Highlights
The Department of Communication, Media, Film and T: Students at the Department of Communication, Media, Film and Theatre Arts had the opportunity to attend t
Executive Dean Meeting with Chairmen of Department: The new Executive Dean Prof David Minja had a meeting with the Chairmen of departments in the school. Als
The School of Law, Arts, and Social Sciences at Ke: The School of Law, Arts, and Social Sciences at Kenyatta University welcomed its new Executive Dean, Prof
LIDERAFRICA Erasmus+ Call KA171: In the process of promoting joint research and dissemination through various initiatives, we are glad to
THE ALL KENYAN MOOT E-JOURNAL LAUNCH: >>>>>>Click here to download the advert Journal of the All Kenyan Moot Court Competiti
THE 32nd Christ of Heyns AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS MOOT: Kenyatta University School of Law participated in this year’s Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot
THE TOYIN FALOLA AT 70 CONFERENCE: THEME: POST-COLONIAL AFRICA: HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY REALITIES CONFERENCE DATES:  10- 12 MAY 2023
Testdaf and testas examinations: We are pleased to announce that the Kenyatta University Department of Literature, Linguistics and Foreign
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Chemchemi –International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN: 1563-1028 Chemchemi-Internati

Name: Beneah Shapaya
Title/Qualification: PhD
Department: Communication, Media, Film and Theatre Studies
Designation/Position: Coordinator – Kenyatta University Media Training Centre
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Contact Address: 43844 – 00100 Nairobi
Area of Specialization: Cinematography, Film Studies
Research Interests: Film Funding, Media and Social Problems,Film Acting,Documentary Filmmaking, AI and visual media
Google Scholar:
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6141-5478

Download CV

Publications

Referred Journals

  • Kihima, C., Shapaya, B., and Mugubi, J., 2024. ‘Physical Familiarity in Kenyan Animation Character Design: Recreating Selected Characters in Super Sema’. International Journal of Scholarly Practice  4(2) https://edinburgjournals.org/journals/index.php/Internationa-        Journal-of-Scholarl/article/view/380
  • Kihima, C., Mugubi, J., Okoth, Z. and Shapaya, B. 2023. ‘The Design of Characters in         Tinga Tinga Tales: A Kenyan Animation Film’. Africa Journal of Emerging Issues 5(13)  105-120. ISSN Online 2663-9335.
  • Shapaya, B. 2018. ‘Kenyan Television Stand-Up Comedy as a Reflection of Societal   Mentality’. Journal of African Theatre, Film and Media Discourse. ISSN 2520 7210
  • Shapaya, B. 2017. ‘A historical perspective on the evolution and presentations of the ideal in children’s television: A study of Kenyan television from 1989 to 2012’. Nairobi Journal of Humanities and Social Science. https://doi.org/10.58256/njhs.v1i1.355

Books and Books Chapters

  • Azangalala, B. 2020. The Configuration of Kenyan Film Acting. Chisinau: Scholars Press
  • Azangalala, B. 2014. Cinematographic Techniques in the Kenyan Experimental Film.   Saarbrücken: Lap Lambert Academic Publishers.

Conference/Workshops/Seminar Papers

Conference Papers

  • 28th November 2023. Presented a paper titled: ‘Photogrammety: A Practical Application’ at a European Union-sponsored workshop as part of the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment grant project. The workshop was hosted by EGG (Enter, Grow, Go) incubation center, Greece.
  • 22nd June 2023. Presented an on-line lecture with Clinton Kihima titled; Politics in Film: An Exploration of Ideological Influences in African Films, to The Society of Aesthetics in Slovakia hosted by the University of Presov 
  • 7th June 2023. Presented an online lecture together with Clinton Kihima titled, An Exploration of Ideological Influences on African Films, to The Academy of Arts in Szczecin (Poland).
  • 16th February 2023. Presented a paper with Clinton Kihima titled; The Potential of Hybridity and       Digitalization of Film Festivals in the Appreciation of Film as Art, in an International       Symposium titled ‘New Coordinates for Creative Hybrid Space-Experiences’, held at  Kenyatta University.
  • 1st December 2022. Presented a paper titled; Reading the Cinematography of Art Film, in an International Workshop titled ‘The Multiplicity of Artistic Language’, held at Università        delgi studi di Macerata, Italy
  • 24th November 2022. Presented a lecture titled; The Media as a Buffer between the Reality in Society and the Individual: A Focus on Film as an Art and Part of the Media Industry, in an International Workshop titled ‘The Role of the Arts as a Contemporary Space of the  Human Condition’ held at the Università delgi studi di Macerata, Italy
  • 12th July 2019. Presented a research paper titled, Configuration of Kenyan Film Acting: A Study of  Eight Selected Drama Films, at the 38th Kenyatta University Postgraduate Seminar, held at Kenyatta University

