Dr. Mark Duerksen

Research Associate

Dr. Mark Duerksen, Research AssociateDr. Mark Duerksen is a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. His research focuses on Africa’s unparalleled urbanization and the security challenges and opportunities this shifting landscape presents. His current work includes analysis of Nigeria’s diverse security threats as well as the growing impact of disinformation campaigns on the continent’s rapidly changing information systems. Trained as a historian, he brings deep knowledge of the underlying material, governance, social, and developmental dynamics driving current tensions and conflicts in and around the continent’s cities.

Dr. Duerksen’s projects at the Africa Center include tracking strategic communication and demographic trends across the continent and creating analytic maps and infographics to visualize spatial patterns and historical precedents. His maps of Lagos have been recognized through various awards, and his Africa Center Infographics have been reproduced and shared widely. His background includes training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and writing on African art and architecture. In his 2024 book, Waterhouses, Dr. Duerksen traces the history and lessons of Lagos’s housing landscapes through dozens of maps and photographs.

Dr. Duerksen holds a Ph.D. in African History from Harvard University and a BA in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia. His dissertation research on the history of Lagos’s ecology, housing, and politics was funded by a Boren Fellowship and a Frederick Sheldon Fellowship (Harvard). Previously, he taught at Hunter College in New York and the African School of Economics in Benin.

Areas of Expertise

African Urbanization Trends, Disinformation Trends, Nigeria, Benin

Contact

Email Dr. Duerksen

+1 202-433-5967

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