Philani Mthembu – Scholar of International Relations, South Africa

Philani Mthembu is a scholar of international relations from South Africa, where he studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and attained his Masters Degree in international relations while also involved in tutoring first year students under the Academic Development Programme (ADP). While at the University he held leadership responsibilities in various areas and was also elected to the Student Representative Council (SRC), holding the portfolio of Entrepreneurial & Skills Development. He has also been involved in compiling a research project on Student Governance in Higher Education that was conducted at the University of the Witwatersrand which aimed to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of student governance, while contributing to its enhancement. At the 1st International Conference on Responsible Leadership held in Pretoria in May 2010, he presented a paper on Leadership Perspectives from the South. Philani is currently based in Berlin where he will be doing his PhD at Freie Universitat, with his current research focusing on South-South cooperation and its impact on traditional North-South relations in an evolving world order.