I am a PhD candidate in African Cultural Studies, with a doctoral minor in English, at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I work on global Black literatures and popular cultures, bringing literary studies into conversation with music, media, and digital culture. My research asks how Africans and their diasporas make community, publics, and meaning through cultural production, and moves across African fiction, Afrobeats and global Black music, and digital media. I combine close reading of literary and musical texts with archival and ethnographic methods.
Alongside my research, I have taught African literature, Yoruba language and culture, and first-year writing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes (WISLI), and Bowling Green State University. Before graduate school, I worked as an arts reporter and book reviewer for The Guardian (Nigeria) and as a publishing editor at Kraft Books. I continue to write for public audiences, and my essays, reviews, and criticism have appeared in The Guardian (Nigeria), OlongoAfrica, and African Writer.
Education
- PhD, African Cultural Studies (in progress), Doctoral Minor in English, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- MA, Literary and Textual Studies, Bowling Green State University, 2023
- BA, English, University of Ibadan, 2018
Fellowships and Awards
- Dissertation Fellowship, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2026
- Aliko Songolo Summer Research Award, Department of African Cultural Studies, UW–Madison, 2026
- Graduate Summer Field Research Grant, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2026
- Graduate Student Conference Travel Grants, Department of African Cultural Studies, 2024–2026
- Graduate School Fellowship (WARF), University of Wisconsin–Madison, 2023–2024