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6 Aug 2010 11:50:23
The University of Bedfordshire’s Professor of Media and Criminal Justice is helping to build new relations in West Africa.
Professor Jon Silverman has just been awarded a £25,100 grant for a three-year project to develop collaborative links between the University and two academic institutions in troubled West African nations – one in Sierra Leone and the other in Liberia. The grant award is from the British Academy under its International Partnership Programme and the project will start in October.
The goal is to research the impact of the media, principally radio, which is the main source of news in the region, on transitional justice in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The research will focus on perceptions of justice following various war crimes trials including that of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, who is currently on trial in The Hague accused of masterminding the civil war which engulfed Sierra Leone.
Professor Silverman is also looking to create a positive relationship between potential journalists and lawyers in the region.
The University is partnering Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone, the oldest university in West Africa, and the only law school in Liberia, The Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law.
Professor Silverman will be working closely with Bernadette Cole, head of the communications department at Fourah Bay College, and David Jallah, Dean of the law school in Liberia.
He said: “I think it’s a unique project and I’m very excited about the potential benefits. But it will be a challenge, not least because road and communication links are very poor and both West African institutions struggle for funds.”
Another aim is to promote the University in West Africa and Professor Silverman said: “We don’t have that many African students at the University of Bedfordshire and certainly not many from West Africa. Hopefully this will create an interest in the University throughout the region.”
Latest news» 2010» August» Cash for three-year collaborative project in West Africa
