Annah K. Amani (B.S., California State University, Northridge, M.P.H., University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. Clemson University) is the Dean, Digital School of Open, Distance and E-learning at Kampala International University. In her early childhood, Annah was a child refugee from Uganda to Los Angeles, California. As a child refugee, Annah was aided by many people and non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International. The refugee experience sparked an interest in doing work that “aided” others in the global community. She is committed to doing progressive work in the fields of health, education, social justice, and community development. Through her M.P.H. studies at U.C.L.A, she served as the team manager in the development of programs to prevent maternal mortality in rural Kenya.
After her M.P.H, she went on to serve as the Country Director for Unbound. Unbound Uganda is an education-focused rural development child sponsorship organization. Dr. Amani’s research sought to represent the voice of rural women in Uganda on the vital matter of birthplace choice. After completion of her Ph.D., Annah taught global health and other undergraduate public health courses as an adjunct lecturer for the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University, South Carolina U.S.A.
During her time as a lecturer at Clemson University, she developed an interest in the evolving area of online education. Web-enabled learning and other aspects of e-learning technology have the potential to enhance education provision in Africa in many ways. From raising literacy levels in poor rural areas where education infrastructure is lacking to completing the existing courses at Africa’s top universities, remote learning using educational technology is dynamic and very versatile. Annah envisions her work in advancing online tertiary and post graduate education in East Africa will have a significant impact on health, education, social justice and community development in the region.
Dr. Amani is the recipient of a grant from the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU). She is currently developing the course, “Engaging Policy Actors with Research” for the Waitrose Blue Charter Knowledge Exchange. Dr. Amani is also the institutional lead for the Partnership for Enhanced Blended Learning funded by the Department for International Development UK. Under her guidance as the project manager, KIU is developing a Communications Skills Course for online delivery, it will contribute to the larger continental shared knowledge initiative of OER Africa.
