The University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars (UMAPS) program continues to nurture the next generation of African scholars by integrating them into global academic networks and advancing cross-disciplinary collaborations. Among this year’s fellows is Dr. Edwina Ashie Nii Quaye, whose research bridges African heritage and diasporic memory.

Under the guidance of her faculty host, Professor Carina Ray, Edwina’s project investigates the archival traces of African diasporic interconnections preserved within Ghana’s Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York. These institutions, she argues, are not passive repositories but active sites of identity-making and epistemic contestation.

Her study asks a compelling question: How might African and diasporan archives be read as cultural and methodological agents in shaping history? By examining how these archives preserve transnational solidarities, Edwina’s work contributes to broader scholarly conversations about the dynamic, contested processes through which African cultures and histories are made.

This research directly aligns with the UMAPS program’s African Heritage and Humanities Initiative (AHHI), which supports projects in the arts, humanities, and interpretive social sciences. Through her fellowship, Edwina is not only advancing her own scholarship but also contributing to the collective effort to highlight Africa’s role in global historical narratives.

Her work underscores the importance of archives as living spaces of memory, solidarity, and cultural production—reminding us that history is not only recorded but actively shaped.