Meditz Students Engage in Global Diplomacy at U.N. Academic Conference on Africa

Meditz students joined Assistant Professor Lembe Tiky, PhD, at the United Nations for a firsthand look at global diplomacy and African affairs.

Assistant professor of politics Lembe Tiky, PhD, and 18 politics and international studies students in the John Charles Meditz College of Arts and Sciences attended the United Nations Academic Conference on Africa, held on Dec. 1–3 in New York City.

During the conference, scholars, diplomats, and practitioners examined Africa’s role in global politics, with an emphasis on African agency, knowledge sovereignty, and pathways toward the future.

“The conference created a rare platform for deep engagement with questions that are critical to Africa’s future,” said Dr. Tiky. “As a scholar of African politics and global governance, I see it as a responsibility and a privilege to bring academic insights into spaces where policy, diplomacy, and intellectual leadership converge.”

Dr. Tiky participated as both a speaker and moderator, leading a session focused on transforming the state and pathways to the future. His remarks centered on African knowledge sovereignty and the importance of intellectual agency in shaping global governance. Students attended the plenary session and engaged with panelists.

For Dr. Tiky, the experience was about giving students a front-row seat to diplomacy in motion at the United Nations. “I wanted them to witness how ideas are debated, how global policy conversations unfold, and how African issues are framed in international spaces,” he said. “For many of them, this was the first time seeing Africa discussed with the seriousness and depth it deserves.”

During the conference, students listened to debates among scholars and diplomats on both the challenges Africa currently faces and aspirations for the continent’s future. “It was essentially a live lesson in international relations, African politics, and global diplomacy all at once,” said Dr. Tiky. “One student shared that hearing African scholars speak so powerfully changed how he understands international relations—that kind of intellectual awakening is exactly why experiences like this matter.”

The students in attendance included Samantha Learson ’26, Paige McManus ’28, Alexandria Lopez ’29, Charlotte Middleton ’28, Christina Stavropoulos ’28, Brian Peknic ’27, Julian Nazario ’26, Julie Schuckalo ’27, Avery Rindell ’28, Brooke Gori ’29, Lauren Clark ’29, Charlotte Cain ’29, Delaney Beltrami ’29, Mia Murphy ’29, Cedric Wysocki ’28, Antonino Motta ’29, Brian Peknic ’27, and Daphne Dieterich ’29.

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