Spring 2024

Full Curriculum Vitae, Here

 Education

PhD., (African History) University of Texas at Austin, 2010                       

M.A., (History) University of Texas at Austin, 2007

B.A., (History) University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 2004

Employment History

Florida International University, since 2022

• Professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies, since August 2022

Western Carolina University (2010-2022)

• Professor of History, 2021-2022

• Associate Professor of History, 2016 -2021

• Assistant Professor of History, 2010-2016

Research Interest

Region: Nigerian history since the precolonial era

 Publication

Books

Authored

1) Fuji: The History of an African Popular Culture (Under contract with the University of Chicago Press)

2) Animality and Colonial Subjecthood in Africa: The Human and Nonhuman Creatures of Nigeria (Ohio University Press/New African Histories Series, 2022)

See Reviews in African Studies Review, African Studies Quarterly, International Journal of African Historical Studies, Canadian Journal of African Studies, Journal of African History, African Identities, Africa Today

3) Guns and Society in Colonial Nigeria: Firearms, Culture, and Public Order (Indiana University Press, January 2018)

Reviewed in the following 9 journals (American Historical Review, Journal of African History; H-Net; International Journal of African Historical Studies; Social History; African Studies Quarterly; Journal of West African History; H-Soz-Kult; Cahiers d'études africaines)

4) When Sex Threatened the State: Illicit Sexuality, Nationalism, and Politics in Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1958 (University of Illinois Press, 2015)—Winner of the 2016 Nigerian Studies Association's Book Award Prize for the “most important scholarly book/work on Nigeria”

Reviewed in the following journals 14 journals: (Canadian Journal of African Studies; Journal of West African History; Journal of the History of Sexuality; Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History; Canadian Journal of History; Africa: Journal of the International African Institute; American Historical Review; African Studies Quarterly; The Historian; International Journal of African Historical Studies; Journal of Women’s History; Journal of Retracing Africa; GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies; Le Mouvement Social)

 5) Nigeria, Nationalism, and Writing History (University of Rochester Press, 2010) 356pp. co-authored

Reviewed in the following journals (Africa Today; H-Africa; African Studies Quarterly; Leeds African Studies Bulletin; Journal of West African History; International Journal of African Historical Studies; Comparativ)

  

Edited

6) Sports in African History, Politics, and Identity Formation (New York: Routledge, April 2019), co-edited with Michael Gennaro

7) African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017), 400pp

8) Children and Childhood in Colonial Nigerian Histories (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 256pp

9) The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ayodeji Olukoju (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), 430pp. co-edited

 

Journal Articles

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       1) "Empire Day in Africa: Patriotic Colonial Childhood, Imperial Spectacle, and Nationalism in Nigeria, 1905-1960,” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 46, no.4 (2018):731-757
2) “Modernizing Love: Gender, Romantic Passion, and Youth Literary Culture in Colonial Nigeria,” Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute 85, no.3 (2015): 478-500
3) “Journey to Work: Transnational Prostitution in Colonial British West Africa,” Journal of the History of Sexuality 24, no.1 (2015): 99-124
4) “O! Sir I Do Not Know Either to Kill Myself or to Stay”: Childhood Emotion, Poverty, and Literary Culture in Nigeria, 1900-1960,” Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth 8, no.2 (2015): 273-294
5) “Where is the Boundary? Cocoa Conflict, Land Tenure, and Politics in Western Nigeria,” Journal of Social History 47, no.1 (2013), 176-195 
6) “‘The Problem of Nigeria is Slavery, Not White Slave Traffic’: Globalization and the Politicization of Prostitution in Southern Nigeria, 1921-1955,” Canadian Journal of African Studies 46, no.1 (2012): 1-22

7) “Of Gender, Race, and Class: The Politics of Prostitution in Lagos, Nigeria, 1923-1954,” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies 33, no. 3 (2012):71-92

8) “Dangerous Aphrodisiac, Restless Sexuality: Venereal Disease, Biomedicine, and Protectionism in Colonial Lagos, Nigeria,” Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History 13.3 (2012). Project MUSE. Web. 3 Dec. 2012

9) “Researching Colonial Childhoods: Images and Representations of Children in Nigerian Newspaper Press, 1925-1950,” History in Africa: A Journal of Method 39 (2012): 241-266

 10) “Cutting the Head of the Roaring Monster’: Homosexuality and Repression in Africa,” African Study Monographs Vol. 30, No.3 (2009): 121-135, co-authored with Kwame Essien

 11) “The Girls in Moral Danger”: Child Prostitution and Sexuality in Colonial Lagos, Nigeria, 1930s-1950,” Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 1, no.2 (2007): 1-22

Book Chapters

12) “Introduction” in Michael Gennaro and Saheed Aderinto, eds., Sports in African History, Politics, and Identity Formation (New York: Routledge: 2019), 1-13

