Dr. Paul Banahene Adjei | School of Social Work | Memorial University of Newfoundland

Interim Associate Vice-President (Indigenous Research);

Associate Professor

School of Social Work
St. John's College, J-2003
Memorial University of Newfoundland

Phone: 709-864-4512
Email: pbanahene@mun.ca

Dr. Paul Banahene Adjei is currently the Interim Associate Vice-President (Indigenous Research); and an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, Memorial University of Newfoundland. Paul is a public speaker, a trainer, an educator, and a researcher in the areas of social justice, anti-black racism, critical race, critical whiteness studies, and anti-colonial theory. Prior to coming to Memorial University, Canada, he taught as a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto, Canada, for five years and as a part-time professor at Centennial College, Canada, between 2012 and 2013.

He received his undergraduate degree in Social Work from the Department of Social Work of the University of Ghana. He has a Master and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Toronto, specializing in social justice education.

In his teaching praxes, Dr. Adjei takes an intellectual and political stance that challenges, exposes, and subverts colonial hegemonic knowledge and practices. He provokes critical thinking and challenges learners to not only think outside the box but also disrupt the box. Paul’s research and scholarship draws on anti-black racism theory, critical race theories, critical whiteness studies, and anti-colonial theory to ask new questions as well as to identify potential answers to what W.E.B. Dubois (1903) describes as “colour-line problem” (p.v) in Euro-American, Canadian, and African society. He also draws on African Indigeneity as rich cultural sources of knowledge to (re)imagine a new future for social work education.

Dr. Adjei has received several research grants for research projects that examine the integration and resettlement experiences of people of African descents in the global north and the global south. He recently (2015-2018) completed a SSHRC-funded study in which he, alongside Drs. Michael Baffoe, Delores Mullings and Lloydetta Quaicoe, examined effective parenting practices among Black communities in Toronto, Winnipeg and St John’s. Currently, he is a co-investigator in two SSHRC-funded studies: (1) SSHRC Insight Grant, with Dr. Stacey Wilson-Forsberg as a lead investigator, to examine postsecondary transitional education of African refugee youth in Canadian schools. (2) SSHRC Connection Grant, led by Dr. Delores Mullings, to explore the challenges of newcomers’ settlement and integration experiences in Atlantic Canada. Paul is also the lead researcher for a Seed, Bridge and Multidisciplinary Funded study that explores Indigenous African philosophies — as contained in proverbs, symbols, parables, cultural artifacts, fables, mythologies and folklores — and their pedagogic and communicative values for critical thinking education in Canadian universities.

Paul has published several essays in scholarly journals and book chapters. He has also published one co-edited book with Professor George Dei. Paul has read over 33-refereed papers at national and international conferences and has featured in several newspapers and radio and television programs to discuss issues of race and anti-Black racism in Canada and the United States.

Paul is presently serving on numerous committees at Memorial University and the broader Newfoundland community. He is a member of the President's Advisory Committee on Indigenous Affairs (PACIA) and played an active role in the development of Memorial's Strategic Framework for Indigenization. He is also a member of the Committee on Ethical Research Impacting Indigenous Groups (CERIIG). He serves as a member of the Steering Committee for Memorial University’s School of Social Work and Nunavut Artic College partnership to develop a BSW program for Nunavut Artic College. Paul is also a member of the Visiting Indigenous Elders pilot project at the School of Social Work.

Paul serves as a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD Provincial Anti-Racism Advisory Committee and the Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP Black Engagement Steering Committee. He is also the Director of the Ghanaian Community of Newfoundland and Labrador Association.

Summary of Teaching and Research Interests:

“Social justice education”; “Black parenting experiences”; “Social work theories"; "Social work interviewing skills”; “Indigenous African philosophies and their pedagogical possibilities”; “Spirituality as self-care”; “Integration and resettlement experiences of people of African descents”; and “Violence and non-violence education.”

SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS

Book Publication (PR* denotes refereed):

PR* Dei, G & Adjei, P.B. (eds.) (2014) Emerging perspectives in African development: Speaking differently. New York: Peter Lang (220 pages) ISBN:978-1433120954

Articles Published in Journals (PR* denotes refereed):

1. PR* Giwa, S., Mullings, D. V., Adjei, P. B., & Karki, K. K. (2020). Racial erasure: The silence of social work on police racial profiling in Canada. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work. 5, 224-235

2. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2018). Race to the bottom: Obama’s presidency, Trump’s election victory, and the perceived insidious greed of Whiteness. Race, Gender and Class 25(3-4)43-67

3. PR* Adjei, P.B. and Minka, E (2018). Black parents ask for a second look: Parenting under ‘White’ Child Protection rules in Canada. Children and Youth Services Review 94(2018)511-524— (Impact: 11 CrossRef citations in google scholar website as at 22/02/2021)

4. PR* Adjei, P. B., Mullings, D., Baffoe, M., Quaicoe, L., Abdul-Rahman, L., Shears, V., & Fitzgerald, S. (2018). The “fragility of goodness”: Black parents’ perspective about raising children in Toronto, Winnipeg, and St. John’s of Canada. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 12(4)461-491 (Impact: 4854 views, 17 Altmetric 4 CrossRef in the journal website as at 04/03/2021)

5. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2018). The (Em)bodiment of Blackness in a visceral anti-Black racism and ableism context. Race Ethnicity and Education 21(3)275-287 — (Impact: 1852 views, 7 CrossRef, 5 Altmetric on Journal website, 18 citations, Google scholar as at 04/03/2021)

6. PR* Teye-kau, M., Tenkorang, E. Y., & Adjei, P. B. (2018). Revisiting the housing–health relationship for HIV-positive persons: Qualitative evidence from the Lower Manya Krobo District, Ghana. Qualitative health research, 28(8), 1217-1228.

7. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2013). The non-violent philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 21st century: Implications for the pursuit of social justice in global context. Journal of Global Citizenship & Equity Education 3(1)80-99 — (Impact: 7022 reads ResearchGate as at 10/03/2021)

8. PR* Adjei, P.B. and J.K. Gill. (2013). "What has Barack Obama’s election victory got to do with race? A closer look at post-racial rhetoric and its implication for antiracism education." Race Ethnicity and Education 16 (1):134-153. — ( Impact: 1058 views, 8 CrossRef citations in Journal Website; 20 citations, Google scholar as at 04/03/2021)

9. PR* Adjei, P. B. (2007). Decolonizing knowledge production: The pedagogic relevance of Gandhian Satyagraha to schooling and education in Ghana. Canadian Journal of Education 30(4): 1046-1067 — (Impact: 64 citations on Google Scholar as at 22/02/2021)

10. PR* Adjei, P. B. (2005). Review essay: Mazrui and his critics. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 22(2): 87-98

Articles Published in Book Chapters (PR* denotes refereed):

1. PR *Adjei, P.B. (2021) “Social justice and global citizenship education in social work context: A case of caveat emptor.” In E. Aboagye & N. Dlamini (eds). Global citizenship education: Challenges and successes (221-252) Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2. PR* Darko, I.N, Adjei, P.B. & Weir, C. (2021) “Indigenous African philosophies as a critical thinking pedagogical tools for schooling and education.” In A. Afful-Broni, J. Anamuah-Mensah, K. Raheem & G. J.S. Dei. Africanizing the school curriculum: Promoting an inclusive decolonial education in African contexts (115-135). Gorham, ME: Myers Education Press.

3. PR* Adjei, P.B., Darko, I, Fuseini, S & Mills, A.A. (2021) “Spirituality and self-care among Ghanaian social workers: Lessons for Africanizing social work education.” In A. Afful-Broni, J. Anamuah-Mensah, K. Raheem & G. J.S. Dei. Africanizing the school curriculum: Promoting an inclusive decolonial education in African contexts (136-156). Gorham, ME: Myers Education Press.

