Wunpini Mohammed
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication
Wunpini Fatimata Mohammed (pronouns: she/her) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Cornell University. She is co-editor of the book, African Women in Digital Spaces: Redefining Social Movements on the Continent and in the Diaspora (2023). She is an activist-scholar whose research focuses on feminisms, decolonization, and social movements. Her research is published in peer reviewed journals such as Communication Theory, the Howard Journal of Communications, The International Journal of Communication, Feminist Media Studies among others. She has won top paper awards at the International Communication Association (ICA), the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) and other academic conferences. She has worked as a radio journalist in Ghana for several years and her writing has appeared on Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, Global Voices, Okay Africa, and several Ghanaian media platforms.
Her research focuses on interrogating power in media and communications while working together with disenfranchised communities to use media to bring about transformative change in communities. At the core of her research agenda is examining the importance of indigenous epistemologies in dismantling oppressive systems.
Through her research, she works with community organizations, civil society organizations, universities and non-profit organizations to translate theory into praxis to support decolonial efforts through programming such as workshops, research summits among others. She also applys her scholarship to social issues by appearing on local and national media organizations to discuss issues in the language of the community such as Dagbanli.
Education
Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University
M.Sc., Michigan Technological University
B.A., University of Ghana
Diploma, la Universidad de Cienfuegos “Carlos Rafael Rodriguez,” Cuba
Awards & Honors
- 2022 Paula Kantor Award for Excellence in Field Research. Awarded by the International Center for Research on Women.
- 2021 First Place in the Top Faculty Paper Awards also known as the Robert L. Stevenson Open Paper Competition in the International Communication Division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
- 2021 Best Paper Award for African Journalism Studies, in the International Communication Division at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
- 2021 Honorable Mention in the Stuart Hall Award at the International Association for Media and Communication Research
- 2019 Best Paper Award for African Journalism Studies, Global Communication and Social Change Division, International Communication Association
- 2019 Top Student Paper Award for Ethnicity and Race in Communication Division, International Communication Association
- 2019 Djung Yune Tchoi Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award
- 2018 Pansy E. Jacobs Jackson Top Student Paper Award
Contact Information
Additional Links
Selected Publications
- Clark, M. K. & Mohammed, W. F. (2023). African Women in Digital Spaces: Redefining Social Movements on the Continent and in the Diaspora. Publisher: Mkuki na Nyota, Tanzania.
- Mohammed, W. F. (2023). Interrogating dominant ideology in media representations of witchcraft-related gendered violence: the case of Mariama Akua Denteh. International Journal of Communication.
- Mohammed, W. F. (2023). Intersectionality in African Digital Organizing: A Ghanaian
Perspective. Communication, Culture & Critique. - Mohammed, W. F. (2022). Feminist accountability: Deconstructing feminist praxes, solidarities and LGBTQI+ activisms in Ghana. Communication, Culture & Critique.
- Mohammed, W. F. (2022) Why we need intersectionality in Ghanaian feminist politics and discourses. Feminist Media Studies.
- Mohammed, W. F. (2022). Dismantling the Western canon in media studies. Communication Theory.
- Mohammed, W. F. (2022). Bilchiinsi philosophy: Decolonizing methodologies in media studies. The Review of Communication.
- Mohammed, W. F. (2021). Decolonizing African Media Studies. Howard Journal of Communications.
- Olorunnisola, A, Mohammed, W. F. & Moore, S. (2020). Community radio in contemporary South Africa – Deconstructing complexities in demarginalization. Journal of Radio & Audio Media.
Wunpini in the news
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