Hannah is a PhD student working on phenomenological and comparative theoretical interpretations of the idea of freedom in the history of continental political theory and Yoruba and Akan metaphysics.

My research applies the phenomenological insights of Merleau-Ponty and Sartre to uncover and critique the role of that the body, specifically, the pre-reflective body, plays in ideas of action and freedom formulated in Western continental political thought, from Hegel to Arendt. Further, I seek to incorporate non-Western understandings of the body in my analysis, drawing on Yoruba and Akan philosophy in a phenomenologically-oriented comparative theoretical analysis of the role of the body in ideas of action in Western and African thought.

Four Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF), University of British Columbia (2022-2025)
President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award, University of British Columbia (2022-2027)
Departmental Scholarship, University of British Columbia (2022)
Arnold Webster Memorial Scholarship, University of British Columbia (2020)
Student Scholarship in Arts, University of British Columbia (2020)