TORCH is delighted to welcome two AfOx–TORCH Fellows for the 2024–2025 academic year.
The AfOx Visiting Fellowship Programme supports outstanding African researchers across all disciplines in building international research networks and pursuing collaborative projects with Oxford-based scholars. Each fellowship includes a 12-month affiliation with the University of Oxford, comprising ten months of virtual engagement and a two-month in-person residency during Trinity Term.
This year, TORCH is proud to support two Fellows working on interdisciplinary projects that span a wide range of research areas within the Humanities. We hosted the fellows and their collaborators on 19 June 2025 at the Radcliffe Humanities Building to hear more about their work.
Learn more about their individual research interests by clicking on the names below:
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Dr Dennis Masaka, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Ethics, Philosophy, Religion, and Theology at Great Zimbabwe University. Academic host: Dr Alberto Giubilini, Uehiro Oxford Institute.
During his fellowship at Oxford, Dr Masaka will work on his monograph, “Collective Responsibility and Collective Meeting of Needs: The Question of Land Redistribution in Zimbabwe.” This project aims to assess the ethical and social dimensions of land redistribution policies in Zimbabwe, particularly concerning collective responsibility and historical injustices. The monograph will contribute to policy discussions on land equity and explore frameworks for a more just and egalitarian land redistribution model, with implications for both academic discourse and government policymaking in Zimbabwe.
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Dr Mostafa Abdelaal, Assistant Professor of African History specializing in Economic History at the Faculty of African Postgraduate Studies, Cairo University. Academic host: Dr David Damtar, African Studies Centre.
During his Oxford fellowship, Dr Abdelaal’s project, “Extractive Industries, Modern Manufacturing, and the Unsettled Communities in Zambia, 1924–1992,” will use archival sources to analyse the historical challenges of industrial diversification in Zambia. His work seeks to provide insights into resource management and community integration in mining regions, contributing to policies that support stable, inclusive development in Africa’s resource-rich areas.
We look forward to an inspiring year of dialogue, collaboration, and knowledge exchange.
