MONROVIA – A groundbreaking inter-collegiate seminar on dual citizenship and development, led by acclaimed Liberian scholar Dr. Robtel Neajai Pailey, concluded this month in Monrovia, bringing together 19 university students from across four institutions. The eight-part short course, held at the University of Liberia (UL), African Methodist Episcopal University (AMEU), Stella Maris Polytechnic University (SMPU), and United Methodist University (UMU), was sponsored by the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at the London School of Economics (LSE).
The seminar was based on Dr. Pailey’s award-winning monograph, Development, (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa: The Political Economy of Belonging to Liberia, which interrogates the impacts of dual citizenship on development and identity, using Liberia as a central case study.
Over a series of interactive sessions held throughout July, students engaged deeply with topics ranging from the history of Liberian citizenship to debates surrounding a long-standing but unresolved dual citizenship bill. The sessions were structured around chapters from Dr. Pailey’s book, culminating in discussions on diaspora involvement in national development and how citizenship can reinforce or challenge social inequalities.
“It went so well that I’m considering expanding the program next year to include students from other accredited universities in Monrovia and beyond,” Dr. Pailey stated in a message following the seminar’s conclusion.
Participants, selected through a competitive process, received autographed copies of the monograph and completion certificates. Many have since shared enthusiastic feedback, with testimonials highlighting the seminar’s transformative impact on their academic thinking and civic engagement.
One student described the experience as “an eye-opener,” noting that the course helped them understand the “interconnectedness of development, migration, and identity in ways the traditional classroom never did.”
Dr. Pailey, an Assistant Professor in International Social and Public Policy at LSE, is already preparing for the 2025 edition of the seminar, which will again challenge students to consider how concepts of belonging, identity, and inequality shape Liberian society.
For many of this year’s participants, the seminar was not just about reading a book; it was about grappling with the complex realities of citizenship in a rapidly globalizing world, and how those realities affect Liberia’s development journey.
