Austin Okigbo

Austin Okigbo serves as an Associate Professor in the College of Music, where his research bridges ethnomusicology, African studies, and social justice through critical examinations of musical practices across Nigeria, South Africa, and diaspora communities.

His primary research domains include ethnomusicology of African traditions (particularly Igbo and Zulu musical systems), medical ethnomusicology focusing on HIV/AIDS choirs and epidemic responses, Ubuntu philosophy as an ethical framework for justice, and diaspora identity performance in contexts like Nigerian festivals in Chicago. His work consistently explores music's role in cultural preservation, health advocacy, and resistance against neocolonial narratives.

Analysis of Okigbo's publications reveals three interconnected trajectories: 1) Music as social medicine in health crises, 2) Decolonizing religious and political discourse through musical inculturation, and 3) Diaspora identity construction through performance. His recent 2024 works on Ubuntu demonstrate expanding philosophical engagement with African concepts of justice, while longitudinal studies of South African choirs document evolving community responses to HIV/AIDS across fifteen years.