PhD defence
Three PhD defences on one day in research project 'Religious matters'
- Date
- Tuesday 2 June 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden
On Tuesday 2 June, three subsequent PhD defences will take place at Leiden University within the same research project. All research was done in the framework of the 'Madina Project', which is part of the research programme Religious Matters in an Entangled World, led by Prof. Birgit Meyer at Utrecht University, and in which Utrecht University works together with the African Studies Centre Leiden and the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana.
The Madina Project explores the historical and contemporary modalities of the co-existence of Christians, Muslims and traditionalists in the multi-religious and multi-ethnic suburb Madina in Accra, Ghana, over a period of five years. Founded in 1959, the sprawling and lively community of Madina is located in the Eastern part of Accra, near the campus of the University of Ghana, Legon, and hosts a population of more than 130.000.
PhD Defences
11.30-12.30: Martin Luther Darko. The title of Martin's dissertation is Religious Coexistence in Health-seeking: An Ethnographic Study in a Pentecostal Hospital, Madina, Accra, Ghana.
His research explores how different religious practitioners (Christians, Muslims and Indigenous Traditionalists) cross their defined religious boundaries in search of maternal and reproductive health in a multi- ethnic and religious sub-urban community (Madina) in Ghana, and how that creates religious coexistence.
Promotors: Rijk van Dijk, Birgit Meyer, and Kodjo Senah.
More details about the PhD Defence.
13.00-14.00: Kauthar Khamis. The title of Kauthar's dissertation is Beauty in the Zongo: Women Negotiating Religious Co-existence in Accra's Urban Area of Madina.
Her research focuses on beauty practices amongst Christian and Muslim women in Madina Zongo, a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic community in Ghana’s capital city. She is interested in how women from diverse religious and social backgrounds imitate each other’s beauty practices in their everyday encounters and its effects on their relationship. She uses beauty salons as her entry point to investigate how Christian and Muslim women negotiate their differences in the process of beautifying themselves.
Promotors: Birgit Meyer, Rijk van Dijk, Martha Frederiks, and Rabiatu Ammah.
More details about the PhD Defence.
14:30 - 15:30 Rashida Adum-Atta. The title of Rashida's dissertation is Food and Interreligious Co-existence in Madina Zongo.
She investigates how food acts as a matter for inclusion and exclusion in everyday social relations and the implications for coexistence. Her focus is on food exchange among Muslims and Christians and to a lesser extent, practitioners of African Traditional Religion, in Madina Zongo; a diverse neighborhood in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
Promotors: Rijk van Dijk, Birgit Meyer, Martha Frederiks, and Rabiatu Ammah.
More details about the PhD Defence.
All PhD defences can be attended in the Academy Building, Rapenburg 73, 2311 GJ Leiden. Alternatively, you can watch the livestream.