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Edward Simon Mgaya

Name
Edward Simon Mgaya

Academic Rank

Department
History, Political Science, and Development Studies

Biography

Biography

I am a Senior Lecturer who teaches and researches history. I received my PhD in History from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in 2020. I earned a Master of Arts in History and Bachelor of Arts with Education degrees from Tanzania's University of Dar-es-Salaam in 2015 and 2007, respectively. I started working at Mkwawa University College of Education in 2009 and have since held a number of academic positions, including tutorial assistant (2009-2015), assistant lecturer (2015-2020), lecturer (2020-2024), and apparently senior lecturer.

Contacts

Email:

Email Address
edward.mgaya@muce.ac.tz

Research Interest

Research Interest
Environmental history; Labour history; Social history; History of place names and nomenclature

Google Scholar

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Projects

Projects

2011-2015: Principal Investigator, 'Labour Migration and Rural Transformation in Njombe District, 1900s-1960. Research funded by UDSM/SIDA-SAREC

2015-2017: Principal Investigator, ‘Medical Pluralism: A porous boundary between Bio-Medicine and Traditional healing practices in Tanzania’. Research Funded by Mkwawa University College of Education (MUCE)

2017-2020: Principal Investigator, ‘Traditional Institutions and Dynamic Sacred Forests in Tanzania: History, Narratives and Evidence from Njombe Region, 1880s-2019'. Funded by Victoria University of Wellington through the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences' research fund.

 

Publications

Publications

PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

  • Mgaya, E.S. (2013). ‘The Changing Practices of Sacred Forests in Njombe Tanzania: Colonial Encounters 1880s-1961'. International Review of Environmental History 9 (1), 5-28. http://doi.org/10.22459/IREH.09.01.2023.01
  • Mgaya, E.S. (2023). ‘The Meaning, Spiritual Foundation and Mythology of African Sacred Landscapes: the case of sacred forest among the Bena of Njombe in Tanzania’. Journal of Religion in Africa 53 (2), 1-28. http://doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340253
  • Mgaya, E.S. (2022). ‘From Investors to Do-It-All: Chinese Immigrants, their Activities, and Local People’s Perception in Tanzania, 1990s to Present’. Journal of Sino-African Studies 1 (1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.56377/jsas.v1n1.0117
  • Mgaya, E.S. (2021). ‘Development Implications of Labour Migration for Origin Societies: The Case of Manamba of Njombe District, 1900-1960s’.Tanzania Zamani: A Journal of Historical Research and Writing 13 (2), 41-84. https://doi.org/10.56279/tza20211323 

  • Mgaya, E. (2018). ‘At the Mid of Polarity: Rethinking Medium Farms as Solution to Vulnerability for Small-scale Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa’. Alanya Academic Review Journal 2 (2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.29023/alanyaakademik.327771
  • Mgaya, E. (2016), ‘Acquiring Human Capital Skills through Labour Migrancy: The Case of Colonial Njombe District, 1900-1960s’. International and Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 51-69. https://doi.org/10.17583/rimcis.2016.1820
  • Mgaya, E. (2015), ‘Forest and Forestry in Tanzania: Changes and Continuities in Policies and Practices from Colonial Times to the Present’. Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania, 36 (2), 45-58.

  • Poncian J and Mgaya, E. (2015), ‘Africa’s Leadership Challenges in the 21st Century: What can Leaders Learn from Africa’s Pre-colonial Leadership and Governance?International Journal of Social Science Studies, 3, (3), 106-115.

  • Mgaya, E. (2015), "The Search for 'Her Story': Women in the Narratives of African Migratory History". International Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 3 (1), 80-87.