Conferences Attended

  • 14th May 2025. Attended a Capacity Building Training on Competence Based Education at the Kenyatta University Conference Centre.
  • 14th May 2025. Attended a webinar titled Form, Function and Survival: African Art between Aesthetic Ideals and Historical Necessity, with the presentation done by Prof. John Mugubi. The webinar was organized by the Slovak Aesthetics Forum.
  • 19th July 2024. I was a panelist in the 2nd Performing Arts Conference discussion on ‘The      Importance of Embracing New Ideas and Artistic Expressions within the Kenyan     Performing Art Scene – Education in Performing Arts’. The conference was organised by the Kenya Cultural Centre and held at the Kenya National Theatre.
  • 16th - 19th July 2024. Attended the 2nd Performing Arts Conference. The conference was organised by the Kenya Cultural Centre and held at the Kenya National Theatre.
  • 28th – 30th June 2023. Attended the 4th Congress of the Polish Film and Media Studies Association, held at the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw, Poland.
  • 25th October 2021. Panelist at an International Symposium titled ‘Contemporary Artistic Expressions in Kenya’, held at Università delgi studi di Macerata, Italy
  • 25th October 2021. Attended a plenary seminar session titled ‘Artistic Production in   Contemporary Kenya’, which was part of a conference titled ‘5th Week of       Excellence: Young Institutions and Territories Network for Innovation and Inclusion’ held at  Università delgi studi di Macerata, Italy

