Learning in the Palaver Hut: The ‘Africa Study Visit’ as teaching tool.
Ambrozy, M.; Harris, David (2016)
Maria Ambrozy
Lecturer
- Area
- School of Social Sciences
- Faculty of Mgmt, Law & Social Sciences
- Phone
Biography
Dr Maria Ambrozy is a Lecturer in Peace Studies and International Development focusing on African Politics and Security Studies. Dr Ambrozy's academic journey spans several teaching and research areas, including politics of policy making, education, conflict and memory, and genocide.
Prior to joining the University of Bradford in 2023, Dr Ambrozy was working at Leeds University with Professor Stuart Taberner as a Research Fellow on two projects: “Mobilising Contested Pasts to Promote Youth Leadership in Africa” and “Decolonising Peace Education in Africa". Working on these two projects deepened Dr Ambrozy’s interests in arts-based methodologies, post-conflict education, memory, trauma, human rights, issue round confrontation of complicated past, historical injustice and historical revisionism.
Dr Ambrozy completed her PhD in Politics and International Relations, specialising in African Politics at the School of African and Oriental Studies (SOAS), University of London. Her doctoral thesis provides an in-depth examination of the introduction of two policies (the language of instruction and higher education merger) as a basis for considering the extent to which Rwanda can be characterised as a Developmental State.
Prior to a career in academia, Dr Ambrozy worked in various professional roles in marketing and diplomacy. Here, essential to her future work in academia was her extensive involvement in issues relating to education, contested histories, and genocide. This was especially key in her day-to-day work as a liaison and managing the educational projects between Yad Vashem Institute in Israel and the Auschwitz Museum in Poland. These practical experiences early in her career shaped Dr Ambrozy's worldview and interests. To this day, they inform and help expand her professional identity by allowing her to combine practitioners' insights with academic inquiry.
Outside academia, Dr Ambrozy regards community engagement as a powerful catalyst for social transformation and personal growth. She actively supports volunteering as an essential avenue for fostering connection, education, and meaningful societal contribution.
Research
Dr Ambrozy’s research interests oscillate around three collaborative strands. The first strand contains research around the politics of policy making, in particular in relation to post-conflict countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This specific strand builds on the findings from her PhD dissertation. It links these to more recent changes taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, especially concerning elections, democratisation processes, and governance. The second strand looks at critical education, especially concerning teaching politics of sub-Saharan African countries in the Global North, and different ways Western academia engages with Sub-Saharan African students. Here, an essential aspect is Dr Ambrozy's keen interest in the changing nature of education linked to the rapid expansion of technology. A third and very recent strand looks at issues relating to historical revisionism and issues around contested pasts among different African diasporas. Here, the interests link to controversies around the use of the term ‘genocide’ and the way it is used and undermined in modern (social) media.
Dr Ambrozy’s regional expertise is primarily centred on Eastern Africa, particularly the Great Lakes Region; however, she maintains a strong interest in issues concerning education, post-conflict reconstruction, and democratisation in South Africa, Mozambique, Liberia, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Past and current collaborators include:
• Aegis Trust, Rwanda
• American University of Nigeria, Nigeria
• Auschwitz Museum, Poland
• Centre for the Studies of Peace, Conflict and Well-Being (CEPCB), Mozambique
• Christian Churches Monitoring Group (CCMG), Zambia
• EuroClio – European Association of History Educators in the Hague, Netherlands
• Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre (JHGC) in South Africa
• Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Gambia
• Rosa Luxemburg Foundation - West Africa
• Salzburg Global Seminar, Salzburg, Austria
• Yad Vashem, Israel
Teaching
Modules
- Issues in World Politics - PES4021
- Africa Study Visit - PES7034
- Placement (PSID) - PES 5001
- Study Abroad Experience - PES 5002
Professional activities
Awards (2)
- Chevening Scholarships (17 March 2025)
- MA Degree - triple award from the Polish Minister of Education (10 December 2005)
Education (3)
- Department of Law and Social Sciences (SOAS) University of London, UK - PhD in Politics and International Studies
- Yad Vashem - Certificate in Education (Post Diploma)
- University of Opole, Poland - MA in History
Employment (1)
- University of Leeds - Research Fellow (1 April 2022)
Professional associations (1)
- Higher Education Authority (HEA), Fellow