Two Carleton Anthropology Ph.D. Students Receive the Inaugural Flight 302 Legacy Award

The Institute of African Studies at Carleton University congratulates Carleton Anthropology PhD Students – Ugochukwu Okoye and Chikezirm Nwoke- who have been awarded the inaugural Flight 302 Legacy Awards. The scholarship, valued at $10,000, was established to commemorate the victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 which crashed on the 10th of March 2019 on its way to Nairobi, claiming the lives of its 157 passengers, many of which are Canadians. Aboard that flight was our beloved colleague, Professor Pius Adesanmi who was until his demise the Director of the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University. A brilliant scholar, writer, and social commentator, Adesanmi dedicated much of his career to mentoring young African and Africanist scholars across the world. He was equally concerned and involved in development discourse about and around the continent.

Supported by Transport Canada and administered by Scholarship Partners Canada, this award has been established to support 42 Canadian and International students conducting research in the areas of interest of the victims, many of whom were travelling to participate in the United Nations environmental conference.
Ugochukwu Okoye and Chikezirim Nwoke’s PhD research gravitate broadly around international development issues, particularly within the African context. While Ugochukwu’s research aims to understand how migration dynamics facilitates the agency of non-state actors in co-producing governance and development alongside the state, under a hybrid governance arrangement, Chikezirim’s work is concerned with the contentions, afflictions, and aspirations of youths as they navigate the vicissitudes of rapid urbanization, capitalist modernity, and neoliberal globalization in postcolonial Nigeria. Both students are associated with the Institute of African Studies at Carleton. We extend our felicitations to Ugochukwu Okoye and Chikezirim Nwoke, as we trust that their research will further the excellent work of many of the victims – particularly our former Director, Pius Adesanmi.
Read more on this award here