13) “Introduction: Uncovering Africa’s Past” in Saheed Aderinto, ed., African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2017), xiii-xxvi

14) “Inside the ‘House of Ill Fame’: Brothel Prostitution, Feminization of Poverty, and Lagos Life in Nollywood’s The Prostitute,” in Danielle Hipkins and Kate Taylor-Jones eds, Prostitution and Sex Work in Global Cinema: New Takes on Fallen Women (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), 107-128

15) “Pleasure for Sale: Prostitution in Colonial Africa, 1880s-1960s,” in Frank Jacob (ed.,) Prostitution: A Companion to Mankind (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang 2016), 469-480

16) “Introduction: Colonialism and the Invention of Modern Nigerian Childhood,” in Saheed Aderinto (ed.,) Children and Childhood in Colonial Nigerian Histories (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 1-18

17) “Framing the Colonial Child: Childhood Memory and Self Representation in Autobiographical Writing,” in Saheed Aderinto (ed.,) Children and Childhood in Colonial Nigerian Histories (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 169-199

18) “500 Children Are Missing in Lagos”: Child Kidnapping and Public Anxiety in Colonial Nigeria,” in Saheed Aderinto (ed.,) Children and Childhood in Colonial Nigerian Histories (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 97-121

19) “Yakubu Gowon: The Challenge of Nation Building,” in Apollos O. Nwauwa and Julius O. Adekunle (eds.,) Nigerian Political Leaders: Visions, Actions, and Legacies (Glassboro, New Jersey: Goldline & Jacobs Publishing, 2015), 230-248

20) “‘Youth of Awo-Omama Will Boycott Their Girls’: Men, Marriage, and Ethno-Cultural Nationalism in Southern Nigeria, 1920s-1956,” in Pablo Dominguez and Simon Wendt (eds.,) Masculinities and the Nation in the Modern World: Between Hegemony and Marginalization (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), 243-267

21) “Isaac Fadoyebo at The Battle of Nyron: African Voices from the First and Second World Wars, c.1914-1945,” in Trevor Getz (ed.,) African Voices of the Global Past: 1500 to the Present (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2014), 107-138

22) “‘Sorrow, Tears, and Blood’: Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Protest in Nigeria,” in Jonathan C. Friedman (ed.,) The Routledge History of Social Protest in Popular Music (New York: Routledge, 2013), 319-330

23) “Sex across the Border: Researching Transnational Prostitution in Colonial Nigeria,” in Saheed Aderinto and Paul Osifodunrin (eds.,) The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ayodeji Olukoju (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), 76-94

24) “Of Historical Visibility and Epistemology: History and Historians of Nigerian Women,” in Saheed Aderinto and Paul Osifodunrin (eds.,) The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ayodeji Olukoju (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), 128-151

25) “The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria,” in Saheed Aderinto and Paul Osifodunrin (eds.,) The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ayodeji Olukoju (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), 2-19

26) “Treading the Uncharted Path in Nigerian History: The Intellectual World of Ayodeji Olukoju,” in Saheed Aderinto and Paul Osifodunrin (eds.,) The Third Wave of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria: Essays in Honor of Ayodeji Olukoju (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), 22-49

27) “Representing ‘Tradition’, Confusing ‘Modernity’: Love, Sexuality, and Mental Illness in Yoruba (Nigerian) Video Films,” in Lawrence Rubin (ed.,) Mental Illness in Popular Media: Essays on the Representation of Disorders (Jefferson, NC: MacFarland, 2012), 256-269

28) “Blacks in Britain,” in Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani (ed.,) The African Diaspora: Historical Analysis, Poetic Verses and Pedagogy (California: University Readers, 2011), 113-120

29) “Domestic, Community, and State-Sponsored Violence in Nigeria,” in David Wingeate Pike (ed.,) Crimes against Women (Hauppauge, New York: Nova Publishers, 2011), 145-151

30) “A Historiographical Study of the Works of LaRay Denzer, Bolanle Awe and Nina Mba,” in Mala Pandurang and Anke Bartels (eds.,) African Women Novelists: Re-Imaging Gender (New Delhi: Pencraft International, 2010), 107-123

31) “Falola on Slave Trade and Slavery, and the Political Economy of Yorubaland in the Nineteenth Century,” in Niyi Afolabi, (ed.,) Toyin Falola: The Man, The Mask, The Muse (Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2010), 367-384

32) “Ijebu a b’eyan...?” (“Ijebu or a human being…?”): Nineteenth Century Origin of Discrimination against Ijebu Strangers in colonial Ibadan, Nigeria,” In Chima J. Korieh and Michael Mbanaso (eds.,) Minorities and the State in Africa (Amherst, New York: Cambria Press, 2010), 143-168

33) ”European Invasion and African Resistance,” in Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani, Tiffany Jones and Raphael Njoku (eds.,) Africa and the Wider World (Boston, MA: Pearson, 2010), 247-261

