Alma Gottlieb, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist, researcher, author and teacher. In a new article, she singles out DukeEngage-Togo program director, Prof. Charles Piot, as an example of how to do work in Africa well.
“Neophytes are notoriously doomed to fail in such culturally and politically sensitive work,” she writes. “But these [DukeEngage] students are lucky to have Professor Piot to guide them in the exceptionally thoughtful and informed way that anthropologists do best. Many of the projects have already proven transformative, while the failures have proven instructive.”
Read her thoughts on his work with African communities and on the books he’s written.