George Dei

George Dei is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, cross-appointed to the Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto. He served as the first Director of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) at OISE/UT from 1996-2000. He is involved in antiracism and domination studies; sociology of race and ethnicity; international development; indigenous knowledges and anticolonial thought; political ecology; and, ethnography.

Research Overview

Dr. Dei's teaching and research interests are in the areas of anti-racism education, development education, international development, indigenous knowledges and anti-colonial thought.

Academic History

PhD. (1986) University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Department of Anthropology.
M.A. (1980) McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Department of Anthropology.
B.A. (1978) University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, Departments of Sociology and Archaeology.

Teaching Overview

Dr. Dei has taught the following courses at OISE:

Principles of Anti-Racism Education
Modernization, Development and Education in African Contexts
The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Advanced Seminar on Race and Anti-Racism Research Methodology in Education
Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization: Pedagogical Implications
Franz Fanon and Education: Pedagogical Possibilities

Representative Publications

Books

2011   Indigenous Philosophies and Critical Education. New York: Peter Lang.               

2010   Teaching Africa: Towards a Transgressive Pedagogy. New York: Springer Publishing.

2010   Fanon and Education: Thinking Through Pedagogical Possibilities. New York: Peter Lang [co-editor, Marlon Simmons].                                                                                                               

2010   Fanon and the Counter-Insurgency of Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers .

Chapters in Books

2012   “Revisiting The Intersection of Race, Class, Gender in the Anti-Racism Discourse”. In. Valerie Zawilski (ed.). Inequality in Canada: A Reader on the Intersections of Gender, Race and Class. London: Oxford University Press. 2nd edition.

2012   “Addressing Marginalization Inside Education: Racialized, Immigrant and Aboriginal Youth”. In. Kate Tilleczek and Bruce Ferguson (eds.). Marginalized Youth and Contemporary Educational Contexts. [with Anneke Rummens]

 

Research Grants and Contracts

Research Fundings:

2011 SSHRC/GRG Small Scale Grant (2011-12), $1,300 for on-going study on: "Traditional Chieftaincy in Ghana: Tensions of Change and Modernity in Leadership and Governance”

2010 SSHRC/GRG Small Scale Grant (2010-11), $1,933 for a study on: "Traditional Chieftaincy in Ghana: Tensions of Change and Modernity in Leadership and Governance”

2009 SSHRC General Research Grant, $129,219 for a 3-year study (2010-2012) on: "African Proverbs, Folktales and Story Forms: Lessons for Education in Pluralistic Contexts.”

2007 Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat grant, $75,000 for a study on: " Teaching Discipline, Respect and Character Education: What Can be Learned from Schooling in Pluralistic Contexts”.

2007 SSHRC/GRG Small Scale Grant (2007-8), $1400 for a study on: "Plant Medicine and Traditional Pharmacology: The Case of Ghana.”

Team Projects:

2006 The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Grant, $425,000 for a research on: “Multiple Literacies Through Diversity: Kindergarten – Grade 6.” [Principal Investigator: Professor Marie Josee Berger, Dean Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa.

2005 Ontario Ministry of Education funded project, $8,000 on: “Towards an Equitable Education for Black/African-Canadian Students in Ontario Schools”. Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat, Ontario.

Honours and Awards

2009 Nile Valley Foundation Learning Centre Commission Award, Edmonton, Alberta.
2008 Fellow, Centre For School and Community Science and Technology Studies (SACOST), University of Education, Winneba, Ghana
2008 Associate Graduate Faculty. Faculty of Social Work, School of Graduate studies, Wilfred Laurier University, Ontario, Canada.
2007 ‘Distinguished Visiting Professor’, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos State, Nigeria]. September 17 – 24.
2007 Canadian Alliance of Black Educators Award for ‘Excellence in Education and Community Development”. Presented at the Ghana Golden Jubilee/Bi-centennial celebration of the Abolition of British Slave Trade, Toronto, March 3.
2006 Planet African Television Award for ‘African Renaissance”. Presented at the Planet African Television Awards Gala, Toronto, October 21.
2005 University of Toronto Black Alumni Association Award for ‘Excellence in Education”. Presented at the Second UTBAA Awards Gala, Toronto, October 21.
2005 ANKH Ann Ramsey Award for ‘Intellectual Initiative and Academic Action’. Presented at the luncheon of the Annual International Conference of the Association of Nubian Kemetic Heritage, Philadelphia, U.S., October 1.

