USD Professor Earns Prestigious Fulbright Award to Research in Nigeria
As a Fulbright Scholar, Avoseh will spend the 2019/2020 academic year at Obafemi Awolowo University as part of his project, “MẸDAGBE: Ogu Indigenous Philosophy as Framework for Diaspora and Global Citizenship.” This research project will add to Avoseh’s impressive list of international experience in education; the professor has already taught in Nigeria, Namibia and the United States.
“Being selected to receive a Fulbright Award is an incredible honor, and I feel so fortunate to be able to return to Nigeria to research on the topical issue of global and diaspora citizenship,” Avoseh said. “The core of this research is highlighting the role of indigenous epistemology in complementing the western way of knowing in an increasingly global community. This grant will provide me with the opportunity to explore the Ogu knowledge system in response to UNESCO’s affirmation that ‘alternative knowledge systems need to be recognized and properly accounted for, rather than relegated to an inferior status.’”
Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. This is the second time Avoseh has been selected for a Fulbright award; during the 2013/14 academic year, Avoseh taught and researched in Botswana, Namibia and Nigeria.
“I am especially humbled and honored that this is my second Core Fulbright award. I never thought it was possible,” Avoseh said.
Avoseh expressed gratitude to many people for making this accomplishment possible.
“I am grateful to The J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State,” Avoseh said. “In addition, I am grateful to USD for providing me a fine and conducive platform to put my modest abilities to use. Most importantly, I am thankful to my colleagues and my students – past and present – for always challenging and motivating me to keep ‘becoming-better.’”
