Staff

	Steve Howard Director, African Studies Director, The Institute for the African Child Professor, School of Telecommunications (740) 593-1834 howard@ohio.edu Ph.D., (Sociology and African Studies) Michigan State University M.A., Michigan State University B.S., Georgetown University

Ismail Elmahdi Associate Director, African Studies, Instructional Technology (740) 593-0351 elmahdi@ohio.edu Ismail Elmahdi returned to Ohio University in August 2007 as the Associate Director of African Studies for Instructional Technology. A graduate of the African Studies Program (1994), Elmahdi also earned his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Ohio University in 2003 with a focus on Instructional Technology. His return to Athens follows three years working as Communication Consultant and Host Nation Liaison with AllWorld Language Consultants in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and three years with Wagner College in New York serving as Director for Academic Computing.

Acacia Nikoi Assistant Director, African Studies (740) 597-1511 nikoi@ohio.edu Acacia Nikoi joined the staff at the Center for International Studies in September 2002 as conference coordinator for the Institute for the African Child (IAC). After completing her Master's degree in International Affairs (African Studies) at Ohio University, Nikoi spent time in West Africa and Atlanta where she facilitated cross-cultural educational opportunities for students from the United States and West Africa. Her experience in Africa includes living in Kenya and Ghana and visiting numerous countries in East, West and Southern Africa. On her return to Ohio University in 2001, she worked with the IAC and the African Studies Program as a consultant. Nikoi's academic interests are in cross-cultural and inter-cultural education and she actively promotes Africa as a source of knowledge.

Laura Schaeffer Assistant Director of Outreach Coordinator, Undergraduate Studies (740) 597-2756 schaeffe@ohio.edu Laura Schaeffer has directed the Bachelor of Arts program and coordinated outreach efforts for the Center for International Studies since October, 2005. She came to Athens in 1994 to earn a master's degree in International Development Studies after serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali and earning a Bachelor's degree in Family and Consumer Education from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Schaeffer worked with a non-profit organization in rural Athens County for two years and coordinated the Supplemental Instruction Program at Ohio University for eight years.

Peter Githinji Coordinator, African Languages (740) 274-1104 githinji@ohio.edu Peter Githinji has been the Coordinator of African Languages at Ohio University since the summer of 2005. He also directs the Swahili programs, where he teaches Swahili at the elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels. Githinji also teaches courses in the Department of Linguistics. After completing his BA in Swahili and Literature in Kenya in 1995, he worked with various researchers in Kenya before coming to the United States for his graduate studies. in 1999, he joined Michigan State University for his graduate studies in Linguistics where he obtained an MA in 2003 and a Ph.D. in 2005. His research areas are Sociolinguistics, Language and Culture, African Language Pedagogy and African Linguistics in general.

Araba Dawson-Andoh Africana Librarian (740) 593-2547 dawson-a@ohio.edu Dawson-Andoh joined Ohio University Libraries as Africana Librarian in October 2007.  She obtained her MLIS from the School of Library and Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.  She has a B.ED. degree from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and a Graduate Diploma in Library Science from the University of Ghana.  She started her library career at the Ghana Library Board in Accra, Ghana.  She also worked as an Assistant Librarian at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.  Her substantial experience working in libraries includes working in libraries in Canada and the United States.  She came to Ohio University from West Virginia University Libraries in Morgantown, WV.

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