At William & Mary, I teach a range of courses that focus on African politics, comparative politics, comparative political development and mixed methods for the study of conflict and development. I am also currently co-teaching a COLL 100 class with my colleague, Professor Iyabo Obasanjo. Iyabo and I were awarded W. Taylor Reveley, III Interdisciplinary Faculty Fellowships to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching. Our Africa Rising? course builds on our respective expertise in health sciences and political science to expose students to a diverse range of subjects on governance, public health, gender, technology and entertainment across countries in Africa.
My Mixed Methods class seeks to combine in-class instruction on experimental methods and nested research design at W&M in the spring semester with applied research on one of my research projects over the summer. In the past, students have worked as project research assistants in Tanzania, Kenya and Liberia, collaborating with in-country partners, such as REPOA and Innovations for Poverty Action in Tanzania, Chuka University in Kenya, and Center for Applied Research and Training in Liberia. I have also worked with and mentored students who have travelled to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda.
For one student’s reflection on such experiences, please see this blog post by former W&M student, Ethan Harrison. Also the photos in the slide show represent a number of students I have been fortunate to mentor, advise and work with at W&M.
Jonah Abraham, Morgan Timme, Emily Mudd, Rebecca Schectman, Ifechi Ugwu, and Eric Gelles of W&M at U.S. State Department in May 2016 after presenting Diplomacy Lab project on Social Media Use in Africa. 
Raychel Schwartz ’15 in Tanzania with her research assistant, Yvonne. Raychel helped to manage and implement phase 1 of the mobile phone RCT in summer 2014. 
Team Tanzania (Ethan Harrison ’20, Henry Crossman ’19, Emily Mudd ’19 and Jioni Tuck ’19) at the summit of Mt. Longido during the summer of 2016 when they worked as research assistants on the mobile phone RCT. 
Henry Young (W&M ’20) with Kou Johnson, program coordinator of Center for Action Research & Training, in Monrovia, Liberia after research meeting in June 2018. 
Chatting with W&M students Ethan Harrison ’20, Jioni Tuck ’19 and Emily Mudd ’19 after a seminar. 
W&M and Chuka University students in Mount Kenya in May 2019. 
Matthew Bondy ’17 receiving the award for Best Paper Presented in Poster Format Award (Midwest Political Science Association in 2016) on “Mobile Phone Ownership, Gender, and Political Participation in Africa.” 
Maisie Sapnar ’20, Elizabeth Sutterlin ’20 and Laura Schwartz ’20 present their winning project at W&M Shark Tank on mobile microinsurance. 
Matthew Bondy ’17 and I meeting with former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, during this visit to W&M in November 2015 
W&M and Chuka University teams in front of gates of Chuka University in May 2019. 
Regina Makomi of Chuka University (far left) and Darrien Spitz of W&M ’19 (second to left) interview members of a banana cooperative in Iruma, Kenya about the impact of climate change on their farming practices in May 2019. 
At the National Archives in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo with Nadia Ilunga ’15, who worked as a research assistant on the book, Why Comrades Go to War, in summer 2013. 
At the REPOA office in Dar es Salaam in June 2015 with Dr. Flora Myamba (front right), Co-PI on the Mobile Technology and Women’s Empowerment project, along with Catie Crowley ’17 (front left), Kyler Morris (BYU ’15, center), and Matthew Bondy ’18 (back right). 
Will Smith ’14 on the beach in Monrovia with four Liberian research assistants in July 2013 who helped him implement a field experiment to assess the impact of solar lights among fishermen as part of his honors thesis.
I also serve as an honors thesis adviser for students interested in research on African politics, comparative politics or political economy of development. This has included three award-winning theses:
- Will Smith ’14, “The Impact of Solar Lights on the Individual Welfare and Fishing Productivity of Liberian Fishermen” (Co-Winner of the 2014 W. Warner Moss Award for best thesis in government).
- Ammon Frederick Harteis ’19, “Who Does The Dying? ‘Martial Races’ and War Time Unit Deployment in the Indian Army” (Winner of the 2019 W. Warner Moss Award for best thesis in government).
- Elizabeth Sutterlin ’20, “Flipping the Kill-Switch: Why Governments Shut Down the Internet,” (Winner of the 2020 Research Prize in International Relations for best thesis)
Finally, I am the Director of the Africa Research Center and Co-Director of the Digital Inclusion and Governance Lab. In addition to employing rigorous scientific analysis and field-based research to meaningfully advance key academic and policy debates on Africa and digital tech, respectively, these labs aim to provide students with greater opportunities to discuss, debate, and analyze contemporary development issues in the these research fields. In spring 2020, ARC hosted the inaugural W&M Africa Network Conference co-convened by Shanda Cooper ’06, Redeit Hailu ’24, Mayada Hassan ’22, and myself to strengthen connections between W&M alums, students and faculty from Africa or interested in the region. To learn more about the W&M Africa Network and the inaugural ANC, please see this blog post by Redeit and Mayada.
Philip Roessler 