34) “Through the Changing Scenes of Political Islam in Nigeria, 1903-2008”: Religion, Violence and Secular Ideologies in an Evolving Nation-State,” (Turkish translation) “Nijerya'da Siyasal Islam'in Bastan Sona Degisen Sahneleri, 1903-2008: Evrilen Bir Ulus-Devlette Din, Siddet ve Sekuler Ideolojiler” in Aysegul Komsuoglu and Gul M. Kurtoglu-Eskisar (eds.,) Different Faces of Political Islam (Turkish translation) Siyasal Islam'in Farkli Yuzleri (Istanbul, Turkey: Profil Yayincilik, 2009), 210-230

35) “Prostitution and Urban Social Relations” in Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani (ed.,) Nigeria’s Urban History: Past and Present (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2006), 75-98

36) “Policing Urban Prostitution: Prostitutes, Crime, Law and Reformers,” in Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani (ed.,) Nigeria’s Urban History: Past and Present (Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America), 99-118

37) “Discrimination in an Urban Setting: The Experience of Ijebu Settlers in Colonial Ibadan, 1893-1960,” in Olayemi Akinwumi, Okpeh O. Okpeh Jr and Gwamna D. Je’adayibe (eds.,) Inter-group Relations in Nigeria during the 19th & 20th Centuries (Makurdi:  Aboki Publishers, 2006), 356-386

Encyclopedia Entries

1) “Oyo” and “Shambaa” in Saheed Aderinto, ed., African Kingdoms: An Encyclopedia of Empires and Civilizations (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, August 2017), 244-247; 255-256

 2) “Prostitution and Race in Twentieth Century Nigeria” in Rachel Jean-Baptiste and Nicolas Blancel eds., Sex & Colonies: Decolonization of the Twentieth Century/ Décolonisation XXe siècle (1914-1970 Vol.3 (Paris: Groupe de Recherche ACHAC, 2017)

 3) “Sex and Sexuality”, “Urbanization”, “Slave Narrative”, “Back to Africa”, “Abolitionism”, “Initiation”, “Women’s Movement”, “Black Diaspora” in F. Abiola Irele and Biodun Jeyifo (eds.,) Oxford Encyclopedia of African Thought (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 329-331; 402-405; 337-339; 123-124; 1-5; 6-7; 434-437; 165-170

 4) “For Gold and Slaves: Africa’s Coaster Cities; and Slave Power Empires,” in Alfred J. Andrea ed., ABC Encyclopedia of World History (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2010)

 5) “Slaves and Slavery in Africa Vol. IV”; “Family in Africa Vol. II”; “Crime and Punishment in Africa Vol. I” and “Law and Legal Codes in Africa Vol. IV” in Peter Bogucki (ed.,) Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World (New York: Facts on File, 2008), 985-986; 447-449; 296-297; 621-622

 6) “Songhai Empire,” in Marsha E. Ackermann et al eds Encyclopedia of World History vol. III: The First Global Age, 1450-1750 (New York: Facts on File, 2008) 366-367

 7) “Ruhanga,” in Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama (eds.,) Encyclopedia of African Religion (OH: Sage Reference, 2008)

 8) “Cultural Interaction: Africa,” (German translation) “Kulturkontakt, globaler – Afrika” in Enzyklopaedie der Neuzeit 7 (Stuttgart/Weimar: J.B. Metzler Verlag, 2008), 290-294

 9) “Accident and Explosions” “Allada” “Bonny” “Crew” “Ethnicity” “Fort, St. Louis” “Indian Ocean” “Lagos” “Licensing” “Phillips, Thomas” “Regulations” “Seasons” “Shipyards” “Slave Merchants” “Smuggling” “Storms” “Taxes” “Windward Coast” in Toyin Falola and Amanda Warnock (eds.,) Encyclopedia of the Middle Passage (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2007), 16-17; 33-34; 64; 120-121; 165-166; 179-180; 228-230; 250-151; 259-260; 303; 320-321; 337; 343-344; 347-348; 357-358; 361-362; 367-368; 401-402

 10) “Colonialism and Prostitution in Africa, Vol. I” and “Mines, Vol. II” in Melissa Ditmore (ed.,) Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006), 110-112; 315-317

 

Book Reviews

1) Review of Ndubueze Mbah, Emergent Masculinities: Gendered Power and Social Change in the Biafran Atlantic Age (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2019), Journal of Modern African Studies 59, no.2 (2021): 237 - 238

2) Review of Tim Livsey’s Nigeria’s University Age: Reframing Decolonization and Development (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), Journal of African Cultural Studies 33, no.3 (2019): 336-338

3) Review of Carina E. Ray, Crossing the Color Line: Race, Sex, and the Contested Politics of Colonialism in Ghana (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2015), Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute 88, no.1 (2018): 193-194

