Sawel Awuni is a first-generation student from the northern part of Ghana (Upper East Region). He earned his bachelor’s degree in French Education from Ghana Baptist University College. Before joining the Ph.D. program in French and Francophone Literature in the Department of Modern Languages & Classics at the University of Alabama, he completed his M.A. in French Literature and Linguistics at the University of Mississippi, where he wrote a thesis titled Les Conditions de Vie de la Classe Ouvrière dans les Chefs-d’Œuvre de Ousmane Sembène. In this work, he examined how workers were treated during the colonial period and how these conditions are still represented in the 21st century.

He is interested in XVIII-XIX-century French literature, Francophone literature and cinema, and he is also a creative writer. His academic research and creative work are guided by an interest in how we learn from and address history, environmental issues, and global justice. He has chaired several panels and published numerous articles and poems. His articles and Poems can be found on his Google Scholar and Academia. Currently, he is developing a huge passion for photography and filmmaking.