Patience Akpan-Obong, PhD

 

 

EDUCATION

 

University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Ph.D. in Political Science, 2003

Dissertation: “Toward a Nigerian information society: Information and communication technologies as tools for socio-economic development – A case study”

Supervisor: Dr. Tom Keating

Major fields of study:  International Relations and Comparative Politics of Developing Countries.

 

Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

MJ, Journalism, 1996

        Master’s Research Project: “Newspapers through the window: Creation of the online newspaper”
 Advisor: Dr. Christopher Dornan

 

University of Toronto, Canada

Gordon N. Fisher Fellowship, 1994-1995

 

The Polytechnic, Calabar, Nigeria

National Diploma in Mass Communication, 1984

 

 

Recent Courses Taken:

 

Mesa Community College

CIS 119AL: Introduction to Oracle Database Management, Summer 2005

 

Grand Canyon University

Certificate of Completion: GCU Online Faculty Training, June 30-July 21, 2005

 

Arizona State University

Certificate of completion: Moderating Effective Online Discussions, Feb. 16-29, 2004

Certificate of completion: Designing & Teaching Outstanding Online Course, March 1-29, 2004

 

 

MAJOR AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

 

• Andrew Stewart Memorial Graduate Prize, University of Alberta, 2001

• Canadian International Development Research Centre Doctoral Research Award, 2001

• Social Sciences and Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship, 2000/2002

• Sir Walter H. Johns Graduate Fellowship, University of Alberta, 2000, 2001

• Women in International Security (WIIS) Summer Symposium, 2000

• Margaret Brine Scholarship, 2000

University of Alberta Graduate Assistantship, 1998/2000

• Federal Government of Canada female doctoral student grant, 1998, 1999, 2000

Carleton University Graduate Assistantship, 1995/1996

Carleton University foreign student-fee waiver, 1995/1996

Carleton University admission scholarship, 1995

Arnold Epstein Commonwealth Award, 1995

Royal Commonwealth Society Certificate of Merit, 1995

• Gordon N. Fisher Fellowship, University of Toronto, 1994/1995

 

 

TEACHING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

 

Faculty Associate, East College, Arizona State University East, Spring 2004

                              Course:  WST 300 – Women in Contemporary Society

 

Faculty Associate, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Arizona State University West, Spring 2003 Course:  SOC 352 – Social Change

 

Sessional Lecturer, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta, Canada, 2000-2002

Courses: Pol S 110 – The Politics of Globalization (Spring 2000, Fall 2000, Spring 2001 and Spring 2002); Pol S 357 – The Third World in Global Politics (Winter 2002)

 

Research Positions and Teaching Assistantships

 

Institutional Research Associate, Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, Maricopa Community Colleges District Office, Tempe, Arizona, October 2004 to August 2005

 

Research Analyst, Dept. of Strategic Data, University of Alberta, Canada, 2001

 

Teaching Assistant, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta, Canada, 1998-2000

                             Courses: Two sections of Pol S 260 – Introduction to International Relations, and Pol S 200 – Introduction to Comparative Politics

Teaching Assistant, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta, Summer 1999, 2000

Teaching Assistant, St. Patrick’s Resource Centre, School of Journalism and Communication Studies, Carleton University, Canada, 1995-1996

 

Related Work Experience and Competencies

 

• Certified online classroom instructor

• Oracle database manager

• Reporter/Photographer, Western Catholic Reporter, Edmonton, Canada, 1996-1998

• Copy Editor, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, Canada, Summer 1996

• Assistant Editor, African Concord magazine, Lagos, Nigeria, 1991-1994

Journalist in various positions with the National Concord and The Punch newspapers, Lagos and The Nigerian Chronicle, Calabar – all in Nigeria, 1985-1990

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

• “Information technologies and partnership for Africa’s development: The ongoing story,” in Malinda Smith, ed., Beyond the African Tragedy: Development and the Global Economy.  (London, UK: Ashgate Publishers, 2005).

 

• “Basic-needs to globalization: Are ICTs the missing link?” in Information Technology for Development 10 (23): 261-274. 

 

“From the margins to the center: Information and communication technologies as tools for development,” in Kelechi Kalu, ed., Agenda Setting and Public Policy in Africa. (London, UK: Ashgate Publishers, 2004)

 

• “Africa in the age of a global network society: The challenges ahead,” African Studies Quarterly, Summer Vol. 4:1, 2000.

 

• “Africa and the new information and communication technologies: Prospects for Socio-economic Development” in Conference Proceedings, International Federation for Information Processing (Working Group 9.4), 2000.


Publication in progress

• “Myths, myth-making and communication technologies: Narratives of the 'new' path to development,” a paper currently being reviewed for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

 

• With Titi Omo-Ettu, “Rural Telephony and Universal Access in Nigeria:  An Exploratory Discourse”

 

SCHOLARLY CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

 

• “Toward a Nigerian Information Society: ICTs as tools for socio-economic development” – Preliminary findings and analysis,” a final research report submitted to the Canadian International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), August 2002.

• “Nigerian women go online: Patterns of information and communication technologies usage by women in Nigeria,” presented at the conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies at the University of Toronto during the Congress of the Social Sciences, May 24-June 1, 2002.

 

• “Toward a Nigerian Information Society: Information and communication technologies as tools for socio-economic development – A research in progress” presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies during 2001 Congress of the Social Sciences, Laval University, Quebec, May 27-30. The paper was essentially a discussion of the Ph.D. dissertation and the research done up to that point.

 

• “Theorizing information and communication technologies and development: A critical approach” presented at the annual conference of the Social Sciences Association (South West Region) in Forth Worth, Texas, March 15-18, 2001.

 

  “From the margins to the center: Information and communication technologies as tools for development,” presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies during the Congress of the Social Sciences, University of Alberta, May 2000.

 

 “Africa and the new information and communication technologies: Prospects for socio-economic development” presented at a conference on the social implications of computers in developing countries organized by the International Federation for Information Processing in Cape Town, South Africa, May 24-26, 2000.

 

• “On the margins of the information society: A feminist analysis of Nigeria’s policy on new information and communication technologies” presented at the International Studies Association (South West Region) in Galveston, Texas, March 15-18, 2000.

 

• “Africa in the age of a global network society: The challenges ahead” presented at the annual international conference of the Association of Third World Studies in San Jose, Costa Rica, Nov. 18-21, 1999.

 

• “State as the distant other: Conception of the state in Nigerian languages” presented at the conference of the Canadian Association of African Studies, June 3-7, 1999 in Lennoxville, Quebec.

 

 

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