4) Review of Kwame Essien, Brazilian-African Diaspora in Ghana: The Tabom, Slavery, Dissonance of Memory, Identity, and Locating Home (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2016), Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies 10, no.2 (2017): 234-236

5) Review of Abosede A. George, Making Modern Girls: A History of Girlhood, Labor, and Social Development in Colonial Lagos (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2014) American Historical Review 121, no.1 (2016) 342-343

6) Review of Marc Matera, Misty L. Bastian, and Susan Kingsley. The Women’s War of 1929: Gender and Violence in Colonial Nigeria (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), African Studies Review 58, no.3 (2015): 237-239

7) Review of Emily Osborn, Our New Husbands Are Here: Households, Gender, and Politics in a West African State from the Slave Trade to Colonial Rule (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2011) Journal of West African History 1, no.2 (2015): 164-166

8) Review of Ogechi E. Anyanwu, The Politics of Access: University Education and Nation-Building in Nigeria, 1948-2000 (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 2011) Journal of Retracing Africa 1, no.1 (2014): 44-46

9) Review of Catherine M. Cole, Takyiwaa Manuh, and Stephan F. Miescher eds., Africa After Gender? (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2007) Ethnic and Third World Review of Books 9 (March 2009):21-22

10) Review of Adegboyega Isaac Ajayi, The Military and the Nigerian State, 1966-1993: A Study of the Strategies of Political Power Control (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2007) African Affairs 107, no. 429 (2008): 665-666

11) Review of Marc Epprecht, Heterosexual Africa? The History of an Idea from the Age of Exploration to the Age of AIDS (Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2008) Gender Forum 23, no. 4 (2008)

12) Review of Lahoucine Ouzgane and Robert Morrell eds., African Masculinities: Men in Africa from the late Nineteenth century to the Present (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) Journal of Men, Masculinities and Spirituality 2, no.2 (2008): 142-144

13) Review of Heidi J. Nast, Concubines and Power: Five Hundred Years in a Northern Nigerian Palace (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005) In-Spire: Journal of Law, Politics, and Societies 3, no.1 (2008): 55-57

14) Review of Chima Korieh and Femi J. Kolapo eds., The Aftermath of Slavery: Transitions and Transformations in Southeastern Nigeria (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2007) Journal of Pan African Studies 2, no.4 (2008): 225-227

15) Review of Gloria Chuku, Igbo Women and Economic Transformation in Southeastern Nigeria (New York: Routledge, 2005) Ethnic and Third World Review of Books 8 (2008): 14-15

16) Review of Victor Oguejiofor Okafor, A Roadmap for Understanding African Politics: Leadership and Political Integration in Nigeria (New York: Routledge, 2006) International Review of Politics and Development 6, no. 2 (2008): 106-108

17) Review of John Edward Philips, ed., Writing African History (Rochester, New York: University of Rochester Press, 2005) Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 17 (2007/2008): 201-203

18) Review of Raphael Chijioke Njoku, African Cultural Values: Igbo Political Leadership in Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1966 (New York: Routledge, 2006) African and Asian Studies 6, nos. 1/2 (2007): 201-203

19) Review of Toyin Falola and Ann Genova eds., The Yoruba in Transition: History, Values and Modernity (Durham, North Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 2006) Journal of Asian and African Studies 42, no. 6 (2007): 576-577

20) Review of Joshua B. Forrest, Subnationalism in Africa: Ethnicity, Alliances and Politics (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004) Ethnic and Third World Review of Books 7 (2007): 70-72

21) Review of Hakeem Ibikunle Tijani, Britain, Leftist Nationalists, and the Transfer of Power in Nigeria, 1945-1965 (New York: Routledge, 2005) IFRA Special Research Issue 2 (2006): 119-121 

 Service: Department, College, and University

University

• Faculty Hearing Committee, 2017-present

• Member, Campus Interdisciplinary Theme, titled, “Africa! More than a Continent,” 2015-2017

• Visiting Scholar Committee, 2014-2017

• Open House, 2011-present

 

College

• Member of International Studies Advisory Board, Fall 2012-2016

• Dean’s Advisory Board, Fall 2014-2017

• Student Appeal, Fall 2014-present

 

Department

• Member of Undergraduate Committee, Fall 2016-• Member of Strategic Policy Committee, Fall 2016 • Chair of Undergraduate Committee, Fall 2014-Spring 2015• Member of Task Force on Curriculum Revision, Fall 2014-present• Member of Latin America Search Committee, 2015-2016• Member of Early Modern European History Search Committee, 2013-2014• Member of Undergraduate Committee, 2010-2012 and 2013/2014• Editor of Department’s Newsletter, Fall 2013-Spring 2015• Department Secretary— 2012/2013• Member of QEP Committee—2012/2013• Member of Early America Search Committee—2012/2013• Chair, Colloquy and Conversation—Fall 2011-present

