Introducing New ICwS Fellows

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies is delighted to welcome three of our newest Fellows:

Dr Cherisse Francis, Associate Research Fellow

Dr Cherisse Francis is an educator, researcher and consultant from the Caribbean. She has been involved in human rights advocacy and programming for over a decade. Currently, Cherisse is a Senior Lecturer (Law) at St.Mary's University, Twickenham where she has taught modules on Organised Crime, Trafficking and Contemporary slavery, International Human Rights Law, Criminal law and other related topics. She also serves as a trustee for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (London Office) and is a founding member and part of the leadership team for the Caribbean Coalition against Trafficking in Persons.

Professor Christopher Roberts, Associate Research Fellow

Professor Roberts is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Professor Roberts’ research focuses on the evolution of public order legality, human and workers’ rights and the idea of development in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century British Empire and at the international level. In addition to his academic work, he has worked as an expert legal consultant addressing issues such as constitutional and legal reform, the rule of law and human rights with intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations and mandate holders, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Donald L Sparks, Research Fellow

Donald L Sparks is Visiting Professor of International Economics at the Management Center Innsbruck, Austria and Emeritus Professor of International Economics at the Citadel in Charleston, SC (where he was named MBA Professor-of-the-Year three times). Dr Sparks was a Senior Consulting Associate in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the US Department of State during the Obama administration. Before beginning his academic career, Dr Sparks was in the Foreign Service serving as the Regional Economist for Africa in the Office of Economic Analysis at the US Department of State in Washington, DC and prior to that as a Staff Assistant to Senator Ernest F Hollings.