4. PR* Adjei, P.B. and Akanmori, H. (2020) “Prisoners of a skin color: The criminalization and the social construction of Blackness in risk assessment of Black youth.” In G.S. Dei, E. Odozor & A. V. Jiménez (eds). Cartographies of blackness and Black Indigeneities (155-174). Gorham, ME: Myers Education Press.

5. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2019). “Is there no Balm in Gilead? The Search for radical leadership in the Black church of the twenty-first century.” In T. Kitossa, E. Lawson & P. Howard (eds), African Canadian leadership: Perspectives on continuity, transition and transformation. (311-344) Toronto, ON: University of Toronto

6. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2018). “Adinkra Symbolism of Ghana: Pedagogical Implications for Schooling and Education.” In L. Asimeng-Boahene & M. Baffoe (eds). African traditional oral literature and Visual cultures as pedagogical tools in Diverse Classroom Contexts. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing (151-171). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing

7. Adjei, P. B. (2015). Adinkra symbols of Ghana. In M.J. Shujaa & K.J. Shujaa (eds.), The SAGE encyclopedia of African cultural heritage in North America (4-7).Thousand Oaks: Sage Reference

8. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2014). Toward an ontological and epistemological understanding of Indigenous African process of conflicts and disputes mediations and settlements (CADMAS). In G. Dei & P. Adjei (eds.), Emerging perspectives on ‘African development’: Speaking differently (38-62). New York: Peter Lang

9. PR* Dei, G & Adjei, P.B. (2014). Emerging perspectives on ‘African development’: An introduction. In G. Dei & P. Adjei (eds.), Emerging perspectives on ‘African development’: Speaking differently (1-15). New York: Peter Lang

10. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2013). When Blackness shows up uninvited: Examining the murder of Trayvon Martin through Fanonian racial interpellation. In G. Dei & M. Lordan (eds.), Contemporary issues in the sociology of race and ethnicity: A critical reader (25-41). New York: Peter Lang

11. PR* Adjei, P.B. (2010). Resistance to amputation: Discomforting truth about colonial education in Ghana. In G. Dei & M. Simmons (eds.), Frantz Fanon and education: Pedagogical possibilities (79-104). New York: Peter Lang

12. PR* Adjei, P.B. & Agyepong, R. (2009). Resistance from the margin: Voices of African-Canadian parents on Black focused school. In A. Kempf (ed.), Breaching the colonial contract: Anti-Colonialism in the US and Canada (137-158). New York: Springer

13. PR* Adjei, P. B. (2008). Unmapping the tapestry of Crash. In P. Howard & G. Dei (eds.), Crash Politics and Antiracism: Interrogations of Liberal Race Discourse (111-130). New York: Peter Lang.

14. Adjei P.B. & Dei, G. (2008). Sankofa: In search for alternative development paradigm for Africa. In A. Abdi & G. Richardson (Ed.), Decolonizing Democratic Education: Trans disciplinary Dialogues (173-182). Rotterdam: Sense publishers. (Published with George Dei)

15. Adjei P.B. & Dei, G. (2008). Decolonizing Schooling and Education in Ghana. In A. Abdi & S. Guo (Ed.), Education and social development: Global issues and analyses (pp.139-154). Rotterdam: Sense publishers.

Projects Report (3)
1. Adjei, P.B., Quaicoe, L & Fuseini, S (2019). Parenting under Child Protection Rules: What every Visible Minority Immigrant parent should know. Report submitted to The Office of Public Engagement. St. John’s, NL: Memorial University of Newfoundland

2. Mullings, D.V., Adjei, P.B., Derraugh, L.A & Taho, L (2018). Attraction and retention of professionals in Labrador. Report submitted to The Leslie Harris Centre, St. John’s, NL: Memorial University of Newfoundland.

3. Adjei, P.B., Baffoe, M, Mullings, D. & Quaicoe, L (2018). Effective Parenting: What do people of African descent or Blacks in Toronto, Winnipeg, and St. John’s have to say about it? Report submitted to Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Ottawa, ON