Lecture
ASCL Seminar: The Shadow Scholars
- Date
- Thursday 1 October 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Herta Mohr
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- 0.31
The Shadow Scholars is a documentary film that explores Kenya's academic ghostwriter-for-hire industry, where highly educated but underemployed Kenyans write essays and theses for students worldwide. The film follows Professor Patricia Kingori, who investigates the global multi-billion dollar industry of academic ghostwriting, revealing the profound consequences for both the writers and the students who benefit from it. It raises critical questions about the integrity of education and the ethical implications of outsourcing academic work. We are proud to have Prof. Kingori as our Seminar speaker on 1 October!
About the speaker
Patricia Kingori is a sociologist and Professor of Global Health Ethics at the Ethox Centre, University of Oxford. Patricia is the Lead Investigator of the Fakes, Fabrications and Falsehood research project and the Between Deception and Dissent research project, both funded by the Wellcome Trust.
Her work sits at the intersection of sociology, ethics and Science and Technology Studies. Patricia has acted as an advisor on the ethical conduct of research and intervention in the UK and in a range of African and South-east Asian countries on the ethical treatment of frontline staff to numerous organisations including the WHO, Save the Children, the Medical Research Council, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders and the Nuffield Council of Bioethics.
She has published and has acted as a guest editor for numerous special issues for journals including the Sociology of Health & Illness, Social Science & Medicine, Global Public Health, Journal of African Cultural Studies and Science & Technology Studies.
This event will take place in person in Leiden. For registrants who cannot travel to Leiden, a link to an online platform will be sent before the start of the event.