Journal and Book Evaluation

 Membership of Journal Editorial Board and Book Series, 2010-

• Editor of Journal of West African History • Associate Editor of Source, Materials, and Fieldwork• Associate Editor of Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration • Associate Editor of Ohio University Press series on “War and Militarism in African History” • “Contention: The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest” • Journal of Retracing Africa •Global Humanities: Studies in Histories, Cultures, and Societies •Africa Dialogue• Agidigbo: Journal of the Humanities• Ibadan Journal of Peace and Development •Ijinle •African Ethnography

 

Manuscript Evaluation for Journals, 2010-

• Canadian Journal of African Studies •African Studies Review •African Economic History •Journal of Modern African Studies •Africa: The Journal of the International African Institute •Comparative Studies in Society and History •The Journal of Contemporary African Studies •Journal of African Cultural Studies •Afrika Zamani •Social Dynamics: A Journal of African Studies •Afriques •Journal of West African History •Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East •Journal of Asian and African Studies • International Social Science Journal •Journal of Lesbian Studies •Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth •Journal of Genocide Research •Journal of Citizenship Studies •Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society •Research in African Literatures •Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History •Africa Today •History Compass •Journal of Commonwealth Literature •Cultural History: Journal of the International Society for Cultural History •OFO: Journal of Transatlantic Studies •International Social Science Review •Journal of Retracing Africa •Global South •Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women’s and Gender Studies •Agidigbo: Journal of the Humanities

Book Manuscript Evaluation for Publishers, 2010-

• Indiana University Press •Oxford University Press •Cambridge University Press •Ohio University Press •Routledge •Stanford University Press, • Notre Dame University Press •Palgrave Macmillan •Lexington Books •The French Institute for Research in Africa

 External PhD Thesis Examiner and Supervisor

• Michigan Technological University. Candidate: Tolulope Odebunmi (Defended in November 2021)

• Rhodes University, South Africa, for PhD thesis titled, The Tropical Environment and Malaria in South-western Nigeria, 1861–1960 by Adedamola Seun Adetiba (Adekunle Ajasin University). Successfully defended, October 2018

 • New York University, USA, for PhD thesis titled, A Lagoon City: Lagos in the Nineteenth-Century Bight of Benin, 1845-1868 by Dr. Ademide Adelusi-Adeluyi (University of California - Riverside). Successfully defended, December 2015

  • University of Cape Town, South Africa, for PhD thesis titled, The Nigerian History Machine and the Production of Middle Belt Historiography by Dr. Samaila Suleiman (Bayero University, Nigeria). Successfully defended, 2015

 • Supplemental Supervision and mentorship for the following PhD Students through the CODESRIA’s African Diaspora Support to African Universities Program: Sylvester Kohol (University of Ibadan, Nigeria); Prolific Mataruse (Rhodes University, South Africa); Chijioke Francis Onyebukwa (North West University, Nigeria); Rosemary Popoola (Covenant University, Nigeria)

 Invited Lectures, Conference, Seminars, and Symposium

• “When Motion Meets Sound: The Social History of Fuji Music Videos Since 1959.” Paper presentation at the 9th Annual Africa Conference, Tennessee State University April 7, 2023

• “What is Popular in African Popular Culture? Insights From Fuji.” Keynote Lecture of the 9th Annual Africa Conference, Tennessee State University. April 7, 2023

• "When History Roars Back: The Animal Turn in African Historical Scholarship." The Chris Gray Memorial Lecture, Florida International University, March 22, 2023

• “Inclusive Narratives in African Popular Culture: Insight from the Making of “Fuji: A Documentary.” The 13th iRepresent International Documentary Film Festival. March 17, 2023

• “Gun Violence in Nigerian History.” Keynote address of the “Training Workshop on the Methodological Challenges of Conflict Studies in Nigeria.” March 14, 2023

• “Of Popular and Academic Biography of Barrister: Insights from a Community of Practice, The Barry Wonder Lives on Group WhatsApp Discussion, February 26, 2023

• Book Talk organized by the Teju Olaniyan Reading Group, “Writing Animal-Conscious History of Africa: The Blind Spots,” February 25, 2023

• Discussant at the Conference on “Navigating Nigerian Archives: Experiences, Opportunities, and Advancement” February 20, 2023

• “More than Sound and Lyrics: How Fuji Became an African Popular Culture.” Paper presented at the American Historical Association Conference, Philadelphia, January 2023

• “A Dead Goat that Speaks Like Human: Drums in Africa and the Diaspora.” Keynote Address of the “Roots Link Miami: Virtual Performance Art Installation,” November 2022

• “Musicians Should Avoid Partisan Politics”: Sikiru Ayinde Barrister and Political Fuji, 1980-2010.” Paper presented at the African Studies Association Conference, Philadelphia, November 2023

• “Conceptualizing Intellectual Remittance: Africa, the African Diaspora, and Knowledge Transfer in the 21st Century,” A lecture delivered to Morgan State University. October 14, 2022