Professional Activities

2011-present Member, Board of Trustees for National Scholarship Fund [formerly Harry Jerome Scholarships], Black Business and Professionals Association (BBPA). Toronto, Ontario.
2011-present Distinguished Fellow, The Molefi Kete Asante Institute, a nonprofit, independent think-tank based in Philadelphia, US to advance the cause of global African development.
2009-present Editorial Board Member of Journal: Postcolonial Directions in Education. Horizons, Maltese Multimedia Publishing House, Maltese.
2008-present Member, Board of Advisors. University of Toronto Black Alumni Association.
2008-present Editorial Advisory Board Member of Journal: Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education. Edmonton, Canada.
2008-present Editorial Board Member of Journal: Handbook of Cultural Politics and Education. Sense Publications.
2007-present Editorial Board Member of Journal: Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education. New York: Routledge.

Keynote addresses, guest speaker, and conference presentations:

2012 Keynote Address ‘Towards a Very Messy Utopia: The Challenge of Anti-racist Education in the 21st century”. Workshop on: ‘Anti-Racism’, organized in partnership with Memorial University’s International Student Advising Office, St. John’s, Newfoundland, March 20.
2012 Keynote Address, “The Coloniality of the African Existence”. The 2012 African Heritage and Black History Month Public Symposium Kwantlien Polytechnic University, Surrey, British Columbia, March 8.
2012 Guest panellist, “Reclaiming Our Tongues in Ancient Ways: What Does It Taste and Sound Like” Panel Circle to be organized by Black Canadian Action Network of Peel (BCAN). Knowledge Bookstore, 177 Queen Street, Brampton, ON. April 26.
2012 Invited paper: “Interrogating Democratic Education” as ‘Global Citizenship Education: Thinking Out Differently”. Panel Session on: “Re-Imagining the ‘Global Citizenship’ Discourse: A View from the contexts of Developing Countries’. Organized by Janice Bernadine Fournillier for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Vancouver, BC, April 13-17.
2011 “African Indigenous Proverbs and the Instructional and Pedagogic Relevance for Youth Education”. Cheikh Anta Diop Annual Conference. Holiday Inn, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, October 7-9. 

Publications:

-Interrogating "African development" and the diasporan reality Journal of Black Studies Dei George J. Sefa 1998
- A ghanaian town revisited: Changes and continuities in local adaptive strategies African Affairs Dei George J.S. 1992
- A forest beyond the trees: Tree cutting in rural Ghana Human Ecology Dei George J.S. 1992
- School reforms in Ontario: The "marketization of education" and the resulting silence on equity Alberta Journal of Educational Research Dei George J. Sefa Karumanchery Leeno L. 1999
- Knowledge and politics of social change: The implication of anti-racism British Journal of Sociology of Education Dei George J. Sefa 1999
- Rethinking the role of Indigenous knowledges in the academy International Journal of Inclusive Education Dei George J. Sefa 2000
- Learning culture, spirituality and local knowledge: Implications for African schooling International Review of Education Dei George J. Sefa 2002
- Beyond the rhetoric: Moving from exclusion, reaching for inclusion in Canadian schools Alberta Journal of Educational Research Dei George J. Sefa James Irma Marcia 2002
- Spirituality in African education: Issues, contentions and contestations from a Ghanaian case study International Journal of Children's Spirituality Dei George J. Sefa 2002
- Dealing with difference: Ethnicity and gender in the context of schooling in Ghana International Journal of Educational Development Dei George J. Sefa 2004
- The challenge of inclusive schooling in Africa: A Ghanaian case study Comparative Education Dei George J. Sefa 2005
- Social difference and the politics of schooling in Africa: A Ghanaian case study Compare Dei George J. Sefa 2005
- Schooling as community: Race, schooling, and the education of African youth Journal of Black Studies Dei George J.Sefa 2008
- The Denial of Difference: Reframing anti-racist praxis Race Ethnicity and Education Sefa Dei George J. 1999
- 'Becoming Black': African-Canadian youth and the politics of negotiating racial and racialised identities Race Ethnicity and Education Sefa Dei George J. James Irma Marcia 1998
- Education for development: Relevance and implications for the African context Canadian Journal of Development Studies Sefa Dei George J. 1998
- Critical perspectives in antiracism: An introduction Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology Sefa Dei George J. 1996
- The role of afrocentricity in the inclusive curriculum in Canadian schools Canadian Journal of Education Sefa Dei George J. 1996
- Examination of traditional medicine and herbal pharmacology and the implications for teaching and education: A ghanaian case study Alberta Journal of Educational Research Asabere-Ameyaw Akwasi Sefa Dei George J. Raheem Kolawole 2009
- "Suahunu," the Trialectic Space Journal of Black Studies Sefa Dei George J. 2012