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Michael Kwadwo OKYERE ASANTE

BA, MPhil

Position:
Assistant Lecturer (Critical Thinking and Logical Reasoning)

Department:

General Studies

Google Scholar Account:

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

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EMPLOYMENT RECORDS

Michael Okyere Asante is a Nigerian-born Ghanaian classicist and assistant lecturer in critical thinking and logical reasoning at the Department of General Studies, University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD). Prior to joining UESD, Michael was assistant lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Ghana, where he obtained both his MPhil and BA (Hons) degrees in Classical History and Civilization in 2010 and 2013 respectively. In 2018, he initiated and facilitated the first-ever International Classics Conference in Ghana as well as the re-constitution of the Classical Association of Ghana. Since then, he has been involved in initiatives promoting the diversification and decolonization of Classics globally and has been invited to speak about decolonization and inclusion at various fora in Ghana, the UK, Canada, and South Africa. In 2023 Michael delivered the annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lecture at the Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge.

Michael research lies broadly in ancient philosophy and its reception, and in the decolonization and presence of Classics in Africa. In the former, he considers how ancient philosophy has been received and interpreted in both African philosophy and political science, and engages ancient Greek philosophical texts through different lenses, including African theories, to shed light on how community building, political leadership and civic responsibility provide practical applications for societies. In the latter, he examines the works of African classicists by studying their approaches to decolonization and interrogates the presence of Classics in schools and communities in Africa. In this regard, he has recently edited (with David van Schoor and Kofi Ackah) a special issue on ‘Decolonizing Classics in Africa’ published by Oxford University Press for the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Vol. 65 (1).

Publications

Edited Special Issue
1. Okyere Asante, M. K, van Schoor, D, and Ackah, K. (eds). 2022. Decolonizing Classics in Africa: History, strategies, challenges, and prospects, special issue of the Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 65(1), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Refereed Journal Articles
2. Okyere Asante, M. K. 2022. ‘Classics and the politics of Africanization in Ghana, in M. K. Okyere Asante, D. van Schoor and K. Ackah (eds.), Decolonizing Classics in Africa: History, strategies, challenges, and prospects, BICS 65(1), Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bics/qbac004

3. van Schoor, D., Ackah, K., Okyere Asante, M. K. 2022. Liberation philology: Decolonizing Classics in Africa, a native view from the South, in M. K. Okyere Asante, D. van Schoor and K. Ackah (eds.), Decolonizing Classics in Africa: History, strategies,
challenges, and prospects, BICS 65(1), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bics/qbac005

4. Mac Sweeney, N., Agbamu, S., Andujar, R., Asante, M. O., et al. Claiming the Classical: The Greco-Roman World in Contemporary Political Discourse, Council of University Classics Departments Bulletin 48 (2019). https://cucd.blogs.sas.ac.uk/bulletin/

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

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

7. Asante, M. O. Implications of the Principle of Just Agreements in the Crito: The Case of Ghanaian Public Health Workers Strike in 2006. Nigeria and the Classics, 24 (2008-2010), 9-22.

Conferences
1. Plato Republic V: A Re-Reading from an Afro-Communitarian Perspective, Classical Association Conference, University of Cambridge, April 23, 2023.

2. Barriers to Access: Studying Classics in Sub-Saharan Africa (Invited Virtual Talk), ResDifficles 3 (Difficult Conversations in Classics), May 20, 2022, https://resdifficiles.com.

3. Decolonizing Plato Republic: A Reading from an Afro-communitarian Perspective, 33rd
Biennial Conference of the Classical Association of South Africa, November 9, 2019.

4. 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.

5. Ancient Egyptian Perceptions of and Attitudes Towards Dreams , Dreams and Dreaming African Perspectives II (West Africa), Department of Philosophy & Classics, University of
Ghana, June 24, 2019.

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

7. 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.

8. Re-invigorating the Classics in Ghana, 1st International Classics Conference in Ghana, University of Ghana, October 12, 2018.

9. Discussant (invited), Teaching Classical Languages in Africa, Classics in Communities Project (University of Oxford) Workshop, Stellenbosch University, April 18, 2018.

10. Teaching Classical Languages in Pre-tertiary Schools in Ghana (poster), Classical Association Annual Conference, University of Leicester, April 9, 2018.

11. 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.

12. Invited postgraduate participant, Thinking Across Borders: Engaging African and Western Political and Philosophical Thinking, The Neubauer Collegium, University of Chicago, USA, April 27-28, 2017.

13. Plato on Equality of Work, 12th Faculty of Arts Colloquium, University of Ghana, April 24-25, 2014.

2021- : Assistant Lecturer, University of Environment and Sustainable Development
2014-2018: Assistant Lecturer, Department of Philosophy & Classics, University of Ghana
2013-2014: Teaching Assistant, Department of Philosophy & Classics, University of Ghana
2011-2012: Pupil Teacher (English, Greek and Latin), Kay-Billie-Klaer International School
2010- : Freelance Copyeditor and Proofreader

Professional/Teaching Experience

Honours & Awards

Associations/Affiliations

Grants/Funds won

Michael has teaching expertise in ancient philosophy, ancient Greek, Latin, gender, critical thinking, and history and philosophy of environmental science.

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
4. Dean Thesis Award, Faculty of Arts, University of Ghana, April 2014
5. Government of Ghana Academic Facility User Fee Waiver for Best Student Admitted from a Less-Endowed School to the University of Ghana, 2005-2009

Member, Graduate Student Committee, Society for Classical Studies, 2021-
Member, The Classical Association of Ghana, 2018-
Member, Society for Classical Studies, 2017-
Member, The Classical Association, 2017, 2020-

Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship (with Daniel Orrells, Peter Grant and Gifty Katahena), Harvard University, February 2020 (award deferred to 2022 due to COVID-19), USD15,550; Regional Conference Grant, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, UK, December 2019, GBP2000 ; Classics Everywhere Grant, Society for Classical Studies, USA, November 2019, USD1500;