First visiting fellows named at the Center for Urban and Global Studies

This fall, Trinity’s Center for Urban and Global Studies welcomes two postdoctoral fellows for the 2008-2009 academic year; Ahmed Kanna, who is currently researching popular and elite spatial cultures in Dubai, and Tyanai Masiya, a lecturer in politics and governance at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe.

Kanna received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University in 2006 and has most recently been a postdoctoral fellow in international programs at the University of Iowa. He received his A.M. from Harvard University and his B.S. from James Madison University. He is an anthropologist interested in the cultural, political, and social dimensions of space, urbanization, and architecture. He also studies cities of the global south, and the contemporary Middle East and South Asia.

He has done field research throughout the Persian Gulf region, especially in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. He writes extensively about architecture and culture, with a focus on Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. He is currently working on a book about the city, Dubai: The Critique of Space. Kanna’s other interests include Middle East studies, critical theory, and intellectual and architectural history.

At Trinity, Kanna will continue his research on space, generally, and Dubai in particular. He will collaborate with Xiangming Chen, dean and director of the center and Paul E. Raether Distinguished Professor of Sociology and International Studies, on several projects, including a November conference on cities before and during the era of globalization. He will also teach two courses, “Introduction to Urban Anthropology” in the fall 2008 semester and “The Making of Modern Dubai” in spring 2009.

Tyanai Masiya received his Ph.D. in political science from Midlands State University. He received both his M.P.A. and his B.S. at the University of Zimbabwe. He is chair of the Center for Peace and Development, a human rights organization based in Zimbabwe. He has been a consultant to the Kellogg Foundation, the European Union, and the American Friends Service Committee. He is also a member of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa and the Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Masiya has authored papers on such issues as politics and governance in Africa, comparative local governance systems, and smart sanctions as an instrument of international foreign policy. He is currently working on a research project that investigates the efficacy of participatory budgeting in African cities. At Trinity, Masiya will teach “Comparative Local Government Systems” and “Politics and Governance in Africa” in the spring 2009 semester.

His work at Trinity is supported jointly by the Scholar Rescue Fund of the International Institute of Education (IIE) in New York, and by proceeds from the Scott M. Johnson Fund at Trinity, which is endowed by Thomas Johnson ’62, P’97, former chair of the Board of Trustees.

The visiting fellow program is supported by the Mellon Foundation and by endowed funds contributed by Paul E. Raether ’68, chairman of the Trinity Board of Trustees.