If you met Erinn Ransom on the campus, you might mistake her as one of Ashesi’s numerous exchange students. However, Ms. Ransom is an Assistant Professor and teaches African Philosophical Thought. She’s a single woman who describes herself as a self-determined, contemplative, heartfelt, spiritual and outspoken individual.
As an undergraduate, Ms. Erinn Ransom double majored in African-American studies and English at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). After her undergraduate education, Ms. Ransom went on to pursue a Masters of Professional Studies (MPS) at Cornell University writing her thesis on Hip-Hop. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at University of California, Berkeley, and is finishing her dissertation on the topic; “Pan-Africanism and Diaspora in the 21st Century.”
Erinn lists her most unique achievement as playing host on a hip-hop and politics radio show in Berkeley, California. Two other achievements she is proud of include her first academic publication while still a freshman at UCLA and designing a course on Consciousness and Hip-hop at the University of California, Berkeley.
Ms. Ransom has many research interests, including youth culture, media studies, popular culture, Pan-Africanism and consciousness theory. She enjoys socializing with family and friends, watching films, traveling, listening to live music and dancing.
Erinn was attracted to Ashesi because the mission of the university is aligned with her own. She looks forward to helping expand the course and majors offering to include more of subjects in the Humanities. In the future she hopes more Ashesi students will choose to enroll in Africana electives because she believes gaining an understanding of Africa’s past and present is essential to being good scholars, leaders and citizens for Africa.
She says she loves teaching and will always be an educator no matter what additional roles she may take on. She enjoys working with students and states, “Ashesi students are confident, polite and ambitious.”