• “The African Diaspora and Intellectual Remittances: Unseen Labor and Institution Building in Africa.” Keynote Lecture of the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom. August 31, 2022

• “Research and Publishing across Disciplines in the Humanities.” Research talk given to the Hausa International Book and Arts Festival, Online, June 30, 2022

• “Digital Research in the 21st Century.” Talk presented at KolaDaisi University, June 30, 2022

• “Good Guns, Bad Guns: Race and Firearms Regulation in Colonial and
Postcolonial Nigeria.” Paper presented at the (Post)Colonial Shaming Practices and Materiality of Degradation Conference.” TU Dresden, June 16, 2022

• “The Childhood that Animals Made: Nigerian Children and their Nonhuman Friends.” Book talk presented to the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, June 9, 2022

• “Fuji Studies: Creating Epistemologies for an African Popular Culture.” Paper presented at Bowen University, December 9, 2021

• “Digital Fuji: The Musical Soundscape of Lagos in Historical Perspective.” Paper presented “the Digital Humanities for a Public History of Lagos Conference,” Lagos, November 23, 2021

• “Animalized Childhood: Raising Animal-loving Children in Colonial Nigeria.” Paper presented at the Critical Childhoods and Youth Studies Collective.” October 26, 2021

• “Research and Scholarship in the Humanities and the Social Sciences in the Digital Age,” Faculty Guest Lecture of Elizade University, August 4, 2021

• “Urban Animals of Nigeria,” paper presented at the “Animals and Science in the Colonial World Seminar,” June 30, 2021

• “Decolonizing the Decolonizer: Epistemic Liberation in 21st Century Africanist Scholarship,” Plenary Lecture of the “Ife-Edinburgh Catalyst Workshop,” June 10, 2021

• “Let Us Be Kind to Our Dumb Friends”: The Imperial Root of Animal Cruelty Laws in Colonial Nigeria,” paper presented at the “Third Legal Histories of Empire Symposium,” May 18, 2021

• “Animality and Coloniality,” paper presented at the “Animal (Pre) History, Agency, and Legacy Interdisciplinary Workshop,” May 10, 2021

• "Animals as Diasporic Bodies in African Studies," lecture presented to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, March 3, 2021

• “Building Your Academic Community: The Role of Mentors and Networks,” Keynote of the 1st Pius Adesanmi Webinar Series, January 15, 2021

• “Animal Nigerians in Time and Space” lecture given to the American Society for Environmental History (Zoom), October 28, 2020

 • “Guns and Society in Nigeria.” Lecture given at the University of Bologna (Zoom), October 23, 2020

 • “Decompartmentalizing Knowledge: Writing and Researching across the Social Sciences and Humanities,” (Zoom), June 9, 2020

• “Eni fe ko iru ile Adebisi, ko ni ile ko: City Life, Socio-Political Relations, and Architecture in Ibadan.” KU Leuven, Belgium, November 16, 2019

• “The City is Beyond Human: In Search of Animals in African Urban Studies.” University of Pennsylvania October 15, 2019

• “Animality and Colonial Subjecthood in Africa: The Human and Nonhuman Creatures of Nigeria.” Plenary Lecture of the Human-Animal Studies Institute, University of Urbana-Champaign, July 18, 2019

• “Africanizing the Gun: Appropriation, Hybridization, Reinvention.” Workshop on Writing Global History of Technology from a Local Perspective: Stories from the South. Darmstadt, Germany, July 11, 2019

• “The History Animals Made: Nigeria and Its Nonhuman Creatures in Time Perspective.” Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, June 5, 2019

• “What is Modern about Modern African Childhood” Keynote Lecture of the Workshop on “Children, Youth & Labor on the Eve of Independence” Duquesne University, Pittsburg, March 30, 2019

• “African Urban Space and Contested Notions of Power.” Urban Spaces in Africa Conference, University of Lagos, February 21, 2019

• “Guns and Politics in 1960s Nigeria.” The Momentous 60s in Africa Conference. Ben Gurion University and Hebrew University, Israel, January 2019

• “A Turf-minded City”: Horse Racing, Imperial Spectacle, and Leisure in Colonial Lagos.” African Studies Association of the United States Conference, Atlanta, GA November 2018

• “Dog Nationalism: Race and Politics in 1950s Lagos.” African Studies Association of the United Kingdom Conference. University of Birmingham, September 2018

• “Cartooning Nationalism: Animal Symbols and the Narratives of Nation-Building in Lagos Print Media, 1945-1960.” Lagos Studies Association Conference, June 15, 2018

• Book Lecture: “The Gun and Colonialism in Nigeria.” Organized by the Nigeria office of the French Institute for Research in Africa, June 13, 2018

• “E ma d’omo po ni Massey: Colonialism and the Emergence of Modern Nigerian Childhood.” Institute of Child Health, University of Ibadan, June 5, 2018

