Stephen Ney
Stephen is a literary scholar focusing on colonial & postcolonial West Africa. Since joining Global Scholars Canada in 2011, he has taught students in The Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Canada.
Working at small West African universities has allowed him the pleasure of teaching broadly across the discipline, including courses on Chaucer, Milton, contemporary African poets, and research writing for scientists. Working at universities where not many colleagues have PhDs has allowed him some opportunities for research, curriculum development, and mentoring that he might not have found in Canada. And even more, he has enjoyed the warm sociability of West African cultures, which means it’s sometimes possible to be both an esteemed professor and a friend to students.
Currently Stephen is working mainly with International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) on the development of a 5-year project (in partnership with the Templeton Foundation) that intertwines faith and science on campuses in Francophone Africa and Latin America.
SPECIAL MOMENTS IN MINISTRY
“My main work now is for IFES, helping to set up a global mentoring program for emerging leaders in the bringing together of theological with scientific knowledge. A few months from now we plan to begin recruiting young scholars and campus ministers from across Francophone Africa to embark on a year of training that will equip them to lead projects in their own cities such as academic conferences, scholarly associations, workshops for Christian students, and book publications.”
– Teaching on a Christian understanding of scholarship at a gathering for Christian scholars in Conakry, Guinea.
“I’m happy that former students from the U of the Gambia and the U of Sierra Leone are now teaching the courses I taught at both universities several years ago. I still hope to return soon to a professorial position, but it feels good know that in some sense I’ve worked myself out of a job!”
“Several months ago I had the honour of helping to organize the first Sierra Leone National Book Fair, which was a great success in increasing the visibility of Sierra Leonean poets and novelists. It remains a concern of mine to know and make known the literary artistry of West Africa.”
– Teaching literary appreciation to a public crowd at the first Sierra Leone National Book Fair (2019).
The Neys live in Freetown, Sierra Leone, wedged between the beaches and the mountains, both of which they enjoy.
Stephen earned a BASc from University of Lethbridge, a Masters of Christian Studies in Old Testament from Regent College, and a PhD in English from University of British Columbia.