Charlie Cobbinah
Doctoral Researcher & WESAF Fellow
University of the Witwatersrand · University of Edinburgh
I am an interdisciplinary researcher in Philosophy of Education, working through a decolonial lens to reimagine education in Africa and its role in advancing a sustainable and just future for the continent. I grew up in Ghana, where an educational system that felt disconnected from my own world first planted the questions I now spend my life exploring. My work sits at the intersection of decolonisation, higher education, and sustainable development.
Research
How does coloniality continue to shape the relationship between African universities and sustainable development, and in what ways can decolonisation reconfigure this relationship to support more just and sustainable African futures?
My doctoral work, conducted through the Wits–Edinburgh Sustainable African Futures (WESAF) Doctoral Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Edinburgh, examines how coloniality continues to shape the relationship between African universities and sustainable development in contemporary contexts, and the role of decolonisation in reconfiguring this relationship toward a more just and sustainable future. Through an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, my work analyses the complex interplay between decolonisation, higher education, and sustainable development in Africa. The research contributes to ongoing conversations on institutional change, and the transformation of African universities for sustainable futures.
Recent Writing
Whose Story? Critical Analysis of Primary Sources for Decolonized Curricula
Reflections from the DeCoGLAM launch event on archives, curricular authority, and decolonial pedagogy.
Nkrumah's Vision and the Contemporary African University
A forthcoming essay reconsidering Nkrumah's thought in relation to contemporary higher education.
The Promise and the Risk: On Tokenism in Decolonisation Discourse
A developing essay on the gap between symbolic gestures and deeper institutional change.