The Aberdeen-Africa Research Network (A-ARN) is an interdisciplinary hub dedicated to advancing research, teaching, and community engagement on topics related to Africa and its diasporas. A-ARN fosters collaborations across disciplines that can result in seminars, public lectures, conferences, and funding applications related to Africa. Anchored in principles of intellectual rigour, inclusive dialogue, and equitable partnership, the network aims to deepen understanding of Africa in Aberdeen and Aberdeen in Africa. It promotes strengthened connections between Aberdeen and African scholarly and policy institutions.
A-ARN is open to anyone associated to Aberdeen with an interest in Africa.
Team
Director, Professor Gearoid Millar
Deputy Director, Dr Manu Lekunze
Advisory Council Member, Dr Eddy Wifa
Membership Coordinator, Dr Jennifer Wardle (SBS)
Communications Coordinator, Mrs Golu Chikezie (SSS)
Seminar Coordinator, Ms Queen Nwaha (Law)
Funding Coordinator, Dr Vince Chukwu (SBS)
Network Coordinator, Mr Dominik Bittner (SBS)
Early Career Representative, Mr Nana Frere (SSS)
Past Activities
- Seminar
- 01.2026 – Participatory Action Research.
Professor Gearoid Millar presented his recently co-authored paper in Qualitative research titled “Participatory Action Research in Neoliberal Academia: An Uphill Struggle”, which presents the authors’ experiences of the bottlenecks and challenges involved in conducting a research project using a PAR methodology within contemporary academia structured by obsessive managerialism.
- Book Talk
- 01.2026- Why is Nigeria persistently insecure?
Drawing from his most recent book, Nigerian Security, Dr Manu Lekunze gave a talk on why security challenges persist in Nigeria.
Membership
Interested in being added to A-ARN’s mailing list? Please email Dr Jennifer Wardle: jennifer.wardle3@abdn.ac.uk