• Book Lecture: “Guns and Society in Nigeria.” Duke University, February 2, 2018

• “Lagos and Its Dogs: Human-Animal Relations in the Discourse of Colonial Modernity.” African Studies Association Meeting, Chicago, November 2017

• “Human-Animal Relations in Nigerian History,” Bayero University, Nigeria, May 15, 2017

• Book Lecture: “Did a Gun Society Exist in Precolonial and Colonial Africa,” Kalamazoo College, May 3, 2017

• Book Lecture: “All Firearms Are Not Made Equal: Colonialism, Social Class, and the Emergence of a Nigerian Gun Society.” Winston-Salem State University. Winston-Salem, March 27, 2017

• “Writing Animals into Nigerian History: Methodology, Sources, and Themes.” Paper presented at the Africa Conference, Tennessee State University, Nashville, April 7, 2017

• “Sex Across the Mediterranean: Local Responses to Transnational Prostitution in Nigeria.” Breaching Fortress Europe: Africa Migration to Europe Conference. The Graduate Center, City University of New York, October 28, 2016

• Book Lecture: Sexualized Nationalism and Selective Modernity in Colonial Nigeria, 1900-1960” University of North Carolina, Asheville, September 30, 2016

• “Telling African Stories: The Dynamics of Production of Knowledge on Africa.” 2016 Humanities Lecture, University of North Carolina, Asheville, September 30, 2016

• Book Lecture: “Nigeria and Its Sexual Past.” Afe Babalola University, Nigeria. May 25, 2016

• “Publishing in Tier One Academic Journals.” Presentation given to junior academic staff of Afe Babalola University, Nigeria. May 25, 2016

• “Love Letters and the Performance of Modern Sexualities in Colonial Lagos.” Paper presented at the “Lagos: From the Pepperfarm to the Megacity (and Beyond) An Interdisciplinary Conference on Space, Society, and the Imagination of an African Crossroads.” Barnard College, New York. May 7, 2016

• “Debating Sexual Innocence: Crime, Sex, and Age of Consent in Colonial Nigeria.” Paper presented at the Carter Lectures, University of Florida - Gainesville, April 1, 2016

• “Transition Without End: Politics and Democracy in Post-Cold War Africa.” Paper presented at the “Global Spotlights: Africa in World Affairs” Western Carolina, University April 13, 2016

• “Teaching African History at WCU,” Paper presented at the International Education Week, November 16, 2015

• “Political Leadership in Africa,” Paper delivered at the WCU and the World conference, November 4, 2015

• “All Guns Were Not Made Equal: Colonialism, Social Class, and the Emergence of a Nigerian Firearms Culture.” Paper presented at the African Studies Association Meeting, San Diego, California, November 18-21, 2015

• Book Lecture: “Writing Sexuality into Nigerian History,” Department of History and Strategic Studies, University of Lagos, Nigeria, May 28, 2015

• “Of Public Security and Nation Building: Firearms, Violence, and Globalization in Nigerian History.” Paper presented at the Faculty of Arts Conference, University of Ibadan Nigeria. May 2015

• Book Lecture: “Sexualized Childhood: Children and the Narratives of Endangered Sexuality in Colonial Nigeria,” Invited Lecture given at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, March 31, 2015

• “Historical Perspectives on Wars and Conflict in Africa.” Guest lecture presented to Dr. Jen Schiff’s “Introduction to International Studies class,” Western Carolina University, February 9, 2015

• “Education in Africa.” Guest lecture given to Dr. Russell Binkley's “Comparative Education” class, Western Carolina University, November 18, 2014

• “Teaching World History in the Age of New Globalization.” Paper presented at the “International Education Week,” Western Carolina University, November 17, 2014

• “The Political Economy of Ebola Epidemic in West Africa.” Paper presented at the “Global Spotlight Series” Western Carolina University, November 4, 2014

• “A Failed Promise: Prostitution Regulation and the Challenges of Nation-Building in Postcolonial Nigeria.” Paper presented at the “Lost Futures in the History of European Empires, II” University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, September 11-14, 2014  

• “Rape and Sexual Violence in Historical Perspective.” Paper presented at the Monthly Discourse of the “Humanist Association for Peace and Social Tolerance Advancement,” University of Ibadan, Nigeria, June 26, 2014

• “Engaging the History of Arms and Gun Control in Nigeria.” Paper presented at the Staff/Postgraduate Seminar, Department of History, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, June 11, 2014

• “Bridging the Gap between Research and Teaching.” Lead Paper presented at the “Workshop on Infusing Africa and Africans into HUM 324 Curriculum,” University of North Carolina–Asheville, May 21, 2014

• “Fighting for the Empire: Africa and Africans in the WWII.” Paper presented at the Carolina Roundtable on the World Wars” Western Carolina University, Cullowhee NC, February 19, 2014

