Dr. Magnus Mfoafo-M’Carthy
Dr. Mfoafo-M’Carthy received a PhD in Social Work from the University of Toronto in 2010 and a Masters degree in Social Work from Columbia University in New York in 1998. Prior to joining Laurier, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health’s Social Aetiology of Mental Illness (SAMI) program at the University of Toronto (2010-2011).
Dr. Mfoafo-M’Carthy has more than 15 years of social work practice experience in New York, British Columbia and Ontario. He has worked with individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness and HIV/AIDS, adolescent sex offenders, youth in conflict with the law and community based mental health. He has taught the following courses at Laurier: Research Methods; Diversity, Marginalization and Oppression (DMO); Community Interventions; and Health and Mental Health.
Dr. Mfoafo-M’Carthy’s research interests include global mental health. His funded projects examine serious mental illness and stigma among immigrant communities. He is also interested in post-colonial and critical race theories, social justice and anti-oppressive practice.
Dr. Mfoafo-M’Carthy’s current project, ‘Trudging through the contours of life’, forms one core of this site.
Dr. Jeff Grischow
Jeff Grischow received his PhD in African History from Queen’s University in 1998. Prior to this, he completed an MA in African History at Queen’s University and an undergraduate degree in Business Administration, (HBA, Co-op) from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Dr. Grischow’s interest in disability studies dates to 1990/1, when he worked in a group home setting providing provide support services for young adults. Later in 1991, he travelled to Ghana where he lived for a year volunteering with a Canadian NGO. Dr. Grischow returned to Ghana in 1994-5 to conduct Ph.D. research on the history of colonial development. His interest in disability was revived in 2008, when a Ghanaian colleague became an amputee after a motorcycle accident. This incident provided the impetus for Dr. Grischow’s current research on disability rights and disability history in Ghana.
In addition to disability, Dr. Grischow’s research interests include the idea and practice of development in colonial and postcolonial Africa.
Dr. Grischow’s current project, A history of disability rights in Ghana, forms one core of this site.
Dr. Augustina Naami
Dr. Augustina Naami is a lecturer at the Department of Social Work of the University of Ghana.
She holds a BA degree in Economics from the University of Ghana, Master’s and PhD in Social Work from the Universities of Chicago and Utah respectively. She had previously taught at the University of Northern Iowa in the US. Dr. Naami teaches a range of areas in social work mostly with macro-level practice and policy orientations. Her research focuses on gender, disability, intersection of vulnerabilities, and poverty. She has presented her work locally and globally and published in high-impact peer reviewed journals.
Dr. Wisdom Kwadwo Mprah
Dr. Wisdom Kwadwo Mprah is a lecturer at the Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, Department of Health, Promotion, Education and Disability, School of Public Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
He holds a Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Arts (Geography), and M. Phil (Geography) from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, and PhD (Disability Studies) from the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. Dr. Wisdom Kwadwo Mprah has conducted research, both locally and internationally, in the areas of Education and the Sexual and Reproductive Health experiences of Persons with Disabilities. He is also interested in the participation of persons with disabilities in employment and politics. He has published in several peer. He is an active member of the Ghana National Association of the Deaf and the Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations and has made tremendously impacted on the operations of these organizations.
Dr. Peter Obeng-Asamoa
Dr. Peter Obeng-Asamoa is the current Executive Director of the Ghana Blind Union. He was educated as a historian, and is the first blind person to have obtained a Ph.D. in African Studies from the University of Ghana. Dr. Obeng-Asamoa lost his sight when he was eighteen and virtually scraped through his education. Due to his difficult experience, it was his goal to improve access to education and information through technology. Dr. Obeng-Asamoa is mainly responsible for the introduction of ICT to blind persons in Ghana.
In his quest to introduce technology to persons with disabilities, Dr. Obeng-Asamoa led the effort to establish the first ever Access Technology Center for Blind persons in Ghana. He was also the catalyst for the establishment of a Materials Resource Center for persons with disability. As a tried and tested advocate for the improvement of Education for persons with disability, Dr. Obeng-Asamoa was part of the spearhead that advocated and successfully developed the National Policy on Inclusive Education for his Nation. Today he is a member of the national steering committee for the implementation of the Ghana Policy on Inclusive Education. Dr. Obeng-Asamoa is also the current Ghana representative for the International Council for the Education of all Visually Impaired persons (ICEVI). In Addition, Peter Obeng-Asamoa also led the advocacy effort for the ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty. The treaty was ratified by the Parliament of Ghana in October 2017, and received international recognition in August 2018.
As a former executive member of the CBR Africa Network, Dr. Obeng-Asamoa, has supervised various CBR projects in his Country. He also oversees a project geared at self-employment for blind and partially sighted persons.
Dr. Obeng-Asamoa is deeply involved in educating persons with disabilities, especially, blind and partially sighted persons on the tenants of the UNCRPD.
As a scholar, he has published his first book which is based on the life of a ruler of the Krobo ethnic group of Ghana. He is currently researching for the publication of his next book.
Dr. Peter Obeng-Asamoa is happily married with three wonderful children.