Workshops Attended

  • 27th March 2025. Organised a Videography workshop for students in the Dept. of Communication, Media, Film and Theatre Studies. The workshop was held at KUtv
  • 19th - 28th February 2025. Facilitated a workshop by the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment, a European Union grant project. The lecturers delivered were: 1. Defining Art in the Age of Post-Human Creativity and its Impacts on the Definition of Heritage by Dr. Bogna J. Gladden-Obidzinska. 2. Dance and Philosophy:             Between Praxis and Theory by Prof. Lilienne Barnas. 3. Technologies of 4IR for Art Creation and for Art and Culture Preservation and Dissemination in Museum Practice by Prof.             Aleksandra Lukaszewicz. 4. The Real and the Virtual in My Artistic Practice by Prof     Alexandros Konto. 5. An Art Sets Trends in Communication or the First-ever Debate of  Virtual Politicians. Two Europes, Two Generations… by Prof. Joanna Szczepanik. 6.          Digital Methods in Humanistic Interpretation and Trust in Research by Prof. Tomasz.The workshops were conducted at the Kenyatta University Business           Services and     Students Centre.
  • 6th February 2025. Facilitated a talk by Profs. Adrian Kvokacka and Jana Migasova on the Erasmus + Grant. The lecture was conducted at the Kenyatta University Business Services and Students Centre.
  • 6th February 2025. Facilitated a lecture by Prof. Adrian Kvokacka titled: The Ambiguity of the Meaning of Art. The lecture was conducted at Kenyatta University Cinema Hall.
  • 18th - 13th November 2024. Facilitated a workshop by the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment, a European Union grant project. The lecturers delivered were: 1. Is Form a Concrete or an Abstract: On the Implications of Different Concepts of Form for Heritage Preservation by Dr. Bogna J. Gladden-Obidzinska. 2. Resonances of Stones by Bogna J. Gladden-Obidzinska. 3. Trajectories of Inspirations: The Relations between Traditional African Art, Great Avant-Garde and Contemporary African Art by Prof.             Aleksandra Lukaszewicz. 4. Media as a Tool for Cultural Change. New Ontographies and                         Identities by Prof. Karina Banaszkiewicz-Sadowska. 5. Daily Humdrum and the Need of      AR       and VR for Human Beings by Prof. Adrian Kvokacka. 6. The Ambiguity of the Meaning of         Art by Prof. Adrian Kvokacka. The workshops were conducted at the Kenyatta             University Business Services and Students Centre.
  • 11th November 2024. Facilitated a Photography workshop for students in the Dept. of Communication, Media, Film and Theatre Studies. The workshop was held at KUtv
  • 16th February 2024. Attended a Training on Development and Review of Academic The training was conducted at Kenyatta University Conference Centre.
  • 28th November 2023. Attended a workshop by the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment European Union grant project. The lecturers delivered were: 1.             Ludic Urban Experience “Cassandra”. Case Study of Community Mapping Workshop         Framework and 2. Playful Revolution: Integrating Ludic Design and Art in Civil Media for Social and          Environmental Transformation by Tiago Mindrico. 3. Prototyping Strategies for VR        Experiences:       From Low-f to a Final Project by Joao Costa. 4. The Life and Death of Portuguese Statuary from the XX Century: Works of Euclides Vaz by Ana Lucia Pinto. The workshop was hosted by        EGG (Enter, Grow, Go) incubation center, Greece.
  • 16th – 17th November 2023. Facilitated a Photo-editing and Page Layout workshop with two speakers: Elvis Otieno (Scanard) and Maurice Oded (Freelance Graphic Designer). The workshop was held at Kenyatta University’s Ruiru Campus.
  • 9th November 2023. Attended a Webinar titled ‘Strategies for Successfully Publishing Your Research Open Access’, hosted by Taylor and Francis Publishing Group.
  • 27th October 2023. Facilitated a workshop titled ‘The Link between the Film Commission and the Film Artist’ with John Kyalo (In-charge Film Industry Development at Kenya Film Commission) being the key speaker. The workshop was held at Kenyatta University’s       Ruiru Campus.
  • 26th October 2023. Attended a workshop by the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment European Union grant project. The lectures delivered were: 1. Art       Students Augmented Experiments in the Reality-Virtuality Continuum by            Monica    Mendes. 2. Creation of Virtual Environments with the Inclusion of Artistic Heritage by Prof.        Jose Manuel Revez. 3. XR eSCAPE  by Prof. Kuba Petri. 4. Artivive by Prof.            Monica            Mendes. The workshop was hosted by EGG (Enter, Grow, Go) incubation Centre,             Greece.
  • 26th October 2023. Attended a workshop by the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment European Union grant project. The lectures delivered were: 1. Music-Inspired Time and Space Experience and its Transformation in Hybrid Environments by          Dr. Alessandra Montali, Dr. hab. Malgorzata A. Szyzkowska and Dr. Bogna J. Gladden-Obidzinska. 2. Creative XR by Prof. Vali Lalioti. The workshop was hosted by the University of Athens, Greece.
  • 23rd October 2023. Facilitated a workshop titled ‘Television Content Acquisition in Kenya’ with Margaret Mathore (Head of Channels, M-Net East Africa) being the key The workshop was held at Kenyatta University’s Ruiru Campus.
  • 20th October 2023. Attended the 3rd Workshop on Women Composers at the Great Hall of The University of Athens. Greece.
  • 19th October 2023. Attended a workshop by the Communities and Artistic Participation in Hybrid Environment European Union grant project. The lecturers delivered were: 1.             Creation of Virtual Environments with the Inclusion of Artistic Heritage by Prof. Jose Manuel    2. Artivive and XR eSCAPE by Prof. Kuba Petri. The workshop was hosted by        EGG (Enter, Grow, Go) incubation center, Greece.
  • 14th – 16th October 2022. Facilitated a Photography Workshop organised by the Academy     of         Art in Szczecin (Poland), held at Kenyatta University
  • 6th – 8th January 2019. Facilitated a workshop on Photography and the Erasmus+ Programme with the presenters being Prof. Polychniadi Maria [a visiting professor from the           University of West Attic (Greece)] and Dr. Esther Munyiri [Kenyatta       University]. The workshop was conducted at Kenyatta University.
  • 19th October 2017. Attended a Scientific Writing Workshop, organised and held at    Kenyatta          University.

