Michael Kwadwo Okyere Asante

MPhil, BA

Position:

Lecturer

Google Scholar Account:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gsOrf9kAAAAJ&hl=en

BRIEF PROFILE:

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Publications / CONFERENCES:

Professional/Teaching Experience

Michael Kwadwo Okyere Asante is a Lecturer in the Department of General Studies at the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, where he teaches courses in critical thinking and in the history and philosophy of environmental science. Prior to joining the University, Michael was Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Ghana, where he obtained both his MPhil and BA degrees in Classical History and Civilisation. Michael is currently completing a PhD in ancient cultures at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. In 2018, Michael pioneered with other classicists at the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast, the re-constitution of the Classical Association of Ghana and led the execution of its first international conference. Since then he has been involved in initiatives promoting the diversification and decolonization of Classics globally. Michael currently serves on the Graduate Student Committee of the Society for Classical Studies, USA and on the board of the ‘Global Antiquities’ journal based at the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

1. History of ancient philosophy
2. African political thought
3. Classical reception
4. Ancient environmental ethics
5. History of classical scholarship

1. Mac Sweeney, N., Agbamu, S., Andujar, R., Asante, M. O., et al. Claiming the Classical: The

2. Greco-Roman World in Contemporary Political Discourse, Council of University Classics
Departments Bulletin 48 (2019). https://cucd.blogs.sas.ac.uk/bulletin/

3. Asante, M. O. Notes on ‘Ergon’ and ‘Ponos’ in Plato. Journal of Advocacy, Research and
Education, 5.3 (2018), 115-119.

4. Asante, M. O. An Outline of Labour in Plato Thought. Journal of Advocacy, Research and
Education, 4.2 (2017), 86-95.

Conferences (selected)
1. Decolonizing Plato’s Republic: A Reading from an Afro-communitarian Perspective, 33rd
Biennial Conference of the Classical Association of South Africa, Stellenbosch, November 9, 2019.

2. Celebrating Classics While Facing Reality: The Future of African Classics from a Ghanaian Perspective (Invited Guest Lecture), 20th Unisa Classics Colloquium, University of South Africa, August 17, 2019.

3. Discussant (invited), Racing the Classics II, Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, May 3, 2019.

4. Towards a Revival of Latin Language Learning in Ghanaian Schools: A Vocabulary-Based
Approach (Invited Paper), Classical Antiquity and Local Identities: from Newfoundland to
Nigeria and Ghana, Department of Classics, University of Newfoundland, March 7-9,
2019.

5. Re-invigorating the Classics in Ghana, 1st International Classics Conference in Ghana,
Department of Philosophy and Classics, University of Ghana, October 12, 2018.

6. African Communitarianism and the Greek Polis, Seventh Annual Meeting of Postgraduates in the Reception of the Ancient World, University of Edinburgh, UK, November 23, 2017.

Michael’s teaching experience covers courses in ancient philosophy (particularly the presocratics, Socrates and Plato), ancient Greek and Latin languages, gender, critical thinking, and history and philosophy of environmental science.

Associations/Affiliations

Honours & Awards

Grants/Funds won

Research Projects

Member, Classical Association of Ghana, 2018 to date
Member, Classical Association, UK, 2017; 2020 to date
Member, Society for Classical Studies, USA, 2017 to date

1. Visiting Research Scholar, Hardt Foundation, Switzerland, March 2020
2. Pedagogy Award, Society for Classical Studies, USA, April 2018
3. Lisa Maskell Fellow, Gerda Henkel Foundation, Germany, October 2017

Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship (with Daniel Orrells), Harvard University, February 2020; Regional Conference Grant, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, UK, December 2019; Classics Everywhere Grant, Society for Classical Studies, USA, November 2019

Global Classics and Africa: Past, Present, and Future, 2021-2023