Michael Conteh
Postdoctoral Fellow (2026)
Dr. Michael Conteh is an interdisciplinary and publicly engaged scholar and holds a Ph.D. in Global Affairs from Rutgers University’s Graduate School. His extensive research focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa, where he has been a driving force in advancing gender equity initiatives. Before and during his graduate studies, Dr. Conteh oversaw key programs to institutionalize gender studies at the University of Namibia and a national research project on gender-based violence and understanding the nature and scope of human trafficking in Namibia, demonstrating his multifaceted and interdisciplinary expertise. His doctoral dissertation investigated the role of universities as anchor institutions in their host cities, analyzing global financial capital flows and their impact on universities’ community engagement strategies through a comparative lens of the United States and the Global South.
Prior to his doctoral studies, Dr. Conteh was a lecturer at the University of Namibia and worked for the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM), a leading management development institute, in Windhoek, Namibia. As Director of Research and Consultancy, he spearheaded initiatives in public sector management, capacity building, gender-based violence, and human trafficking. His research interests are impressively broad, focusing on restorative justice practices and reparative frameworks, higher education institutions and their host cities, refugees and forced displacement. His comparative analysis of universities as anchor institutions in their respective cities demonstrates his dedication to global academic progress and community engagement strategies.
Dr. Conteh has a BA in Political Science and History from the University of Namibia and an MA in Development Studies (focusing on Women, Gender, and Development) from the International Institute of Social Studies at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. After moving to the United States a decade ago, he received an MSc in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ), Rutgers University, where he worked to connect global perspectives to critical social justice issues. An experienced educator, Dr. Conteh has taught various courses, including Contemporary Social Issues, Local Sustainable Development, Introductions to Politics, Early Namibian History, Global Urbanization, Restorative Practices in the Criminal Justice System, Local Citizenship in the Global World, and Community Organizing and Advocacy. He has also served as teaching assistance for specialized courses for the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, including Examining Social Issues Through the Prism of Prison, and mentored undergraduate students and supervised students’ master’s thesis. Dr. Conteh’s scholarly work includes peer-reviewed articles, four book chapters, three technical research reports, and numerous op-eds and blog posts for ISGRJ and leading newspapers in Namibia. He is currently working on a project to investigate refugee’s access to higher education and ethics of migration. It demonstrates his dedication to rigorous research, scientific communication, effective teaching, and transformative engagement with communities worldwide.
You can read more about Dr. Conteh’s bio HERE, and at Marquis Who is Who in America 2023 Listee: Research & Teaching.