Seminar Attended

  • 13th June 2024. Attended a Webinar titled ‘Result Based Framework Approach to Proposal Development’. The webinar was organized by Kenyatta University.
  • 27th – 28th February 2024. Attended a Wellness Training by the Directorate of University Health Services. The training was conducted at BSSC building in Kenyatta
  • 2nd December 2023. Attended an open discussion with Dr. Jeff Silva (an anthropologist and filmmaker) on the research process in filmmaking with excerpts taken from his work. The discussion was part of Athens Ethnographic Film Festival, Greece.
  • 24th November 2023. Attended a Lecture titled ‘Technoceramics: Mining the Urban Landscapes’, by Noemi Iglesias Barrios. The lecture was given at EGG (Enter, Grow, Go) incubation Centre, Greece.
  • 20th November 2023. Attended a Lecture titled ‘Photogrammetry: From Images to 3D Objects’, by Joao Costa. The lecture was given at EGG (Enter, Grow, Go) incubation Centre,
  • 13th June 2023. Attended a lecture titled; African Films as Ontological Political and Cultural Proclamations, presented by Prof. John Mugubi at the University of Lodz (Poland).
  • 7th June 2023. Attended an on-line lecture titled; The Trajectory of Narrative Spinning in the African Film: A Case of Conditions inveigling Screenwriting & Directing in Kenya, presented by John Mugubi to The Academy of Arts in Szczecin (Poland).
  • 19th May 2022. Attended a training on the New Research Management System (Kenris) and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Mainstreaming. Virtual training organised by National Commission for Science and Technology (Nacosti) and Kenyatta    University.
  • 13th March 2020. Facilitated a lecture by Profs. Flavia Stara, Rosita Deluigi and Giuseppe      Capriotti (all of the Università delgi studi di Macerata, Italy), to students and staff in the       School of Creative and Performing Arts. The lecture was titled ‘History and            Language of        Art’, and was conducted at Kenyatta University’s BSSC building.
  • 25th – 28th June 2018. Attended an Integrity Assurance Officers Training, organised by the    Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission, held at Kenyatta University
  • 2nd and 3rd February 2016. Attended a training on Teaching Methodology and Setting of        Examinations, organised and held at Kenyatta University.
  • 28th January 2016. Attended a training on Sensitization of Disability Issues, organised and held at Kenyatta University.
  • 2nd December 2015. Attended Canon Europe Level 2 Technical Training for staff on            Camera Technology, held at Kenyatta University.
  • 21st October 2015. Attended a training on Gender Sensitization and Orientation, organised and held at Kenyatta University.
  • October to November 2013. Attended a staff training on Integration of Faith, organised and held at Daystar University.

Affiliation of Professional Bodies

  • Reviewer for the Polish Journal of Aesthetics.

Community Service and Other Engagements

  • Member of the Kenyatta University National Values Committee

Administrative Positions Held

Recognized university administrative positions

  • 2025. Coordinator of the Kenyatta University Media Training Centre
  • 2020 to Current. Head of the Departmental Curriculum Development and Review Committee.
  • 2019 - School Examinations Coordinator. School of Creative and Performing Arts, Film and Media Studies.
  • 2016 to 2019 - School Examinations Coordinator. School of Creative Arts, Film and Media Studies.
  • 2015 to 2016 – Departmental Examination Coordinator. Department of Film Technology and Theatre Arts.
Details