Paulina Kuranchie awarded PhD

We are delighted to share the news of Dr Paulina Kuranchie’s successful defence of her VIVA on Tuesday, September 12^th. Her thesis, titled “Decolonising Public Relations in Africa: Centring Local Epistemes in Ghanaian Political Communication”, was examined by Prof Colin Chasi (University of Free State, South Africa) and Dr Leah Mwainyekule (University of Westminster).

Following the VIVA, Paulina stated: “The last four years at CAMRI have been amazing. My research has expanded my understanding of Public Relations tremendously and I owe a lot of that to my Director of Studies, Prof Mano. The extraordinary CAMRI leadership has also been very supportive of all the extra things that came with my PhD and I am grateful to them”.

External examiner Prof Colin Chasi commented: “Dr Kuranchie’s exploratory study is ambitious and covers a broad breadth of issues and theories with Mano and Milton’s innovative framework of Afrokology functioning as the central organising nexus. With interesting uses of African proverbs to rethink and reposition extant theories, and drawing on three rich data sets and triangulating analysis methods, Kuranchie usefully adds to the literature. From her particular focus on Ghana, her research provides fresh perspectives into political public relations practice. Congratulations to Prof Winston Mano and the University of Westminster research management systems, on the courage shown in giving this decolonial perspective space to grow and guiding it to a successful finalisation”.

In praise for Kuranchie’s thesis, Internal examiner Dr Leah Mwainyekule noted: “I enjoyed reading the many African proverbs that Paulina has included, and how she has linked these with Public Relations practices in Africa. Paulina has managed to demonstrate how it is possible to decolonise PR practices, and how African thoughts and knowledge systems can work for the continent. Her thesis is original, well structured, and represents a significant contribution to knowledge in PR and communication practices. I encourage everyone to read this thesis and learn more about the rich culture of the use of proverbs in the African society”.

Prof Winston Mano, Director of Studies, stated: “Paulina’s PhD, focusing on Decolonising PR from an African vantage point, adds much-needed new knowledge and empirical evidence to an urgent debate in our academic field. It was a real honour working with her. She brilliantly overcame many challenges to achieve her goals. I see many books and articles from her.”

We wish Paulina continued success in her future endeavours!

Photo by Paulina Kuranchie