• “Teaching African History: Issues, Pedagogy, and Challenges.” Paper presented at the International Education Week, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee NC on November 19, 2013

• “History and the Way Forward.” Guest Lecture presented at the Public Symposium organized by the University of Lagos Chapter of the Students’ Historical Society of Nigeria, June 17, 2013

• “Academic Publishing in the Global North.” Research seminar given to post-graduate students of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, organized by the Ibadan office of the French Institute for Research in Africa, June 7, 2013

• “Guns and Arms Control in Nigerian History.” Public Lecture presented at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria on May 28, 2013

• “Internationalizing Western Curriculum through World History Courses.” Paper presented at the International Education Week, Western Carolina University, November 12, 2012

• “Where is the Boundary? Cocoa Conflict, Land Tenure, and Politics in Western Nigeria, 1890s-1960.” Paper given at the “Cutting-Edge Research Series” of the French Institute for Research in Africa, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, June 6, 2012        

• “Of Eras, Events, and Production of Knowledge: The Three Waves of Historical Scholarship on Nigeria.” Ibadan Inter-Disciplinary Discourse Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, June 4, 2012

• “Politics and Compromise in Boundary Dispute in Yorubaland (Nigeria)” Paper Presented at the “International Conference on Global Conflicts, Local Solutions: Indigenous Conflict Management Strategy,” Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw GA, April 20-21, 2012

• “Yoruba Dress in Time and Space” Presentation at the International Festival, Western Carolina University, April 2012

• “The First Lady “Pet Projects” and Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria” paper presented at the Women and Poverty in Global Economy Conference” Western Carolina University March 15, 2012

• “Nigeria’s Military Coup Culture, 1966-1993: Leadership and Social Engineering in Africa’s Most Populous Country” Paper Presented at “Nigerian Studies Association Round Table,” African Studies Association Meeting, Washington DC, November 17, 2011

• “Panelist,” Open Access Week organized by Coulter Faculty Commons, Western Carolina University, October 26, 2011

• “Yoruba Dress Exhibition “International Festival, Western Carolina University, April 16, 2011

• “Yoruba Religion in Africa and the Atlantic World,” Department of Philosophy and Religion, Western Carolina University, March 7, 2011

• “Human Trafficking in Post-Independent Nigeria” Paper presented at the Roundtable on Nigeria at 50, African Studies Association Meeting, San Francisco November 18, 2010

• “The Undesirable Advertisement Ordinance of 1932: Sexuality, Venereal Disease and Politics in Colonial Nigeria,” Paper presented at the 52nd Meeting of the African Studies Association, New Orleans November 19-22, 2009

• “Sexuality and Imperialism: The African Experience,” Paper presented the Gender Symposium, the University of Texas at Austin, September 25, 2009

• “Britain and the Politics of Dissident Sexuality in colonial Nigeria” Paper presented at the Second British Scholar Annual Conference, University of Texas at Austin, February 19 – 21, 2009

• “Sexuality, Venereal Disease and Colonial Science in Nigeria” Paper presented at the Science, Technology and Environment in Africa Conference, University of Texas at Austin, March 27-29, 2009

• “Keeping them away from troubles: the Colony Welfare Office, Elite Women and Question of Female Juvenile Sexuality in Lagos, Nigeria, 1930s-1960. Paper presented at the 16th Annual Emerging Scholarship in Women’s and Gender Studies Conference, Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, The University of Texas at Austin March 2009

• “Sexuality and Nationalism in Nigeria” Paper presented at the Faculty/Graduate Student Seminar, University of Lagos, Nigeria, June 10, 2008

• “Of Tradition and Modernity: The Politics of Sexuality in Colonial Nigeria” 14th Annual Emerging Scholarship in Women’s and Gender Studies Conference, Center for Women’s and Gender Studies, The University of Texas at Austin. April 5, 2007

• “Yoruba History and Culture” Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, Spring 2007

• “The Girls in Moral Danger’: Child Prostitution and Sexuality in Colonial Nigeria” University of Texas Gender Symposium, September 29, 2006

• “Doing History in Two Continents: A Personal Reflection” Department of History, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, May 28, 2006

• “Cutting the Head of the Roaring Monster: Homosexuality and State Repression in Ghana, Paper presented at the Africa Conference, The University of Texas at Austin, March 2007, with Kwame Essien

 • “Journey to Work: Nigerian Prostitutes in the Gold Coast (Ghana) Africa Conference, The University of Texas at Austin, March 24-27, 2006

• “Culture and Custom of Nigeria” Department of History, University of Texas at Austin, Spring 2006

• “Yoruba Cuisines” Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas Spring 2006

 Membership of Professional Associations

 • Founding President of the Lagos Studies Association (2017-2022)

• African Studies Association

• West African Research Association

• Senior Research Fellow of the French Institute for Research in Africa

• BISA Africa and International Studies Working Group