Kiwanuka-Tondo Named Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow

James Kiwanuka-Tondo.

Associate Professor of Communication James Kiwanuka-Tondo will help review curricula at Makerere University in Uganda through a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship.

As one of 59 fellows in the fellowship program’s 2016 class, Kiwanuka-Tondo will work with Makerere professor William Tayeebwa to review the curriculum of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication as well as graduate programs in the university’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The project will also include organizing two workshops for journalists on the coverage of HIV/AIDS and climate change issues.

Kiwanuka-Tondo, a Park Faculty Scholar and Community Engaged Fellow at NC State, departs for Uganda on June 1 and will return Aug. 31.

“This is a great opportunity for me personally, but also for my department, the college, and NC State University to collaborate with universities to make a difference in Africa,” Kiwanuka-Tondo said.

The fellowship program, now in its third year, aims to connect African-born scholars — now based in the U.S. or Canada — with scholars in Africa through mutually beneficial academic activities. It is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and managed by the Institute of International Education in collaboration with United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, which houses an advisory council that selects the fellows.

Fellowships cover visiting scholars’ expenses, including transportation, a daily stipend and the cost of obtaining visas and health insurance. A total of 169 Fellows have been selected since the program’s inception in 2013.

Kiwanuka-Tondo’s visit to Makerere University builds on NC State’s growing connection with the Ugandan institution. Last fall, NC State and Makerere signed a memorandum of understanding cementing a partnership between the two schools for the exchange of knowledge and ideas as well as students, faculty and visiting scholars. The agreement also provides service learning opportunities for students.

Kiwanuka-Tondo said the aim is to develop a hub for NC State in East Africa. As part of making that a reality, he is traveling to Uganda on an earlier trip this summer with Sheila Smith McKoy, associate professor of English, and Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi, distinguished professor of English, to begin documenting the narratives and experiences of the war of 1981-1986 by elders in the Luwero District.

The research project, sponsored by a seed grant from the East Africa Initiative at NC State University, will take place from May 16-21  in collaboration with three faculty members at Makerere and Maama Watali, a non-governmental community organization in Uganda. Currently, a Park Scholar is pursuing a gap year conducting research under the supervision of Kiwanuka-Tondo and a faculty member at Makerere.